YRCC 2026 Rehearsal Review Sept. 22nd

Every little cell inside my body was happy! 

We leaned a couple of wellness trends. One is called Box Breathing or Square Breathing. It's a technique that we saw quite a bit during COVID. It's good for calming down anxiety, or just settling down to make sleep come easier (I need this to calm down after choir). We always do some calming exercises at the beginning of choir to wash away our messy days to clear the way for choir. It's good to focus on breathing because singing together in a choir requires good breath control. We did some choir breathing too, and sang the Happy Cell Song for a vocal warm-up. The Happy Cell Song is another thing I found on Instagram. Burch Bear Holistic Care is the account and he recommends the tapping and singing every morning as a challenge. However, there's also an adorable father and son @karegabailey who sing that song together. "Every single (or little) cell inside my body, every single cell is happy and well. (repeat) I'm so glad every single cell in my body is happy and well. (repeat)"

1. Angels Among Us is so good! We learned from the second verse to the end! We noticed that the Oh before the chorus turned into Oo, so please pencil in Oh every time. We also noticed that we were singing a couple lines without looking at them. Bar 15 "I knew in my heart" and bar 39 "someone lights the way" should not sound like "show us how to live". Take a good look. "in my" are the same note, and so are "lights the". Don't go up. Remember to jump to the Coda on page 9 after the second chorus, landing on "love" there at the bottom of page 9. The timing in bars 42 and 43 is not easy. Tenors and basses might want to review those. I'm so happy with the work we've done on this song! Donna made recordings for all the parts and accompaniment recordings too. Here's a link. You need to be logged in to access them (they are just for us to use and cannot be shared/-copywright). 

2.  So Long, Farewell: Get your eraser out. I hope it's a good one. My music had a lot of notes on it (written by me, but completely forgotten). This time, we're doing it differently: Sopranos on Part l and everyone else on Part ll, throughout. We got through the whole thing quickly. We decided to go with "funny" adieu. So we're pronouncing it with a French accent and then yieu in bars 45 and 46 rhyme with that and don't sound like "you". Also, at the bottom of page 7, we'll say Yes? and then No! (or maybe we can change that one to Yes too? We're all legal.) Recordings are here. 

3. Edelweiss:  We just reviewed what we learned last week, 88 to the end. It was spectacular! Link to the folder in case you want to look ahead to the second verse, coming up next. 

4. Song for a Winter's Night: Also a review of last week. We did the first page, the oohs and ahs.  We sang through the rest and just pointed out a few things in the timing of the verses. For example, at the bottom of page 3, notice that "in the silence of my room" starts with 16th notes, very short, quick notes. There are good recordings of parts. Here's a link to that folder. (log in) We will review the oohs and ahs under the verses and page 9 with care, of course. And, we have lots of time before December 6th. 

5. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch: So much fun!  I think it counts as "not yet Christmas" because it's all about that character and not about the holiday. I love this song, partly because it's been sung so often at our concerts. I've loved all the various versions that soloists have given us over the years (Tab's especially) and I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to sing those fantastic funny lyrics. Someone said that children would like this, but I really think it's a treat for anyone who loves language and who's ever wanted to insult someone handily and with flair. Here's the Grinch folder in the Music Library. 

We talked about:  

2027 Concert Dates: We couldn't get our usual May date for 2027. The first Sunday was booked. So, Lauren booked Sunday, May 16th, 2027. And, our date for December 2027 was also booked. Lauren will try to book November 28th or we'll need to look for a new venue. Maybe we'll find a new place and we can get our usual dates (first Sunday in December, first Saturday or Sunday in May). 

 Current Season Dates:  

Tues. Sept. 29 We will start small groups next week, so please go to the Events Sign-Up page on the Member Content Site, and sign up if you want to join the Let it Go small group.  

Tues. Oct. 6 There's Still My Joy small group. (might be sharing the first night with Let it Go)

Wed. Oct. 14 Craft Night at Renate's. Please sign up so I know how many to expect.  

Wed. Oct. 21 Pub Choir Night: Choir Revolution at Market Brewing in Newmarket.  

Sat. Nov. 14 Also please sign up for the November 14 Performance and Holiday Market

Sat. Nov. 21 Possible date to go see Donna in the play Over the River and Through the Woods at Theatre Aurora. Matinee is 1:30 and we could go to dinner after. This is still tentative. We could go on the 15th, for a matinee as well. We have time to decide. 

There will be more small group opportunities and a Tenor/ Bass section rehearsal coming up too. Please keep reading these reviews and visiting the Calendar and Events Signup page. 

A few people have offered their crafts already for our market table. It's going to be great! I'm sure there's room for more. 

Next Week, Tuesday, September 29th 

6:30 Let it Go Small Group 

• Edelweiss
• Hockey Song
• Little Tree (sneaking in Christmas, but again, the character is the focus)
• Mr. Grinch 
• So Long, Farewell 

From Instagram: @askdrsavage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

YRCC 2026 Rehearsal Review Sept. 15th

Woo-hoo! We're off to a great start.

Woo-hoo, btw (by the way) is a singing thing that you do with your voice. We warmed up by doing a few regular sing-song sounds: Wow! and What? and no-no-no-no-no. If you're looking for your "singing voice", look no further and see how wide your range is- really wide, actually. Keep playing with your voice regularly and you'll gain more control over when and how those singing sounds come out.

We met a bunch of new people and had a bunch of choir friends come back again after some time of absence. Welcome!!! We're so happy you've joined us! What a wonderful sound we all made last night! Wow!

1. The Hockey Song: We spent some time going over parts in the chorus. So, now we know most of the song. The chorus repeats 5 times: at B, D, F, and twice at H! There's only a few notes that are tricky in bars 21 and 22. We sang through the whole song, with the help of the folks who know it well. Thank you for leading and thank you for following so well! I'm impressed with the way the new folks blended in. 

2. Angels Among Us: We worked on the chorus of this one too, which is repeated 3 times, but we also learned the first verse! We've done a good chunk of this song now. Here, the new people and the "old" ones were on a more even footing. The verses were sung by soloists last time, so learning the first verse was our first learning done together. It went really well. I'm so proud of all of you. 

3. Song for a Winter's Night: We were all in the same boat here too, learning the first page for the first time. The last couple times we sang this, Donna gave us a piano introduction. This time, we'll do it as written, with an a cappella choral intro. It's hard, but if we learned page 9, we can do anything. Again, I was impressed by the new folks as we sang through the whole song together. We sounded so good! There are some really good recordings of parts to help you learn this song on YouTube. Here are the links (they're also on our website, in the Music Library and Donna has made some for us too): 

Song for a Winter's Night - Soprano 1

Song for a Winter's Night - Soprano 2

Song for a Winter's Night - Alto

Song for a Winter's Night - Tenor

Song for a Winter's Night - Bass

 4. Edelweiss: This is going to be so special! I can't wait for us to learn the whole thing. We started at the end, and it's my favourite kind of ending: super big and dramatic! We learned parts from bar 112 to the end, and then we sang from bar 88 to the end. Powerful!!! Donna has made parts recordings for us so you can sing along with your music binder in front of you to learn or review your part at home. If you are  away and don't have your binder, you can see the pdf saved in the Google Drive Edelweiss folder with the recordings. You can also sing along with the York Region Community Choir of 2014 with this video:

 

Link to YouTube 

 

We talked about: Our Google Calendar if you can use this, it's where I put things first, because I have a Google calendar. We'll  eventually switch to the "Events" Calendar on the new website, and I'll put things there as much as I can. When you need to sign up for an event, that will still be done on the Members Content (old) website where you need to be a member and log in with a password. 

Small Groups will be starting in a couple weeks.  First, Lauren will lead sectionals, Alto, Tenor/Bass at 6:30. Then, starting on Oct. 6, There's Still My Joy, a sad but hopeful Christmas song. SAB. You can sign up for that right away. 

Holiday Market on November 14th. We have a table at the Aurora Community Band Holiday Market at Trinity Anglican in Aurora, and we're going to make and get some music-themed crafts to sell. I'll set a date to make crafts together at my house. It's more than a fund-raiser; it's an opportunity to promote our concert on December 6th, and to attract new members. I'd like us to perform as well, so please put that date on your calendars and plan to be there from 10-2. 

Choir Revolution pub choir night on October 21st. Some of us went in July, and it was excellent, a fun and very different evening of singing. Get your ticket. Maybe we can carpool? Parking is weird there. We were a group of maybe 6 and it was wonderful. Maybe we can get a few more this time?

Donna's play: Over the River and Through the Woods at Theatre Aurora. We'll pick a couple of dates to go together. Let's plan dinner and a play. Nov. 13-21. 

Whenever I spend time chatting with you, it's wonderful. I know we have so much in common besides enjoying singing in the choir. Let's make sure we always have some opportunities to get together outside of our Tuesday nights. 

Next Tuesday, September 22nd

6:30 Alto Sectional: just the altos, going through their parts

• Angels Among Us 
• Edelweiss
• So Long, Farewell
• Song for a Winter's Night 

 
 

 

YRCC 2026 Rehearsal Review Sept. 8th

First rehearsal of the 26/27 Choir Year!

We chatted a lot, registered, got binders, and started singing! We had a short physical warm-up, and then did a quick exercise that I saved on Facebook. "This the way the har-mo-ni-nize". I'll share it in our Facebook Group. If you haven't yet joined the FB Group: YRCC Choristers and Friends, then please do. It's a private group for now, so you need to be invited. 

1. The Hockey Song: We're going to do this as written, the whole song, so you might need to erase some notes from last time. The first time, we're singing Great Wayne Gretz-ky, but the second time we'll replace him with Syd-ney Cros-by. It works. And, it will be a nice surprise. 

2. Shine Hanukkah: We're going to do this one as written too. So, erase your notes about the first and second verse. Sopranos and Altos sing verse one alone, Tenor/Bass join on verse two only. At the end, on the last page, we'll have all sopranos on the top/descant divided, first and second. In the regular chorus, we'll have some altos sing soprano, altos divide too there. This will give us more of that special timing for the big ending. 

3. Song for a Winter's Night: We're also going to do this one as written! We can now learn the whole thing, including the choral intro. No solos, all ahs. So, you might need to erase old notes. For us and for our audience, this will make are repeated songs special, more interesting. 

4. Angles Among Us: Same thing here. We'll take the time to learn the whole song, not depending on soloists to carry the verses. Your old notes will not apply. 

5. Little Tree: My favourite winter season YRCC song! I love this little song. Part I=Sopranos; Part II=everyone else. As written, except we might add some harmony at the end and make it a bit bigger. 

6. Calypso Christmas: Fun! Drums, shakers, jingle bells and attitude.  It's a real calypso Christmas party. Not difficult but satisfying. 

7: Edelweiss: Very satisfying for the Altos! There's a special section that features the altos. That means the sopranos will need to do the ahs along with the bass clef voices. Everyone knows this song, but this arrangement is really special and has a super-big ending. I love it. You will too. 

Others: We had a quick look at a few new songs. Very few of us have sung (or remember singing) So Long, Farewell which is also from the Sound of Music, None of us has sung this new arrangement of You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, and we have a new classical-ish piece called Nutcracker Jingles. 

There is a lot to learn this season, but there is so much that we already know. I hope it will be a good balance for you. We have many of the parts recorded already and Donna is going to make new ones too. We'll review how to find those so you can sing your music on your own. Whenever you miss choir, don't panic. You might be totally fine following everyone who was there, and if not, you'll have my notes here on my blog and the recordings to work with. Please don't come to choir sick. If you have a cough or productive nose, please stay home or wear a mask to protect other choir members, and keep your distance. 

Next week, we're back in our room and we'll have new people starting. Make them feel welcome.  We're going to talk about activities that are planned and things that we might want to add (participating in a holiday market, making crafts, pub choir night, theatre night,...). 

 Here's the list of songs we'll sing next week:

• Angels Among Us
• Edelweiss
• Hockey Song
• So Long, Farewell
• Song for a Winter's Night 

Share this little poster far and wide, please. We're especially hoping to attract some new low voices, having lost a few good men. But, we have room in all parts at the moment. Consider learning the new songs with the Tenors right from the start. It's so much fun singing with Melinda and Jane! 

 

New Stuff for YRCC Fall/Winter Season 2026

I'm getting excited, as usual, for the start of the new choir season. This year, this time, I'm even more excited. We have some new stuff planned, besides the new music to learn. 

First of all, we're going to participate in a Holiday Market! People have been talking about promoting our concerts so that the seats are as full as they were in the past. One reason for the lower attendance is that we used to have 60 members and a waiting list. Since COVID, we've dropped down to around 40. So, we don't have as many family and friends tickets to sell. Some of us older members have family who are less excited about our concerts after having heard them for decades. So, promoting choir membership is also something we're talking about. We need more low voices (men would be nice), as we have lots of good music with tenor and bass parts. And, younger members too are needed. Some of us older members are super-energetic and have more time in our retirement, but others have lost some strength and stamina. Some of our members have 'graduated' to Donna's seniors' choir in Newmarket that meets during the day. Our table at the market will promote the concert primarily, but also membership. How do we attract younger people and how do we attract men/people with low voices? Put your thinking caps on, and if you have good ideas, let us know, or maybe we can form a Promotions Team?

For the market, we can get crafty! I want to have things with a musical theme that we can sell as a fundraiser. Each thing can have a sticker to promote the choir. If you donate your time and the stuff you make, we can use the funds we raise for more promotional activities. I've bought some wooden tree ornaments and little wooden music notes to paint and I have a few other ideas. I'll host a craft night at my house. What ideas do you have?  I know that we are a talented bunch, with lots of hidden talents. 

Secondly, we're going to try to be more social. It's always wonderful when choir friends get together to attend an event outside of choir. We've gone to movies, shows, and recently had a "pub choir" night.  I'm going to suggest we go to the next Choir Revolution night at Market Brewing in Newmarket on October 21st. The one-night choir experience is fun and carefree, and includes alcohol and snacks to purchase. I'd like us to have flyers to give out to promote the choir there. That experience is very different from our choir experience, and it's $25 for one night, while ours is $100 for a year (approximately 20 Tuesday rehearsals plus two shows and several seniors performances: that works out to less than $5) What we have is more than a singing experience; it's a community, an opportunity to belong to something bigger, with different levels of commitment, more than a one-nighter. 

I hope to see the YRCC do more extra-curricular activities! There is also an opportunity to go to the theatre. A group of us went to Theatre Aurora last year to see a musical revue and loved it. We discovered that Donna is connect to Theatre Aurora, and this year she's in a play, Over the River and Through the Woods. We should go! It's the same weekend as our market, but wouldn't that be fun and a lovely reward for our work? I see that they have another musical revue there too, September 18-26, "Yesterday Once More", hits from the 60's and 70's. That should be a good one! Years ago we had a group go to see an opera at the movie theatre. That was so interesting! We also went to a sing-along version of a movie. There is stuff going on in Newmarket and Aurora all the time that some of us might be interested in doing. When we add dinner to one of these things, it's even better. We learn so much about each other and see how much we have in common! Maybe someone would like to lead a Social Events Team?

I hope you are as excited as I am, and are ready for new challenges and lots of fun! The binders are ready, full of good music for us to sing. September 8th is our first night back. Can hardly wait!

Hey, if you just want to come and sing on Tuesdays to escape "reality" for a while, that's fine too! Singing together every Tuesday is the best and most important thing about the YRCC. 

 

Here's a link