YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review April 1st

 Oh, how I love my choir! What a beautiful evening we had, what a joy to hear our songs coming together so wonderfully! 

First, at 6:30, Melinda and Lauren met with Donna to rehearse their duet. Then the Tenors and Basses gathered for a sectional rehearsal. I arrived toward the end of that and took over for a bit, and it was evident that they had made good progress. Go, Bass Clef Team! Thank you to Donna and Lauren for leading these early rehearsals! Thank you to Melinda for having the equipment ready so early too!

1. We had a brief warm-up, physical and vocal, and sang What a Wonderful World to get started. It's so good, I love it. We might be performing this at Bill's Celebration of Life. 

2. Song for the Mira: Our flute accompanist came today for the first time (Robyn will be busy at her eldest child's wedding during our concert). Carolyn plays flute in the Aurora Community Band with Nadine. How lovely it was! Our soloists have obviously been practising. I love how you all sound together on the first chorus. When the choir comes in, it's really very beautiful and powerful. The flute adds a special brilliance. Carolyn suggested a couple of moments of drama- a woman after my own heart- where we will slow down and you need to watch me and listen to the flute to keep us together. The first spot is in the middle of the whole-choir section on page 9, the bar before verse 5. Watch for the entry of "Out on the Mira" there. The second is at the end, just before you all come in with your ooh (not hmm), the last note. You always watch at the end anyway, so that will be easy. Thank you, Carolyn!

3. You'll Never Walk Alone: I wanted Carolyn to hear this because you sound magnificent singing it. It's a really extraordinary arrangement, the best I've ever heard. You're the best. I could hear the improvement after Lauren's teaching. Thank you, Lauren! I never have to worry about having to miss choir when I'm not feeling well. We did spend a moment on page 7, because I need to hear very strong "never"s from the Tenors and Basses, and not the octave down, the high note is so powerful. We tried out the basses on the alto note an octave down, because that's not as low, but it's not much better and a little confusing. 

4. Monday, Monday: We slowed down the "every other day" section and went over everyone's parts. It's so much better now. The altos get most of the melody, and a lot of the time, everyone else is just singing the same ba-das. Make sure you bounce on all of those to keep them from dragging and sounding boring. It's the same problem as the Canon parts of Canon of Joy, where you sing the same joy, joy, joys again and again. Bounce off of the consonant and smile in the vowels (easier to do with ba than with joy).

5. Musical Medley: Dancing Queen and Thank You for the Music: I recruited Nadine to sing with the first sopranos on Dancing Queen. That top row is special and needs to be big. Second sopranos will need to be strong on the soprano line to make up for the loss of the firsts, but I have faith in you. We went over parts a bit, but you're all good. For Thank You for the Music, we have a new soloist. Cathy will be the back-up, since she's done it before, and Miral will sing the "girl with golden hair" solo. How lovely to have a new voice for solos! (If you're wondering why it's always the same people, it's because it's rare for a person to be willing to sing alone in front of an audience. Like public speaking, it's a special gift. Choir is perfect for people who don't want to stand out, like most of you and most people everywhere. I'm very pleased with the growing number of choristers who are willing and able to sing solos.) We sang the whole thing through, and it was awesome. Todd and Nadine's duet was super-charming. Stanley and Miral have agreed to be back-ups. We'll have to hear that next time. The transitions between the songs are getting better (so hard to do, but Donna's brilliant) and you just have to always watch for the timing of those, as you do with all beginnings and endings. 

6. All the Little Rivers of Canada is amazing! Again, I could hear the improvements made with Lauren last week. You all sounded so good! I love this piece. 

We have posters ready- pretty posters prepared by Jane- for you to share wherever you can. Jane had hard copies there last night, and I'm going to attach a png(picture) here for you to copy and share in emails. You should be able to capture it with click.

I forgot to mention that Robin has booked 5 Seniors Visits for us on Tuesdays after our concert up to June 10th. I've added them to our Calendar and I've set up Events for you to sign up to go and sing. Please do sign up. We need a good number for each one, around 15, with a few people from each section, but usually not more than 20 total, sometimes fewer depending on space. There's also a sign-up for Bill's Celebration of Life. I hope we have a good turn-out for that. 

Next week, Tuesday, April 8th

6:30 Anthem, 7:00 Together Wherever We Go

• Blue Skies
• Hockey Song
• On Eagle's Wings
• Shenandoah
• Musical Medley
• Hallelujah/You Raise Me Up

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review March 25th

 I’m so sad that I missed this choir rehearsal; and, I’m so grateful that Lauren and Donna work so well together to lead you when I’m not there!

They have plenty of experience leading together because of the small group and sectional work they do.

The Lean On Me small group met at 6:30 and decided that it will be best if Kevin and Michael could be there, so we’ll try to set something up for them, and we won’t have them meet for the next two weeks as originally planned.

• Lauren tells me that you worked on the a cappella part of All The Little Rivers of Canada, and it’s really good. When she’s up front, she gets to experience the full sound of the choir, which is absolutely beautiful.

• Song for the Mira is coming along well too, although the soloists, some of them, are finding the notes a little high. Not to worry. The soloists have some space for interpretation since they’re singing alone. We’ll work on getting them more comfortable. 

• ABBA is fun, right!? I can’t wait to hear those last songs of the medley. Maybe there are a couple second sopranos who are willing to sing first on Dancing Queen to help out? I was wondering this for We Rise Again, as well. It would give us better balance to have a stronger first soprano section for these 2 songs. Please think about whether you can help carry those high parts. There’s a solo in Thank You for the Music, which I’d like you to consider as well, sopranos (or altos if you can). 

• You’ll Never Walk Alone is awesome the way it is, but we’re always trying to get the second sopranos doing those little special bits a little stronger. (drea-ea-eams be tossed, and alo-one)

Next week, Tuesday, April 1st

6:30 Melinda and Lauren’s Duet, followed by a tenor and bass sectional at 6:45 to make up for the delay in last week’s early rehearsal.

• Song for the Mira
• Dancing Queen and Thank You For the Music from the Medley
• Monday, Monday
• You'll Never Walk Alone
• Wonderful World

Here's a link to my playlist for you

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review March 18th

 It started off shaky, this rehearsal. We had tenors and basses sitting and waiting for Donna and me for 20 minutes or more, while we were each stuck in traffic trying to cross the railway tracks from the west side of Newmarket to the east. How bizarre! So frustrating! It also took us all some time to settle down to get started, so I just skipped warm-ups and we sang Canon of Joy once through as a warm-up. Maybe a little Spring Fever? 

1. Canon of Joy: Important performance notes: you must smile and keep good posture as you sing this. The joy is bouncy and light, not heavy and serious. Bounce on the Joy, Joy, Joy parts. Just clearly enunciating is helpful because the "dj" sound kind of pops anyway. Those slow Canon notes can drag. It's easy to get too heavy in the Beethoven, too, so be mindful of the lyrics and raise your eyebrows as you smile. I was very happy to see nobody get lost with the page turns, at least I didn't see it if you did ;-)

2. Imagine: Our timing is a little different from what is written in a few places but I'm going to roll with it. When everyone is doing it, it sounds perfect. At bars 21 and 23, we come in just after beat one, not on beat two as written. It's fine. I like it. The important thing is that we're together. The notes are coming along nicely. It sounds really good already.

3. We Rise Again: My goal was to review all the oohs and the top of page 9. We did it! The oohs on pages 7 and 8 are the hardest. Please listen to the recordings for help with these. I listened to the tenor part and it's correct. Be aware that the full accompaniment is there and your part is on top of it, so you'll want to count to where you come in. Remember that we've simplified it this season. Tenors and Basses always sing the melody in the chorus. It's in the alto line the first time, but after that you can read the bass line, because it's there in the rest of the choruses.

4. Thank You for the Musicals: We surpassed my goal. We did all of Beauty and the Beast and Joseph. I'm happy to hear that many of you remember your parts. We didn't spend enough time on the ending of GoGoGo Joseph, but we'll review it all, don't worry. Donna and I still have to figure out some transitions, but it's coming along well. You always have to watch for beginnings and ends, so you'll be fine. Nadine and Todd sang the duet, and it was beautiful! I'm going to need back-ups for them, so you'll let me know if you'd like to try one of those next time. I've already heard from one other "Belle". 

Next week: Tuesday, March 25th. 

6:30 We will be starting a new small group: Lean on Me! It will be somewhat improvised, or self-arranged. Donna will be joined by 2 guitars accompanying us. We will have some sheet music inspiration, but will be singing from a lyric and chord sheet. (memorized for performance)

• All the Little Rivers of Canada
• Song for the Mira
• Thanks for the Musicals
• You'll Never Walk Alone

Here's this for Lean on Me inspiration. I want that kind of energy, please. You can see Kevin playing guitar in the video, and I've asked Michael (second from left) to also play guitar. They both have a long history of adding guitar playing to our concerts, for which I have always been very grateful. 

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review March 11th

 6:30 Anthem Small Group met and sang beautifully. With the sections grouped together and standing together, it sounded excellent. 

1. Thank you for the Musicals: We started this right away, right after a brief phyiscal and vocal warm-up, since it was in everyone's hands. This is a 35-page medley of songs from our 3 favourite musical medleys: Beauty and the Beast, Joseph, and Mamma Mia, ending with Thank you for the Music. We were surprised at how quickly 35 pages are done. We mostly know all of these, but we'll see if there are YouTube videos of some of these so you can get caught up if you haven't sung these before. There will be some changes in the transitions, the ends and beginnings don't always shift well. You'll need to mark up your music, crossing out some bars here and there. Have your pencils ready. 

2. Imagine: We sang all the way through, and decided not to worry too much about singing it exactly as written. When everybody sings the same thing, then that's what's most natural and we're going to say that's our interpretation. We're not wrong; we're interpreting it a little differently. That being said, we do have to agree on how things go, so try to mostly count and observe the rests, but follow me. It's best to follow me so that we're together. Something most of us did that was actually wrong, was to go down too far on the word one in "but I'm not the only one". Every line that ends in the word 'one' has everyone on the same note, so we shouldn't have harmony, and that note isn't what you expect. 

3. We Rise Again: So good! We decided here to 'interpret' the arrangement in our own way too. There are some interesting tenor and bass parts in the first chorus, and a couple of special tenor bars in a later chorus, but we're going to have tenor and bass on the melody, an octave down. It's what they have most of the time in the choruses, and the special bits are not going to be effective with the small number of bass clef singers we have. Let them enjoy the melody of the chorus. The oohs are soft, and sound very good. Don't worry about them too much. The part that's interesting that we're singing is at the end of the second verse (solo and oohs), from the bottom of page 8 to the middle of page 9. We reviewed that together, and it's very good. The thing to remember is that the second sopranos are singing with the altos, and the altos here don't have the melody. It's a lower harmony, under the first sopranos. 

4. Song for the Mira: We did it with the soloists! Here's what we've got: 1. Carol, 2. Cathy, 3. Melodie, 4. Lauren, 5. Debbie. Jane is back-up for all parts, but I hope that all can back up any of the others. Up to page 8, only the soloists sing. So, when we perform, open your music up to page 8 from the start so that you're not rustling pages during the solos. 

5. Hallelujah: We did it with soloists. Winston was awesome on the first solo (It's his, but I'll need a back-up), and Kim was excellent on the second. I know there are lots of people who have sung and would like to sing that second one, so let me know and I'll give you a shot at it. I won't decide on that one yet. 

6. What a Wonderful World! Super. Don't forget to sing a big ending.

Next week, Tuesday, March 18th

6:30: Tenor and Bass sectional rehearsal (Be prepared with requests. What are the bits that you find difficult?)

• Canon of Joy
• Imagine
• Thanks for the Musicals
• We Rise Again

It's starting to feel like spring. We Rise Again

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review March 4th

 A choir is a team, a wonderful, excellent team. Melinda was away, so Lorraine carted the equipment around, and, as always, people helped to carry in and carry out all the stuff and helped to plug in and unplug things too. Donna was sick, so Tabatha stepped in. We helped each other learn our parts. We had lots of lively conversation. We had a two-hour break from the worries of the world. We are so lucky to have our choir!

6:30 The Anthem small group met and did very well. It's a beautiful song and a lovely arrangement.

We did a brief physical warm-up, just to get the kinks out and to release some tension.

1. Blue Skies is a fairly gentle warm-up, especially after practising finger snaps first. I surprised a couple soloists, and they were game. Let me know if you'd be interested in one of those scat solos. Remember, you're not snapping for great sound, you're snapping so that we all look synchronised. Your hand goes away from your body, where it can be seen. 

2. O Canada/ The Hockey Song: The O Canada will be a surprise for the audience. The program will say Hockey Song, but we will start with O Canada, and I think it will be a cappella, like we sang at that hockey game. We will go straight into The Hockey Song but we'll skip that intro and start at C (Verse One). "Hello out there! We're on the air" We will also skip most of page 7. We go straight from "the good old hockey game" at the top of page 7 to page 8, at H with a big "Oh! The good..." Colby can whistle so loud! Wild.

3. All the Little Rivers of Canada: We learned the a cappella section on pages 5&6. Also, there's a "fancy ending" double forte "over this land so strong and free" at the top of page 7. Be careful and watch for the timing of that a cappella section. It's quite a bit slower, and dramatic. Very cool.

4. Monday, Monday: We did really well, many of us remembering how this goes. It's special because the altos get the melody most of the time, and it's special because Monday used to be our choir night. It was Mondays for a very long time. I loved Mondays when almost everyone dreaded them. We'll slow it down a bit so that you can all get those "every other day, every other day" parts. Hey, did you know we have recordings of this for practice on our website and on my YouTube Playlist? Here's the Soprano video.

5. Shenandoah: We got to the end! And it was excellent. I love our arrangement of this pretty song. I love endings with fermatas and caesuras. You have to watch me. 

6. On Eagles Wings: Another really great arrangement of a really good song. We reviewed the ending, which I absolutely love: so much drama! 

7. You Raise Me Up: This is a fan favourite. Everyone loves this song, and our arrangement is, again, outstanding. We changed it just a little bit, to make the last two repetitions of the chorus broader. On pages 6&7, we don't observe the rests after mountains and between 'up to'. On pages 4&5, mountains is short and up is short in 'up to walk' and 'up to more.' We observe those rests, as written. 

It was fun to have Tab play with us, and she'll be playing You Raise Me Up and Anthem at Bill's Celebration of Life in May. 

Next week: Tuesday, March 11, 2025

6:30 Anthem Small Group

• Imagine
• Song for the Mira
• We Rise Again
• Thanks for the Musical Music 

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review February 25th

 It felt so good to be back together! Thank Heaven it didn't snow or rain or anything for a change!

The small group singing Anthem (from the Musical, Chess) met for the first time and apparently they did really well! The arrangement is beautiful. 

We started our rehearsal with a warm-up done to Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly. Stretching and relaxing is nice and easy when you've got a great song playing and can sing along. Roberta Flack passed away on Monday.

1. What a Wonderful World: yes, it is. And, this arrangement of Wonderful World is too. We only reviewed how the top of page 5 has a little bit of drama. We sing the"the bright blessed day" brightly, and get softer on "the dark sacred night" to highlight the moody notes of that second phrase. You can use the recordings on the website to review those notes, and the whole song. 

2. Song for the Mira: We've learned all of the choral parts. The rest is up to the soloists. We start at the bottom of page 8, softly, and then get louder at "I'll trade you ten of your cities" The 5th verse, starting at the bottom of page 9 is fairly dramatic, and quite tricky in the bass line. Basses, we changed a couple of the notes to the octave up, so we don't have to worry about those big intervals."I'll trade you ten of your cities." "of your" will both be the upper A, and "cities" will both be the upper F. The 6th verse is sung by a soloist, but the choir comes back at the end of the second system of the last page, in unison: "I'm going to be with them again." and then in harmony for the end, singing ooh instead of hmm, so it's not too soft. Watch for dramatic dynamics at the end, as usual.

3. Imagine: We just started, and we're almost done! This arrangement is very good, not too difficult but sounds very strong. There are some timing issues. I suggest you listen to the recordings on the website. I'm not sure if we want soloists or not. Let me know if you have thoughts or would like to sing one of those 2 solos at the beginning. 

4. Canon of Joy: I just discovered that Ode to Joy is the European Anthem, the Anthem of the European Union. We learned our 4-part section of Ode to Joy, at the top of page 7. It was good to do, as it leads to the DS al Coda, where we go back to page 5, sing it twice again, and then in the middle of page 6 we skip to page 8, the Coda/ end. We had a good amount of practice turning pages. 

5. Shenandoah: We reviewed the oohs at the beginning (bounce a little on the beginnings of notes so that we feel how the beats move around the sections) and got to the top of page 6! We're almost done with this one too. Recordings on the website will be useful if you missed tonight's rehearsal. 

6. Hallelujah: It was awesome, as always. Soloists were Stanley and Melodie. Think about whether you'd like to have one of these solos. I haven't decided yet. 

We talked about not wanting to sing "Great Wayne Gretzky". I have a solution. We will skip that whole extra section, which happens twice. The original starts with "Hello out there" and that's where we'll start too. You'll see. It will be fun and we'll avoid any political stuff. 

Next week, Tuesday, March 4th. (What?!!! March already?)

6:30 Anthem Small Group 

• All The Little Rivers
• Blue Skies
• Hockey Song
• Monday, Monday
• On Eagles Wings
• Shenandoah

News Article

YRCC 2025 FEBRUARY 25th: We're on tonight!

 Looking forward to singing tonight. 

6:30 Anthem Small Group

7:30 Rehearsal Start

Another Cancellation- Tuesday, February 18th

 

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review February 11th

What an excellent rehearsal! I had several moments of absolute bliss. The harmonies, the songs, the people... bliss.

The altos met at 6:30 and Lauren and Donna helped them out with tricky spots in a number of songs, including looking ahead to Song for the Mira and Imagine, which was impressive.

We had a brief warm-up, just getting kinks out, relaxing and stretching our instruments.

1. Blue Skies: We have snaps, jazz hands, and there are two solos. We discovered that we'd been singing bar 22 wrong all these years. We now have recordings of parts, so if you sing alto, tenor, or bass (part ll), please review "shining so bright" at bar 22. Also, a number of  part ll people forgot about the last blue skies; landing on skies at bar 73 is different. I'm hoping to have everyone snap at the beginning, not just the sopranos. It should be possible. You can snap and sing, right? There is no page turn there. 

2. We Rise Again: We have a soloist! Melinda can do it, and does it well. I would love to have a back-up, so please give it a try and let me know. We have stressed over this song in the past, and I don't want to stress over it. It's always been excellent, even though it's never been perfect. There are all those oohs, and then the first chorus is especially difficult for the tenors and basses. We might try to do that first chorus as written, but we might not. When everyone except the first sopranos is on the melody, it's powerful. We'll work on the mm-ooh-ahhhs. They're cool. The tenors move a lot, down to the bass line whenever that divides, and back up to the tenor clef/treble clef an octave down. Second sopranos are on the alto line singing the melody most of the time (the chorus, and page 9-bar 61. At bar 62, last system on page 12, there's a little bit of shuffling for the big ending. But, again, don't stress it. It's big and loud and awesome, always excellent, even when it's not perfect.

3. Imagine: We have an option to have 2 short solos at the beginning. I'm not sure if we will. I like that this arrangement gives everyone the opportunity to sing the song with good strong and simple harmonies. There are a few bars that have rhythms we'll need to work on. We all sight-read through the whole thing, and it's already sounding good.

4. On Eagle's Wings: We worked on all the different "make you to shine like the sun" sections. They're so good! We are excellent on the choruses and the ending now. Even though we haven't spent time on the rest, it's also excellent. This song is beautiful. You sound fantastic.

5. Shenandoah: Same thing here. We haven't worked on this, except for the oohs at the beginning, but people remember it, and new folk are following or studying or just amazing, and it's really very beautiful.

6. Song for The Mira: Such a pretty song! We only had 10 minutes, but we went over the parts on pages 8-11 where the choir sings the chorus and the last verse in SATB.  We have recordings if you want to review that at home. Again, the new folk are excellent at following or they're studying or just amazing. I was impressed. Reminder: we're not going to learn the oohs. Just like Song for a Winter's Night, it's going to be a solo piece with the choir coming in at the end. It worked well and I liked the way the focus is on the soloist and their words. Here, we have more solos and very good lyrics to listen to. 

At break time, Juergen treated us to a German love song, as a Valentine's Day gift. Will you be singing a love song to your sweethearts? 

Next Week: Tuesday, February 18

6:30 Anthem Small Group (I would love to see 12 or more people in this group)

• Canon of Joy
• Imagine
• Shenandoah
• Song for the Mira
• Wonderful World
• Hallelujah/You'll Never Walk Alone

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review February 4th

 My birthday was yesterday, and it was wonderful. The joy started the evening before, Feb. 4th, at choir. My beautiful choir sang Happy Birthday, and it is a little thing but it felt really special. Also, the awesome way you sang You'll Never Walk Alone was so powerful, I was high for hours. I love my choir!

The small group singing Together Wherever We Go met at 6:30, and they were amazing! We created a little choreography for it, and it's sweet!

We had a brief warm-up and then sang O Canada. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. We love being Canadian and we are singing quite a few Canadian songs, as we always do. We represent our community, York Region; something I am always mindful of.We added our national anthem to our binders because we need to sing it more often.

1. All the Little Rivers of Canada is one of our obviously Canadian songs. It's pretty hard but we're making good progress. We learned sections, A, B, and C. So now we can sing the whole thing except for section E, which is a cappella, and a little bit of F where it's special. If you feel like you want to work on this song, we have recordings on the website. Please make good use of them. Make sure you're accenting the word HEY, and then ride and rapids in C/F. It's very effective. Be very dramatic with the dynamics in G/E, the chorus which we learned last week. Coppermine Winnipeg Porcupine is very loud and then suddenly you're very soft for Saskatchewan Columbia. It should feel to the audience that they're riding waves up, up, up and then whoosh! down, then up, up, up agian. 

2. Canon of Joy is not difficult. The challenge for me is getting the right tempo that's not too slow for the Canon and not to fast for the Ode to Joy. The challenge for you is turning the pages (repeat page 5, then DS al Coda and repeat page 5 again, skip to page 8 for the Coda/ending), and not getting bored with your Canon notes. If you get bored, you'll sound sloppy and the opposite of joyful. Try to put some emphasis on beat one every time, so you kind of bounce on the J of joy. We spent some time on page 7 where everyone has the Beethoven. 

3. Song for the Mira is more Canadian content. We will have up to 6 soloists. We're going to omit the oohs, even though they're pretty. We're going to have a flautist play with us, because it's sooo prettty and it will add an element of surprise for the audience, a lovely special sound. We didn't start learning the song, but just looked at what to expect. There is one chorus and one verse in 4 parts, and the rest is solos. However, we might add some choir bits. If you want to get a head start learning this, you can use the recordings on the website. 

4. Hockey Song is soooo Canadian, and our audience will love it. We learned parts, but don't stress over it. (If you must stress, there are recordings of all the parts on the website that you can study) The chorus is so powerful that the rest is more about the words. We'll make sure that the audience hears those names and we'll try to enunciate well throughout. Remember to watch in between the sections for entries. Sometimes, you'll need to wait a little longer. You'll see on page 4, there's a note for the accompanist "vamp if necessary".  I found this definition: "A vamp is a section of music that is repeated several times while dialogue or onstage action occurs. It is usually directed by the conductor's cue." Theatre. You hear choral vamps a lot in gospel music, where the worship leader/soloist tells a story while the choir repeats a short phrase, and sometimes a bridge in a song is a vamp of a phrase, sometimes sung in changing keys that lead to the final chorus or a coda. I love vamps. You'll sometimes hear me saying, "We'll repeat that as often as it feels good; just watch."

5. You'll Never Walk Alone was fantastic! It's one of our most powerful songs. We could perform it today, it's so good. If you haven't sung it with us before, you might want to listen to the recordings on the website. 

We talked about Bill's funeral. We have a tentative date of May 4th, the Sunday after our concert. We are going to sing You Raise Me Up and Anthem, from Chess. There is a sign-up in Events for the Small Group Anthem.

Next week, Tuesday, February 11th

6:30 Alto Sectional: your chance to do extra review of your parts by yourselves

• Blue Skies
• Imagine
• On Eagles Wings
• Shenandoah
• Song for the Mira
• We Rise Again

My Fundraising Thing: CNOY the coldest night of the year

 

We Walk February 22, 2025!

The Coldest Night of the Year #CNOY is a winterrific family-friendly fundraising walk in support of local charities. Let’s change the tune for people experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness... because it’s cold out there.

I've been participating in this walk since 2017. I have quite a collection of toques. Every Year there's a different toque that you can get if you raise $150 or more. (see below)

It's cold out there. Again this February, together with thousands of Canadians across the country, I'll be walking and fundraising to support people and families experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness in my community.

In Newmarket, we support Inn From The Cold.

 "Inn From the Cold collaborates with individuals experiencing homelessness, supporting them on their path to stability through a comprehensive array of services and programs that include daily drop-in facilities, emergency housing/shelter, employment social enterprises, transitional housing, and permanent housing solutions. A continuum of services from basic needs to securing housing assists our clients on their journey to wellness and self-sufficiency."

Here is something you can do about homelessness. Help me fundraise, or come and walk with me.

Here's a link to my fundraising page.

https://walk.w-ith.me/Renate

Please, give generously by clicking the "Donate Now" button on my page. Thanks!

.

TONIGHT CANCELLED -Tuesday, January 28th, 2025

 

It was cool! YRCC at Ray Twinney on Centre Ice

Sunday, January 26th, 2025

We had such a cool experience, singing O Canada on centre ice at a hocky game at Ray Twinney in Newmarket! Whooooo!

There's a nice picture of us by Greg King of Newmarket Today, see below. Here's a link to the article.

There's also a little video that captures the moment I cut off the audience at the end of O Canada, part of a video montage posted by the Toronto Jr. A Canadiens on Instagram.

YRCC 2025 Rehearsal Review January 21

Wow! I'm very late with my rehearsal review. I do apologize. 

We had a very productive rehearsal, even though we had to quickly add O Canada, with sheet music on our phones. We're singing O Canada at a hockey game at Ray Twinney on Sunday. It's a promotional and fundraising game called "The battle of Yonge Street" The Ontario Junior Hockey League is hoping that Newmarket will be home to one of their teams. The Aurora Tigers will play the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. Sopranos from Denison High School will join us as will Marianne, their teacher, who sang with us at our rehearsal. I'm told she has a beautiful voice. The altos are happy she's joining them to sing O Canada on Sunday. She sings with a choir in Toronto (can't remember which one). 

Read More Here

It will be good to have O Canada in our binders. I think we should keep it and sing it from time to time to remember to stand on guard for our beautiful nation. 

1. Wonderful World was our warm-up song. We did the briefest warm-up because we took a long time to get started.

2. O Canada. Tenors, Basses, and Altos, please practise with the recordings on the website. Sopranos have the melody throughout. Let's see if a big ending sounds good when we rehearse on Sunday. 

3. Shenandoah: We started at the very beginning, a very good place to start. We learned our ooohs, and then we sang through sight-reading.

4. All the Little Rivers of Canada: We learned the chorus at section D. 

5. Hockey Song: We learned the chorus at section B, and sang every chorus in the song, and then sang the ending. 

6. On Eagles Wings: We also learned the chorus and sang every chorus in the song. We stared by looking at the chorus at 43 and 61 where one group sings the chorus and the other sings long notes in harmony. Tenors and Basses, be sure not to go straight to the melody note when you turn the page after "And he will raise you...", on page 60. Make yourself a note that it's a high harmony note. We'll have to review the "Make you to shine like the sun" parts next time.

7. Hallelujah: We spent a moment on all the parts right after the first solo (we're going to sing it with solos this year- let me know if you'd like to sing one of them). "It goes like this" remember, is different form the versions on the radio. And, the sopranos do not have the melody. Tenors have the melody here. We'll need to sing a little softer so that we can hear them. 

8. You Raise Me Up: We're going to sing this with a solo at the beginning too. Stanley did it for us, and he's done it before. If you'd like to be considered to sing it, let me know. 

Next Tuesday, January 28th:

• 6:30 Small Group Together Wherever We Go (Sopranos and Altos) Please sign up on the website. I'd like to see at least 6 women in this group and up to 12. 
• All the Little Rivers of Canada
• Canon of Joy
• Hockey Song
• On Eagles Wings
• Song for the Mira
• You'll Never Walk Alone

YRCC Performing O Canada Jan. 26 at Newmarket JHL Hockey Game

Tomorrow,  Sunday, January 26th, we meet at 3:30 inside the main entrance to find our rehearsal spot at the Ray Twinney Recreation Centre. 

You'll be wearing your white top and black bottoms with your red scarf or tie. You'll want to have sturdy (black) shoes or boots. You'll want to have a layer on top, a black jacket or cardigan that you can open up or take off when we sing. 

You will get your O Canada sheet music to put into your binder.

You will take a pencil and cross out "our sons" and write in OF US. We will sing:

True patriot love in all of us command.

We will rehearse with the 5 sopranos from Denison High School with their teacher Marianne who has agreed to sing with the altos.

We will be on centre ice at 4:25 singing the National Anthem, and the game starts at 4:30. So, you'll be on your way home or into the audience pretty quickly. 

Have fun!

YRCC first 2025 Rehearsal Review January 14

It's my first rehearsal review of 2025! This is our 30th Anniversary year! 

The YRCC was founded in 1995 as an inclusive alternative to the York Regional Police Male Chorus. You can see quite a bit of our history on the page on the website called Time Capsule. (Click that. It's a link.) It's found on the main/top menu right before the Photo Gallery. The  Photo Gallery is also a fun walk down memory lane. Those pages are available without needing to log in, so you can share them with friends and family. 

Tuesday's rehearsal was also our "festive party" since we didn't have time to celebrate the holidays together before the new year. Happy New Year, Everyone! We had a variety of sweet and salty snacks and some refreshing beverages (no red beer, or any other kind, though) while we caught up with our choir friends, chatting up a storm above the loud party music. 

We didn't do any learning, but sang through a lot of our music, almost all of it, just sitting and singing. We talked about the songs a little and why they're on the list. Mostly, I chose songs that you choristers identified as your favourites. And, I chose songs for their historical importance (choir history, that is) and to create variety in the program. As the 30th anniversary celebration theme, I want to focus on what the choir means to us choir members: joy, escape, friendship, community, contributing/volunteering, pride and purpose, etc. When you are part of our choir, the choir will be a part of you for good, forever.

Here's what we sang:

1. Halelujah
2. Blue Skies
3. All the Little Rivers of Canada
4. Canon of Joy
5. Monday, Monday
6. Shenandoah
7. On Eagles Wings
8. Hockey Song
9. You Raise Me Up

Next week, we start learning and reviewing parts. If you want to get a head-start, you can go to the website and log in to see what recordings we have there, and I've got videos on my YouTube playlist for this season.

Next week, Tuesday, January 21st, we're going to sing:

• All the Little Rivers
• Hallelujah
• Hockey Song
• On Eagles Wings
• Shenandoah
• Wonderful World

Renate's YouTube Playlist for this YRCC season, Spring 2025

 I've started making a playlist every year so that you can find parts recordings or other choirs singing songs we want to sing, for inspiration and to help you learn the songs. 

This 2025 Spring Season is our 30th Anniversary season, so most recordings are of  the YRCC singing our songs, but there are also some parts recordings, and some other videos of our songs for inspiration. 

Renate's YouTube Playlist for this season.

There are some surprises, like this one. Enjoy!

 (I shed some tears, as you can imagine, seeing choristers who've left us.)

Start date for 2025: Tuesday, January 14th

 Just a quick note to remind you that we start next week.

Stay home and rest up. 

This season is going to be big: our 30th Anniversary!

30 Years of YRCC 1995-2025

YRCC PR Role Remains Open- Yours to Create

YRCC chorister, have you considered joining the executive/board? We meet infrequently but also communicate via email and in person at choir. When we meet, it's always a fun and positive experience with wine and snacks and great conversation. 

The PR position is open, and since it's been shared by the rest of us and now Robin (contacting seniors' homes), the responsibilities and tasks are flexible. You can bring your gifts and skills to us and we'll work with you. 

Basically, PR is keeping us connected to the community around us. The stuff that used to be done by a public and media relations person would have been contacting and booking venues for performances (and keeping track of them, details, contacts...) advertising (online and print media), and creating posters and programs and tickets for our concerts. 

Our advertising has been kept low-key for several years because we had a long waiting list for quite some time. And, we were happy to have only limited extra performances, outside of our 2 regular concerts. Our social media presence is primarily for the choristers. 

Lauren, Jane, and Robin and I are taking care of the all of that, but if we had a PR person, you could take over some or all of those tasks if you like. 

Ideally you would be a creative person with an interest in communications, social media, graphic design, and love the choir and singing with us. If you don't want to be a member of the board, that's okay, but we'd love to have a new friend at our meetings. 

I would love to see someone coordinate photography and videography at our performances. We had a member's family take videos of us at concerts for several years, but not for the past decade. Photos are kind of random. Whenever someone shares them, we post them. 

Photos and videos could be used on our website and I would love it if someone took over our Facebook page, and maybe added some other social media spaces for us. I'll keep my blog, but you could post on the website, a blog or vlog could be a cool addition. Our website will soon be getting a make-over, bringing it up-to-date for our current needs. You could help with that, and help with keeping it up. We use a website host that has support, and our website re-design will include some support as well. Whatever you know will help, and you will have opportunities to learn.

Let me know if you have time and interest in doing any of these things, and especially if you feel called to take on the PR position on the executive. 

Still Have Your YRCC Binder?!!! Hand it in asap.

 If you are still in possession of YRCC music and/or your binder, it's never too late to return it. 

Ideally, we get all the binders back with all the music in them at the end of each season. That way, the sheet music can be filed away for future use, and the next season's music can be prepared for each member before the first day of the season, in September or January. 

At the end of a season, there is usually a binder bin on somebody's front porch. This year, it's on Anne Copsey's porch in Newmarket. If you're a current member, you can find her address and phone number in the membership directory on our website. The members listing is only available after you log in, so make sure you have your password handy. 

If you are a past member, you can email yrccinfo@gmail.com and we'll help you out. 

We pay quite a bit of money to have legal copies of music (prints from purchased pdfs or printed scores from the publisher) for every chorister singing. Membership fees help to cover those expenses, but we want our fees to remain as low as possible. 

Thursday Nights On Hold for the Holidays

 

YRCC Post-concert Seniors' Tour Winter 2024

I'm so happy with yesterday's performance at the Renoir! The choir, a good number of you and a lovely balance of parts, sounded excellent, maybe better than on Sunday. I think we were all more relaxed and having fun, and it liberated your sound. Those seniors were very lucky. I love my choir!!!

I am so happy that I agreed that we could do Song for a Winter's Night with everyone singing the two solos. It was beautiful, not as dramatic/special as with the soloists, but it was lovely to have everyone singing. It sounded pretty and powerful, and seeing everyone enjoy that song was heartwarming. The seniors' visits do this for us; liberating and heartwarming.

As always, I had tons of wonderful praise from our audience, praise and gratitude. They loved being able to sing along! You could see it and feel it, but they also expressed it. 

Remaining Senoirs Tour: I need more sopranos, but more everything really, for the upcoming visits. Please sign up and come to sing. You will be so happy that you did! However, of you're sick, you can't come into a seniors' residence/care home. Don't feel bad, just let me know and I'll cancel your "registration" so someone else can take your place. It's fun and easy with lots of sing-along Christmas/winter/holiday songs. 

Binders: Don't forget that you need to return your binder and all music by December 20th. If you can't do that at a seniors' visit, you will need to drop it off at Anne Copsey's house: 402 Silken Laumann Dr., Newmarket. There's a bin by her front door.

YRCC 2024 Rehearsal Review November 19

This past rehearsal was unexpectedly upstairs in the sanctuary at Trinity Anglican in Aurora, where we have our concert! It was cool to be there and Donna got to play a nice real piano, but the pews are not the best place for a choir to sit. So, luckily, Melinda was there to help and together with the tenors and basses who were there early, we gathered the chairs that were here and there and set them up for rehearsing. We did have a chance to use the "stage" for a couple things, but we were still working on stuff quite a bit, so there weren't enough opportunities. Thank you to everyone who helped to move furniture and make the rehearsal work. We spent our time on cleaning things up and made excellent progress.

1. All That Holiday Stuff: Both soloists were excellent. Sopranos, make sure you're ready to come in on beat one of bar 54 at the page turn from 7 to 8. "All that stuff" is special there. Have fun with this song; it's meant to be light and a little wild. 

2. Your Song: Be sure to read the notes you've made about the tricky spots. We've gone over them so many times. You got it on the second try, but at the concert, there's only one shot. 

3. 12 Groovy Days: It's even more fun than All That Stuff, a little crazy and funny. The sign holders are: 8-track=Nadine, 2 shoes=Lynn, 3 headbands=Colby, 4 bugs=Robyn, 5 rings=Jane, , 6 suits=Blair, 7earrings=Peggy, 8 disco balls=Philip, 9 blankets=Kit, 10 doorbeads=Lauren, 11insence=Winston, 12 lamps=Kim. I thought that would be a big challenge, but they did great! It's going to be very effective. (wait 'till you see the actual signs Jane made, which I regrettably left at home). Watch me to stay in time at the Complete Disco section. 

4. Song for a Winter's Night: The soloists are excellent, and we did pretty well on page 9 and 10, but I think we'll have Donna play our parts as we sing instead of singing a cappella. 

5. Santa's Wish: This will be fine. It's a lovely story and it introduces our encore song, which is a huge theme in our concert. Our soloists will have the most work, but they're going to be great. 

6. I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing: I confused the poor Tenors. They stay on Part l with the Sopranos throughout on this song. No moving. Alto and Bass on Part ll. Remember the "that echos on" part is the Tenors on the first echo and Altos and Basses on the second one. Everyone sings the first one. 

Please keep checking the website and calendar for updates about where we're supposed to be and what time, and all that. We do announce things at rehearsals, but there's always a chance you'll miss that moment, busy talking or looking at your music. 

The concert order was emailed to everyone. If you missed that email, let me know. But, you can also pick up the order from the website. 

Next week, Tuesday, November 26 is our run-through rehearsal at Trinity Anglican in Aurora. We run through the whole concert to make sure the order works, to make sure we're standing, sitting, walking with ease and grace, and so that the sound guy, Doug, can figure out how to make us sound best. People who will be using microphones: soloists, small groups, duets, will be coming early-6:00 please. All others come at 7:00 and be prepared to stay late, as late as 10:00. This rehearsal prepares us for the show next Sunday, so we feel confident and look spiffy and polished. 

Put your binder in concert order, so that when you arrive at 7:00, you can get on stage and be prepared to sing one song after the other without searching for the music. It's got to be handy. You might want to put a flag/sticky note on the songs that come after we sit and stand up again, and after intermission. Make sure the flags will not be visible to the audience. 

Tuesday, November 19th 2024: YRCC Rehearsal Moved again

This is a good move and a small one. Trinty Anglican is moving us upstairs to the sanctuary.

That's where we will be performing, and where we're meeting next Tuesday as well!

I've sent an email to everyone. 

See you soon! 

YRCC 2024 Rehearsal Review November 12

The small groups made excellent progress but we ended up starting a little late. We did a very quick physical warm-up, seated, did a couple rollercoasters for a vocal warm-up and started on our work. We did a lot of work!

1. We Wish You a Merry Madrigal: we hadn't sung this in ages, but it was very good! We sang it with accompaniment and then without. We did it! I'd like us to perform this a cappella, to provide the audience with a very different sound. It's a cool little piece. We seem to have lost the parts recordings, so I've inserted by link a recording of a concert performance of ours. Remember to watch at the end, as usual. I conduct in two throuout  (cut time,   ), except for the 3/4 section which is one beat per bar, but the last bar is in four (common time  ). 

2. Peace on This Silent Night: Beautiful and pretty easy. It's in 2 parts. l is ST, ll is AB most of the time. At the beginning, Tenors start alone, then Sopranos are alone at 11. Everyone comes in at bar 23 with a crescendo to bar 27. At the quiet section at 67, S is alone on part l and everyone else sings part ll, Silent Night, softly. We'll ask the audience to sing along at 91, so Tenors have to join Sopranos on part l. I'll cut the audience off for our ending. 

3. Song for a Winter's Night: Lauren wasn't able to sing her solo, but luckily we have a back-up and Robyn did a great job. Bill was absent again, so I asked Philip to try the second solo, and I'm so glad I did. It was excellent. It's so good when someone with a voice I like is willing to sing a solo! Philip will be that soloist, with Bill as back-up. We worked on page 9 again, reviewed the Alto part again. Altos, you can look at your part with the recording on the website for homework. At the top of page 10, the oohs that we turned into words should be very soft and fade away. The Alto melody can be strong. I changed my mind about the last line. All Sopranos can sing that, softly, instead of having the soloists come back for that line. The last note is now an ooh instead of a mmm, and louder. We can try a sfz?

4. I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing: Easy-peasy Part l is Sopranos and Tenors, Part ll is Altos and Basses. We don't have parts recorded, but it's not difficult and many of you know it well. It will be our encore song. There's one part where Sopranos and Tenors divide, at bar 81, the echos part. Tenors have a 3 beat rest in bar 82, then come in with an echo. The Altos and Basses do that last echo. Watch out for dynamics, when to sing louder or softer. 

5. Santa's Wish: Every time I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing comes up in this song, sing melody. Disregard the notes with harmonies. Simple is good. All you need to do is pay attention to when you sing and when you don't sing. The Storyteller will be Melinda with Jane as back-up. Jane did an excellent job singing that solo! The Santa role will go to Colby with Winston as back-up. Winston did a fine job as Santa, very convincing. 

6. Grownup Christmas List: This is going to be Robyn's solo. Cathy is the back-up. Just remember that the solo goes all the way to the first chorus, and that first chorus is very soft. Then at the repeat, the Sopranos and Altos take that note "As" (as children we believe, second verse) and the Tenors and Basses come in on beat one with oohs. The second chorus can be louder, and every subsequent chorus is louder still. We reviewed the bottom of page 7, bars 40 and 41 (tricky) to the end. We have recordings of all parts on the website. 

7. Why We Sing: Cathy will be the soloist. Kim is back-up. Solo goes from the beginning up to the pick-up to 26 where everyone comes in quietly. This will be very dramatic. Just before this we sing When You Believe, with its big drama and big ending. Then we start this soft and clear so that they listen to the words, and we do a straight-up powerful version, with no descant, but a good loud ending that should give us a standing ovation. 

8. When You Believe: Sang it right through to the end but didn't have time to review any parts. It's going to be fantastic!

Wow, did we ever get a lot of work done! 

Next week, Tuesday, November 19th

6:30: Tenors and Basses sectional help 7:15 Christmas Lullaby

Next week is our last learning week. So, we'll get any last messy bits cleared up. Think about what you'd like to review. We will be meeting in the basement of Trinity Anglican in Aurora, where we have the concert, and where we were rehearsing while our room was being renovated. Take a look at the YRCC Calendar, it's been updated. Buy your tickets and pay for your poinsettias. Remember to get your friends and family booked, hook them in with a dinner invitation. They'll be full from the bake sale so it'll be a light dinner. 

• All That Holiday Stuff: Soloist is Melody, back-up is Kit (we need to give her a chance to rehearse it). 
• Your Song 
• Santa's Wish
• Twelve Groovy Days
• Christmas Auld Lang Syne?
• Star Canon??
• When You Believe?
• Song for a Winter's Night?

The week after next is our run-through rehearsal, where we sing the whole concert, small groups and soloists and everything, making sure we can enter and exit with grace and we know where to stand and sit. I'll  make sure you have the concert order before then. Beware: it has happened that when we go through the order, something doesn't work and I have to change the order. Don't panic. For the concert, you'll need to have your binders in concert order. And you will have the final order by the end of the run-through rehearsal. No scrambling to find the music on stage! Small groups and soloists come early to work with the stage and microphones.

NOV/DEC YRCC Schedule: Check our Calendar regularly

Please keep checking the YRCC Calendar for info on where you're supposed to be for the next little while. 

Here's a link

Here's a screen shot:

YRCC 2024 Rehearsal Review November 5

I’m feeling very positive about our upcoming concert. I have to admit, I was feeling a little frightened. I was worried that we wouldn’t have enough time to get all of our songs in shape for performing in less than a month. But, I’m happy with the progress we made yesterday. I was thinking I’d have to scrap Santa’s Wish in addition to For Unto Us. We still have work to do, for sure, but we’re going to be fine.

Partly, the time I spent with the Alto section in our early rehearsal starting at 6:30 helped me to feel better. Those Altos are truly a special group of singers. A little bit of focus on the tricky bits in When You Believe and Song for a Winter’s Night, Groovy Days, and Your Song made a huge difference. Well done, team!

Christmas Lullaby was also much better in our short rehearsal before choir. One thing that made a difference was standing up closer together. Also, having Donna there was a huge help. 

1. After a brief stretching and stress-releasing physical warm-up, we went straight to work on Why We Sing. This is our finale piece, and one we’ve done very often. So, we need to shake it up a little. We’re going to have a soloist on the first section, where we sometimes had 4 soloists. Just one clear voice singing those words will have a special power and tenderness at the same time. We will use little lights on this song, right after When You Believe which introduces them. The soloist alone will hold the light up, and the rest of us will join in after. I’d like to add some movement with this too. I have to figure out how and when. I’d like us to move on the chorus, stop for the “music builds a bridge” part, then start at the chorus again. Maybe we sway two times per bar to match the cut time, or just one per bar? I’ve removed the descant for this season. I want this to be clear and strong, not too showy. I think that the descant is cool, but I want a unified sound instead of a fancy one. 

2. Song for a Winter’s Night is so beautiful! We reviewed page 9 and 10, with some time at the page-turn and top of page 10. Remember that you are singing the words that the altos have, just with your notes, and adding a finishing note on the last word, drifting. You need to watch me for the timing of those words. I’ll give a beat for each word, they slow down somewhat, and we need to be together. You can watch the video linked from the website. It's lovely. The soloists were excellent. Both were the back-ups. This is why we have to always have a back-up soloist. 

3. Your Song had a few messy parts that we fixed! I’m very happy with how well we did. At the top of page 4, before bar 36 on beat 4. It's weird how the I comes on beat 4 and then you have a rest on beat one before the rest of the sentence. Maybe listen to the tenors and basses singing "Show" and count show-2-3 "I". Or, sing your oohs: ooh-1-2-3-I/ or ooh-sho-oh-oh-3-I? Also here, we did a little bit of math. Two eighths equal one quarter. The words "not much but it's" are all equal in length (look at the tied eighths) and on they fall on the off-beat. Middle of page 6, Soprano solo on the word "how" of how wonderful life is. You have to come in strong on that beat 4 too. Think "words-2-3-HOW wonderful". That one happens twice. Altos, Tenors, and Basses, please support this timing but observing that rest accurately-don't hold that note too long! You must stop singing to give the Sopranos time to come in on beat 4. Sing with them "I" in your head. We worked on the CODA too. The notes for "Words" needed fixing, and from that moment on, you need to watch me for the timing. Things slow down and speed up and slow down again. That last note is not P as written but a sforzando piano. Hit the note, come off of it to soft and a quick crescendo-diminuendo. Watch. Watch throughout for those sforzandos. Donna has recorded parts for you. Go to the website to download yours and listen to review. Watch the video and sing along. I'll post the video below again. 

4.Santa's Wish: Soloists tried their parts and sounded very good. We're looking at this song as a solo/duet with a choir singing back-up. We're just the back-up vocalists. This is going to be simpler than written. Whenever the choir comes in, we sing the melody, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing and softly at first, only getting "choral" toward the end. Here, we are interpreting "in perfect harmony" to mean peace and unity rather than musical harmony, so unison is stronger anyway. There's a little bit of special stuff at the end, but no harmonies to learn. Please watch the video of the Tenors singing Santa's Wish, below. It's sweet and it will give you the ooh and ahh part. I'm happy that we're going to be able to perform this. 

5. Twelve Groovy Days: It’s a little chaotic, but that’s part of its charm. Jane is making signs to hold up so that the audience gets the words, which are funny and sweet. That will add a little timing craziness which will hopefully put the audience on our side, feeling our challenges and proud of our successes. I’m pleased with the work the sections are doing on their parts, coming in on time. The key changes are something to look at but not worry too much about. Donna has those under control but you need to listen to her and to each other too. We had to review that “leventh day of Christmas” section. (Complete Disco!) If you’re stressed about it, or missed the rehearsal, listen to the recording please. Boogie down, chicka-chicka.

At break, tickets were sold, for cash and cheque, but some of us waited for the Square machine to pay with a credit card next week. Please be sure to invite family and friends to the show! Buy them tickets in advance to make it easy for them. Paid tickets can be left at the door for people. Pay for your poinsettias too with a credit card next week. 

Liz handed out paper to write your top three YRCC choir songs of all time to help the Music Selection Committee choose our 30th Anniversary season music. 2025 is the 30th Anniversary of the YRCC. You can provide input until next Tuesday. 

Robin has booked our seniors' tour! I'll have those entered on the calendar and in the Events section of the website as soon as possible. Please start watching the calendar for details on timing in the next few weeks, and up to the end of the year. 

Remember to hand in your binder before you go away for the holidays! The Music Selection Committee and Peggy and Anne will be working hard to select and order music for the spring and to fill your binder with the spring music. Please cooperate with this huge task by getting your binder in as soon as you're done (after the concert or after your last seniors' visit). 

Next week, Tuesday November 12th Buy tickets and pay for poinsettias

I want to be able to appoint all the soloists and back-up soloists.

6:30 The Twelve Pains of Christmas (please bring props) 

7:15 Christmas Lullaby

• Grownup Christmas List (soloist)
• Peace on This Silent Night
• Santa's Wish (two soloists)
• Song for a Winter's Night (two soloists)
• We Wish You a Merry Madrigal
• Why We Sing (soloist)

(note: All That Holiday Stuff soloist is Melodie with Robyn as the back-up, When You Believe soloists are Mona and Stanley with Robyn and Blair as back-ups)