Getting Excited for YRCC 2024 Spring Season Rehearsals

 Christmas celebrations just ended, there's still wrapping and gift bags scattered around, dishes with chocolates and cookies out, and lots of leftovers to be eaten. And I'm dreaming of our spring concert. Oh, it's going to be fabulous! 

But first, there are going to be weeks and weeks of fun rehearsals building on my theme of stars again. This time, we'll sing about wishing on stars: wishes and dreams, destiny, star-crossed love, and light. We are made of stardust, and we shine starlight. 

We will be singing in the evening, on Saturday, May the 4th, 2024 (uh-oh. I just had the Star Wars theme in my head). We can use our candles again! And, this time, they'll be more exciting with the darkness outside. 

I'll be updating my YouTube playlist for Spring 2024, and the website, with music to help you get in the mood for this new theme. 

I'm most excited that we're going to sing the Joseph Medley. It's so much fun, and so big!

We'll be back together starting Tuesday, January 9th, 2024.

make a wish

My Singing Night at Trinity, Thursday December 21st, 2023

 An evening of music, connection, harmony, and Christmas spirit.

• Chevrolet Ad: A Holiday to Remember (caution: a tear-jerker)
• Amazon Ad: Joy Ride
• Merry Christmas by Ed Sheeran and Elton John (video)
• Perfect by Ed Sheeran (video- noticed things referenced in the Christmas video!) 
• Believe by Josh Groban from Polar Express (video)
• Oh, What a Special Night by Animated Praise (video-talked about Children's Time Sunday)
• Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy by the Washboard Union
• Wexford  Carol  by Trace Adkins
• O Come all Ye Faithful by Blue Rodeo (good) and by the Tenors (over the top!)
• Back Home Christmas by High Valley
• Snowmobile Song by Stompin’ Tom Connors (!!!)
• Ave Maria and Adeste Fideles by Luciano Pavarotti (cool: we sang Italian and Latin)
• Lo, How a Rose by Cat Jahnke
• The Son of Mary by Harry Belafonte (What Child is This)
• Good King Wenceslas by The Irish Rovers
• Goodness of God by Caleb and Kelsey (for Praise Team)
• Christmas Wrapping* by The Waitresses
• Frosty the Snowman* by Mighty Diamonds
• Joy to the World* by June Lodge
• The Little Drummer Boy* by Sean Kingston
• Feliz Navidad* and Deck the Halls* by Laro (Soca!)

This was the last My Singing Night of 2023! We’re not meeting on the 28th. 

Some of the things we talked about: tobogganing when we were younger, Newmarket hills and hills of our past, with memories of our dads; Ian’s manger scene menagerie, with a giraffe and a hippo (!) among other animals from Ian's collections; and, Peter and Alison Mohan's Christmas Playlist, such a wide variety of fun music *from which we chose a few and enjoyed with gratitude! 

We ate my homemade Christmas cookies and a little bit of Stollen. 

It was a lovely evening in lovely company.   

I added all of the songs to the public Trinity Singing Night Apple Music Playlist

and the videos to my YouTube playlist. 

Next My Singing Night is Thursday, January 4th, 2024 at 7:30pm.

Hope to see you there! 

Thank you to Trinity for hosting us!

YRCC 2023 last chance to sing this year is today!

Last chance!

 December 22nd, 2:30 at Mackenzie Place in Newmarket. YRCC Calendar has details.

Even if you haven't signed up, please come and join us.

 A number of people are not feeling well enough to come, so we're going to need back-up. 

If we get enough people from different sections, we can sing our concert songs. 

If not, we'll still have fun. We can sing lots of Holiday and Christmas songs with the residents. 

My Singing Night at Trinity December 14, 2023

An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.

• Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder (sounding very young). 
• River by Sarah Mc Lachlan
• Bright Star of Bethlehem by Melanie McMillan
• O Little Town of Bethlehem by Bruce Cockburn 
• Silent Night by Rod Stewart 
• White Christmas by for Kenny Rogers
• Do You Hear What I Hear by Bob Dylan 
• God Rest Yue Merry Gentlemen by Crash Test Dummies
• Go, Tell it on the Mountain by High Valley, and by Toronto Mass Choir
• Ding Dong Merrily on High by Rend Collective, and by John ST John Tenors
• Candlelight Carol by Jody McBrayer
• Some Children See Him by James Taylor, and by SimpleGifts
• Winter Wonderland by Eurythmics
• See Amid the Winter’s Snow by Steeleye Span, and by Annie Lennox
• The Christmas Song by Claire&Dave Crosby with Mat&Savanna Shaw (video)
• The Chanukah Song by Adam Sandler (videos– first and third)
• Happy Joyous Hanukkah by the Indigo Girls
• Snippets of A Bocelli Family Christmas (video) recommended to watch at home

Last night of Hanukkah. Robin brought Panettone (which was new to some) and I brought some Christmas cookies. We love that Robin is learning Hanukkah songs in a church. We love this opportunity to sing songs we know and love and to learn new ones. We noticed how much fun it is to sing with banjos, and bluegrass energy. We talked about how some voices don’t appeal to us, but they are still “good” and the singers beloved by many. Everyone can and should sing! We thought about Colby's lovely strong Bass when we sang with the Crash Test Dummies. We thought about Lauren when we sand Some Children See Him. We remembered Janet and the Kevins singing Bright Star of Bethlehem. I am looking forward to singing with my daughter Victoria on Christmas Day, remembering singing duets at church. It was a lovely evening in lovely company.   

My Singing Night at Trinity December 7, 2023

 

 An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.

Christmas (and Hanukkah) Songs!

• Christmas Dinner by Peter Paul & Mary-this was done last week, but I missed it.
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings by Barenaked Ladies
• I Have a Little Dreidel by Barenaked Ladies
• Happy Hanukkah by Walk Off the Earth and Scott Helman
• Light One Candle by Peter, Paul & Mary
• Silver Bells by Vince Gill
• Little Drummer Boy  by for King and Country (Video)
• Do You Hear What I Hear by for King and Country
• Song for a Winter’s Night by Sarah McLaughlan
• Hymn of Joy by Chris Tomlin
• Canon of Joy by the YRCC with sheet music to sing along
• Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea
• A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh
• Christmas Time by Bryan Adams
• Christmas Kisses by Serena Ryder
• I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevey
• The Gift by Aselin Debison, et al
• Grown-Up Christmas List by PS22 Chorus (Video)

 First night of Hanukkah, so we sang a few songs for Robin, and for light and peace (miracles?) for all. There were a number of songs that were new to us. I brought somewhat stale brownie cookies. We enjoyed the comfort of the Fellowship Room.  It was a lovely evening in lovely company.  

 

YRCC 2023 Winter Concert: Let Us Light Up Your Holidays- Success!

We did indeed light up people's holidays!

Jane's decorations alone were dazzling and radiant enough to brighten my holidays. 

spectacular decorations by Jane

The choir itself however was the most dazzling, radiant, resplendent part of the day and made me so proud! The sound of the choir was perfect. Every note might not have been perfect, but that's not what we're after. The way you all worked together to make the songs beautiful and meaningful was perfect. You looked and walked and sang with grace, and kindness, and wonderful teamwork, and that was perfect. I couldn't be happier. 

And, the audience! They were amazing. 

A full house of happy and generous fans greeted us, and sang with us, and their light helped us to shine even brighter. The little tea lights that everyone was holding up really brought that message home: we need to shine and give others the opportunity to shine, and then everyone is happy. It was heartwarming to see so many former YRCC members there. I hope you had fans in the audience to tell you how great you were. It feels so good, doesn't it?

People laughed, and cried, and sang, swayed, and sighed at various times throughout the concert, and then were overwhelmed with joy, jumping to their feet with a standing ovation for our fabulous You'll Never Walk Alone. That was perfect. Carol sent me a video of part of that song where Carol and Ellen felt the message of that song deep in their souls. This is Why We Sing. 

You'll Never Walk Alone!

Look at all those good chorister mouths! ooooooooooo

Invitation to Renate's Church Christmas Play and Carol Sing Dec.17th

 

Tuesday, December 5th YRCC Seniors' Performance Cancelled!

Sorry to announce that our first seniors' performance this season has been cancelled.

The home, Willows, contacted us to say that they're in lock down. 

Please be safe, everyone! 

Masking might be a good idea. 

Flu and COVID vaccines are available. Take advantage and get your shots. 

Stay at home when you're feeling unwell, any time and every time you're feeling unwell.

Resources: 

https://www.york.ca/health/covid-19

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-coronavirus

https://www.ontario.ca/self-assessment/question-severe-symptoms/

My Singing Night at Trinity November 30th

 An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.

Christmas Songs!

• Better Days by the Goo Goo Dolls on YouTube
• Hark the Herald (Sing Out Loud) by the Spirituals Choir (YouTube)
• Winter Wonderland by PS22 Chorus (YouTube) (also A Thousand Years)
• Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee and Sanctus by Libera
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel by Kim Walker-Smith
• Angels We Have Heard on High by for King and Country
• Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
• Song for a Winter’s Night by Gordon Lightfoot
• Mistletoe by Justin Bieber
• Santa Baby by Eartha  Kit
• You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch with a YouTube lyric video
• Silver and Gold by Burl Ives from 1964 Rudolph
• Mary’s Boy Child by Andy Williams and by Boney M. again
• Do They Know it’s Christmas? by Bandaid
• I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing by The New Seekers
• Wonderful Christmas by Paul McCartney
• O Holy Night, Deck The Halls, and Away in a Manger with a piano accompaniment and no words, which meant only a couple verses of each (LOL).
• Earth Song (orchestral version of Michael Jackson’s song) by Akshay Sreeram

We used the Fellowship Room, which is spacious and has couches and armchairs and the feel of a salon in a big house (except that there's not only a dining table but also a big meeting room-type table, for meetings). I brought store-bought cookies for tea-time and they were excellent. We talked about hope, and people these songs reminded us of, for me often past choir members, and my choir, the YRCC. I shed some tears.  It was a lovely evening in lovely company.  Next week, we’ll sing a Hanukkah song or two.

I'm working on this public playlist of the songs we sing at My Singing Night. It's a bit of a mess, because it started out as just a bunch of things I thought I might like to use. I'm working on removing the things we haven't done yet. Every week, I add the songs we sing. I've heard that listing the songs has been good for people who forget the name or artist of a song that they liked. So, I thought this would make it easy for you to go back and listen to them again. I think you can access the playlist even without a subscription to Apple Music. 

 Apple Music Playlist

Thank you to Trinity for hosting