Singing with Spirit

This morning, the YRCC sang at church for the first time ever. We have sung in churches many times. We always have our public performances in churches, preferably Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora, because the acoustics are great. So, we're used to sounding amazing in a church. But, what we're not used to is being at church together, in the context of a church service- the minister, prayer, readings from the Bible...

We sang for our friends at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Aurora because they asked us to help make their Anniversary Sunday special. We've sung for a couple of other events for them in the past. They always give us free use of their space when we're bumped out of our free space at the regional administrative centre, and a few of our members attend St.Andrew's.

This morning, we sang On Eagle's Wings and You'll Never Walk Alone better than we've ever sung them before. It was awesome, truly awesome. The difference between our warm-up and our performance was huge.

I'm sure that we were all feeling something this morning, something powerful and moving. It came through in our performance.

October 28th review and November 4th preview

Small Groups
Somewhere My Love started at 6:20. And, they're already sounding lovely.
12 Groovy Days met at 6:50 and is almost done!
Farewell to Nova Scotia met at 9:30. Very cool, high-energy song, fun group!
 (Same schedule for next week- plus, Silent Night will meet at break.) 

Warm-up
We did a facial massage that opens up our resonating chambers and loosens and energizes our muscles. We hummed down to low notes, and did some of our usual stuff as well.

1. We sang through On Eagles Wings, You'll Never Walk Alone, and Go Now in Peace for Sunday.
2. We learned the A-men for Sunday
3. We learned the ending for Song for Canada- very cool Ah. Also, be aware that page 12 is not what you expect, starting at bar 107. Remember we're reading the second line from the top here because of the descant part above.
we had a coffee and treats break with amazing Halloween cookies and we had our portrait picture taken
4. We sang through Magic of Winter. It's so pretty! It should be easy to learn, but it would help if you could listen to your part on the recordings we put on line.
5. We sang through 12 Songs of Christmas, our Christmas Medley. It's fantastic! What a powerful ending!
It already sounded excellent because we sang it a few years ago and many of us remembered our parts. This one is not recorded, but we should be able to learn it quickly.

**We didn't manage to start Banks of Newfoundland. Please look at your part and listen to the recording. It's not easy, but beautiful. It would help us out if you could learn as much as possible on your own so that others have someone to follow.

November 4th 
We are meeting in Aurora at St. Andrew's because our room is not available. 
Song for Canada- review pg 12-end
Come, Emmanuel- show off to Sapphire
So Long Farewell- just a read-through
Banks of Newfoundland- last page
Magic of Winter- start learning bar 5-20
12 Songs- start learning

November 4th choir moved for maintenance: stay tuned

We just got word that our room cannot be used next Monday because of maintenance being done at the Admin. Ctr.
We will have a rehearsal, just somewhere else.
We will probably have space at St. Andrew's in Aurora. We're in the process of requesting that space.
Stay tuned. Watch for emails from YRCC and posts on the website, Facebook, our calendar and here.

October 21st rehearsal review- and notes for next Monday

12 Groovy Days met at 6:30- almost done the whole song

We shared some good news and some bad news. We agreed that we are incredibly blessed to be in such a warm and caring group. We warmed up quickly with mi-me-my-mo-mu arpeggios.

We had some technical difficulties but managed very well with Anne Marie on her keyboard and with 2 kinds of recordings. (Always have a Plan B!)

On Eagle's Wings. We added a few altos to the tenor sections where they were overpowered. Altos and Sopranos have to be careful not to overpower the tenors.

Mele Kalikimaka We learned the beginning and the end, and did the whole thing! It's fun.

Come Emmanuel: We learned the last page. Done!

Paul from St. Andrew's was there and taught us an A-men and accompanied us on Go Now In Peace.
Trix will be posting Paul's hand-written notation for the A-men on the website.

We finished learning Calypso Christmas too! The ending is big! Love it!

We sang Somewhere A Child is Sleeping. Mary Ellen did a beautiful job, despite the speedy recording. That song is ready to go too.

The Executive had a meeting after choir. We did concert planning and spring repertoire planning. We'll be order music for spring soon!

We're going to start a few new things next week the Banks of Newfoundland, Twelve Songs of Christmas, and the Magic of Winter. If you have some time, please listen to the Banks of Newfoundland before next Monday. Magic of Winter is also on the website. Twelve Songs is a medley that we've done before, and I'm hoping it won't be too much work. It's fun and has a super ending!

Monday, October 28

Go Now in Peace- just a quick review
You'll Never Walk Alone- ditto
On Eagle's Wings-ditto
Song for Canada (I made a recording of myself singing it so you can hear how the French sounds- I sing the soprano ending. Trix will have that on the website soon.)- we'll learn the ending
Banks of Newfoundland- we'll start at the end, the last page
Magic of Winter- we'll do a sight reading to get a feel for it
12 Songs of Christmas- ditto, a sight reading through

Somewhere My Love is meeting at 6:20!
12 Groovy Days is meeting at 6:50!
Farewell to Nova Scotia is meeting at 9:30!

Singing Tips

I try to give general advice during rehearsals when things come up, but in the past, I've posted music theory and singing tips here, and we've had some theory lessons at the beginnings of rehearsals in the past. We like to sing most of all, so I like to give as much time to singing as I can on Monday nights. You can search this blog for singing and music theory, and there are tons of resources on line. 

I recently came across this good article on wikiHow called How to Sing. Follow their advice, check out their "tips and pointers, and your golden voice will be ringing out in no time!"

 It breaks down into 3 sections: 

1. Setting the Foundation
2. Healthy Singing Habits
3. The Attitude

I like that joining a local choir is one of the first things they mention!

• If you cannot afford a teacher, or do not want the dedication that comes with hiring a professional voice coach, consider joining a local choir.

I also like the illustrations, especially this one about how to pronounce vowels:

Here is a selection of their tips: 

• Breathe with your stomach. Deeply. Imagine the air isn't even getting into your lungs, but going straight to your stomach. If you have to hit a note you find uncomfortably high, lift your soft pallet, not your chin. Your tongue should be pressed against the backs of your teeth. Your tongue shouldn't be curled up near your throat.
• Make a refreshing warm drink by mixing warm water with honey, mint leaves and a squeeze of lemon. This will soothe your throat, but try not to drink really hot water as this will hurt your throat instead.
• Learn to read sheet music. It comes in handy more often then you'd think.
• The more you practice the more you can control your voice.
• While singing, always make sure you breathe regularly - not breathing can make your voice sound forced, horrible and may damage your vocal chords.
• Get in shape. You'll be able to breathe better if you are in good physical health.
• Sing with all your heart! Passion will often make the voice believable and more emotional.
• Drink lots of water. It will do many wonderful things for the voice and is also very essential to your body. If you are sick, pineapple juice may clear the throat of phlegm but don't make a habit of anything besides water.
• Also, press both your lips together to make that brrrrrrrrr sound. When doing this try to go up the scale with notes while making this noise. This helps you practice on keeping your pitch and it helps you produce a more powerful note
• Lie on your back and hold your breathe. Count to 10 and stay calm until you are ready to sing. You will notice your voice is stronger.
• Keep your chin pointed slightly down and your pectoral muscles flexed. Most singers lift their chin up to sing with more power,while it only works temporarily. Keeping chin down not only works better but saves your voice.

Thanksgiving Monday's rehearsal review

October 14, Thanksgiving Monday

Thank you to all who came and made it a great rehearsal!

We were treated to a special warm-up song:
 You're the One That I Want, from Grease!
Thanks to Kevin and Janet for that wonderful offering!

A special thank you to Heather for playing parts for us today! And, thanks to Anne Marie who did it last Monday. Anne Marie, Heather, and Lauren are all sharing keyboard duties while Sapphire is away on holiday. Trix has provided us with Sapphire's recorded accompaniments, so it's been a real team effort. I'm so grateful for all the willing and talented people in our choir who help out and make sure everything is running smoothly so that we can have fun and productive rehearsals! Lots to be thankful for!

1. We sang Go Now in Peace with Lauren accompanying. We reviewed the A-men ending.
2. We learned pages 6&7 and pg 4 of In Our Town in December and sang through with Lauren. Thank you, Lauren!
3. Come Emmanuel is almost done! We reviewed the doos at 28 and 45 and learned parts at 63. 
4. Mele Kalikimaka is also coming along very well. We did the section starting at 56, noting all the short notes and rests. The timing and the notes are different in this section. We sang all the way through and we're all looking forward to singing Very, very, merry, merry Christmas next time!

We had a break with sweets: Daphne brought the most wonderful chocolate truffle things and I brought some simple cookies.

We finished a bit early so that the Farewell to Nova Scotia small group could meet and plan their rehearsals. They will continue to meet after our rehearsals from 9:30-10, except next Monday when the executive has a meeting.

Next Monday, October 21

12 Groovy Days will meet at 6:30.

We will sing:

• On Eagle's Wings (review with recorded accompaniment)
• Mele Kalikimaka (beginning and ending)
• Calypso Christmas (last page starting at pick-up on pg5)
• Somewhere a Child is Sleeping (review with recorded accompaniment)
• Come Emmanuel (pg 10, ending)
• Go Now in Peace (review with Lauren)

The Executive will meet at 9:30.

Thanksgiving Song for kids

If you're looking for a nice easy Thank You song for kids at Thanksgiving or any time, you'll have a hard time like I did finding anything.

So, I made this up for my Sunday School kids. It's the sweet old melody of Jesus Loves Me, which everybody seems to know and love.

I ask the children if they're only thankful on Thanksgiving Day. "Of course not!" I ask how often they should be thankful and they say: "every day". Easy. It's a great thing they learn at church, that attitude of gratitude.

Thank You, God, for Everything
(Jesus Loves Me)

Thank You, thank You I will say
Thank You, thank You every day.
Thank You, thank You I will sing
Thank You, God, for everything!

Yes, God, I thank You.
Yes, God, I thank You.
Yes, God, I thank You.
I thank You every day.

Thank You for the food I eat.
Thank You for the people I meet.
Thank You, God, for songs to sing.
Thank You, God, for everything!

Yes, God, I thank You.
Yes, God, I thank You.
Yes, God, I thank You.
I thank You every day.

October 7th rehearsal and looking ahead to Thanksgiving Monday

On October 7th:

The 12 Groovy Days of Christmas small group started meeting today at 6:30.

We started with massages for a warm-up and team building exercise. Altos with T&B started out better with quick teamwork, but then proceeded to do their own thing while Sopranos followed instructions. We'll have to try something like that again.

Hava Naglia: We will sing through the whole thing twice, as indicated by DC, speeding up and adding percussion and guitar accompaniment the second time.

Come Emmanuel: We went straight to 35, my favourite part. Remember to start quiet so we can build up dramatically to the ff on the next page. We went back to learn the beginning to 35 and then sight-read through the rest. It was good.

Mele Kalikimaka: We learned up to 56

In Our Town in December: We walked through to see where the solos are and where everybody sings. Same soloists as last year. We sang through, but the recording was fast.

Calypso Christmas: We learned pg.3

You'll Never Walk Alone was magnificent!!! We just have to watch our timing in a couple of places. Pay attention to the triplets!

Next Week:

Thanksgiving Monday!

12 Groovy Days is not meeting early.

We'll have a special warm-up. It's a surprise.

We're going to sing:

• Go Now in Peace
• Come Emmanuel
• Mele Kalikimaka
• Calypso Christmas
• In Our Town in December

Solos and small groups winter 2013

Announcing our small group and solo songs:

Solo/Duet Songs (chosen from 8 excellent suggestions)

• I Believe (Janet and Todd)
• Mr. Santa (Trix, Lauren, Jane)
• Ordinary Miracle (Kristen)

Small Groups

• Multi-cultural Silent Night (Anna, Carol, Daphne, Dolores, Galina, Karen, Lauren, Louisa, Mona, Patty, Renate, Sophie, Stanley,  Jytte )
• 12 Groovy Days of Christmas
• Farewell to Nova Scotia (guitar group and vocalists)
• Somewhere My Love (tentative)

and 

Announcing the soloists and back-up soloists for our choir songs:

Solos in Songs (soloist/back-up)

Banks of Newfoundland (Todd/ Michael)
In Our Town in December (Bill/Kevin, Sophie/Trix, Lauren/Tracey, Jane/Janet)
Somewhere a Child is Sleeping (Mary Ellen/Kristen)
Song for Canada (Heather/Melinda, Kristen/Mary Ellen/Robyn)

Also, we'll have 2 instrumental solos! 

Flight of the Bumble Bee (Sapphire)
Red Haired Boy (Kevin and Kevin)

September 23rd rehearsal review

Warm-ups included lip trills and tongue trills and a rollercoaster (oooweeeooo), and stepping and clapping while singing

1. Somewhere A Child is Sleeping is pretty much done!

2. Welcome Welcome Winter is cool! We got to up to 23.

3.We walked through The Banks of Newfoundland. Todd will sing the solo. It's a cappella, so there's no accompaniment. There are lots of ah's.

4. Song for Canada: We walked through. Heather Vickers will sing the first verse as a solo. We all join in at the French part, and everyone sings the top line. We're ignoring the SATB ah's. We looked at that, and discussed the pronunciation. Everyone sings the top line until bar 89. Then, the top line is a descant part which Kristen, Mary Ellen, and Robyn are learning. Everyone else is in the second line, up to the end at bar 114, where things get special We'll talk about that next time.

5. Hava Nagila is coming along well! We're ready to start the second page. Some people were wondering if the H in Hava might be pronounced like the H in Hanukkah, but it's not. The only time we make that 'ch' sound is when it's written 'ch'.

Please sign up for the November 3rd performance at St. Andrew's in Aurora, and for the January 26th Choral Extravaganza, and to join a small group.

Next week we will work on:

Welcome, Welcome Winter
Song for Canada
Hava Nagila
Banks of Newfoundland
The Magic of Winter

Song for Canada: French help

This is a sort of an English-phonetic transcription of the French part of the song, for those of us who get confused by spelling. Where there's a letter crossed out (n), you don't pronounce the letter, but it affects the vowel before it.

Wee 

ka noo vo shawn

Dee za pray zawn

An veu da kor kee dwa romp leer no cur

Pur ple dee vair

Too shawn lay deu mayr

urra vwa zan nif for may kan sel cur

Poor may lon zhay too vo zak son

Oh ra fran 

day kon yay dan son soo lay von

Kin no vwa zon 

som blish on ta eh ra shon ta

Wee 

bell oh zhoor dwee

Vwa mon pay yee

More links to recordings of our songs

In case you're anxious to get started, and can't wait for our recordings, here's some music for you to listen to:

The Hockey Song (scroll down to the song, click on listen with the score-quick time player needed)
In Our Town in December ( it's us! We'll have mic's this year. Remember, the power was out and only came on too late to get stuff hooked up? It was great, except for the solos. Valiant effort from the soloists, though.)
The Magic of Winter (sample from the publisher)
Mele Kalikimaka(sample from the publisher)
Mele Kalikimaka (us!)
So Long, Farewell (just a sample)
So Long, Farewell (choir video- very nice adaptation, getting ideas for us)
Song for Canada (just women, but we'll all sing together)
The Twelve Songs of Christmas (they're really good, eh?)

Banks of Newfoundland (won't help much, except for the general idea of the melody)

September 15th Review and Preview- links to recordings

Here's what we did on Mon. Sep. 15, 2013:

1. Warm-ups included a focus on the core and breathing.

2. On Eagle's Wings is now perfect :) We went over the ending and any other tricky bits with great success.

3. We read through Welcome, Welcome Winter to get a feel for it. It was hard because it was fast. But, there are no repeats and no solos, nothing tricky. Here's a link to the song on the publisher site. Click on the mp3 recording as if you were purchasing it and listen.

4. We read through Come, Emmanuel. It will be a fine complement to Welcome, Welcome Winter. They both have a similar mysteriousness. Here's a link to a YouTube recording of a group doing it a bit too fast and without accompaniment, but it will give you an idea.

5. We read through Somewhere a Child is Sleeping. It has a repeat that goes back to the very beginning, so it's easy to find and Sapphire has a big introduction before we sing. Because it's repetitive, it will be a good song to have a soloist for the first verse. Mary Ellen has agreed to sing it (yay!) and Kristen will be her back-up. It's a pretty song written by Canadian Frank Mills-he's related to us through Daphne and Steve and Mayfair Music ;)
One important thing to note about this piece is that there's an error in its presentation. It's written to look like SATB, but it's SAB. The soprano line is repeated, so altos have to read a line down, and tenors and basses are together on the bottom. Just mark clearly with pencil where you sing, circle it, or cross out the other lines, or whatever helps you (as long as it's in pencil).

6. We learned the first verse of Hava Nagila and it's beautiful! The harmonies are really strong and not hard! We're going to have to work on your pronunciation of Hebrew.
Each section repeats and has 2 endings. But, it's obvious and the song is so well known that you won't have any difficulty in figuring out where to go. We're thinking of adding guitar, drums, and tambourines to this fun celebratory song. Here's a link to a fun YouTube video. Not at all the style we have, but pretty. This link will give you a better idea of the words. Harry Belafonte's clear strong voice is easier to follow. If he can do it, you can too!

Sapphire and I are working on making recordings of our music to post on the website. Stay tuned.


 Next week:

We're going to look at The Banks of Newfoundland. Todd has agreed to sing the solo part (yay!)
We'll also look at Song For Canada. We're going to sing in French!
We'll start learning Welcome, Welcome Winter.
We'll start learning Somewhere a Child is Sleeping
We'll continue learning Hava Nagila.

September 9th, 2013 -first day back

If you missed the first day, here's what we did:

Warm-ups included stretching into the upper and lower ranges.
We sang:
1. You Raise Me Up first. (Love it.)
2. Go Now in Peace (which we're going to sing with the St. Andrew's choir in Nov.)
3. You'll Never Walk Alone (it was excellent)
4. Mele Kalikimaka- just sight-read through and then did parts up to 38
5. Calypso Christmas-just a sight-read through
6. On Eagles Wings (also very good)

Registration went quickly and smoothly. Thank you for pre-registering! It really helped.
We talked about singing at church on November 3rd for St. Andrew's in Aurora. We will sing On Eagle's Wings and You'll Never Walk Alone and then Go Now in Peace with their choir. A sign up event will be posted on the website soon.
We talked about the commitment sheet in your binder. Sign it and leave it there.
The equipment roster will be set up soon.
Please wear your name tags, since we have several new people.


If you want to look ahead to next week, here's what we'll do: 

We're going to look at new pieces mostly, and we'll have a coffee and treats break. 

• On Eagle's Wings
• Welcome, Welcome Winter
• Somewhere a Child is Sleeping
• Hava Nagila
• Come Emmanuel

Winter Theme, Solos and Small Groups

It was great to be back at choir tonight! So wonderful to see you all and sing with you!

Start thinking about solo and small group songs. As I mentioned, our theme is

Canada in December: Celebrate with us!

So, think of Christmas and other holiday songs, celebration songs, winter songs, even escaping winter songs. I think Stompin' Tom Connor's The Hockey Song is perfect. We have 2 general winter songs. More celebratory songs would be nice. Something French, something First Nations, any other culture would be cool, a Christmas song or any holiday song in another language, or written by a Canadian, performed by Canadians,...

We can have 2-3 solo songs or duets and 2-3 small group songs. We've got one piece ordered for a bigger small group of maybe 12-15 people: Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas, with a 70's theme. I've got an SSA arrangement of the Doctor Zhivago Theme, Somewhere My Love in case anyone's interested in that (snow and cold).

Send me your ideas!

Sing out with confidence: open wide and yell "Ricola!"

In this article, "3 Easy Tips to Better Singing", the author suggests a number of things you can do to improve your singing under 3 headings: 

1. Sing With Confidence 
2. Open Your Mouth Wide
3. Breathe With Your Belly

She suggests that to sing with more confidence, you can try to imagine you're on a mountain like the Ricola guy and sing out a hearty "Hello". Of course, you'll need to open your mouth wide and take a good deep breath too. 

I'm going to use this exercise for a choir warm-up. But, I'll start with #3. First, you need to breathe properly, and to do that you need to have good posture. So, we'll stand properly and breathe properly. Then, we'll make sure that we remember to open our mouths wide, relaxing and lowering our jaws and relaxing and opening our throats. Finally, we'll all sing out a confident "Ricola!" and also "Hello!".

Can't wait to try it!

Painting the Nursery Mural

This is the story of my daughter, Soraya's mural.

Our minister had seen Soraya drawing during church, so Rev. Heather asked Soraya if she'd be interested in painting a mural in the Nursery.

It took a while to build up the courage and find the right time, but Soraya finally planned and created the mural this summer.

She drew a sketch, researched how to paint a mural, and together we collected the supplies and spent a week at church. It was an excellent experience.

First, we got the girl in the paint department in Lowe's to help us pick colours for the background and decide how much we needed, and then we went to Michael's and to our basement for the rest of our supplies. We used latex paint, and acrylics mixed with matte medium, large and small rollers, and a variety of brushes and sponges and black marker.

The background was so pretty on its own!

At church, Dianne got us a ladder and the overhead projector as well as some overhead transparencies, and opened the door for us a couple times a day for a week.

We measured and taped and painted and waited. Waiting for layers to dry was time-consuming.

Using the overhead projector was magical. Soraya simply traced her drawing lightly with a pencil as it was being projected on the wall. Well, drawing while standing on a ladder wasn't easy, but the method was simple.

Using the overhead projector was magical.

I was allowed to help with the background (you can see me here touching up the green a bit) and the second coats of animals. It was fun.

Sometimes things looked strange at first.

It was interesting to see how the parts came together as a whole. It took some patience, but was worth it. 

When I first saw the finished lamb, how it was transformed by the final details, I was brought to tears by the miracle of it. 

When the lamb got its features, I was overwhelmed with emotion.

When the whole project was done, I nearly burst with pride. I literally jumped up and down. It was more beautiful than I had imagined. Each of the animals had its own personality and the colours were bright and perfect. 

We cleaned up and put all the toys back in place, and the mural looked like it belonged there, like it was meant to be. I guess Rev. Heather knew what she was doing!

The nursery mural.

It's wonderful!

I'm so proud of my Soraya's signature on her art on a wall at Trinity United Church in Newmarket!

Love your singing neighbour. Love every dancing child.

I read this blog post about singing that was recommended on a Facebook post. It's about the author's father's belief that he couldn't sing because he was kicked out of his church choir when he was young. The author said: "I think his church choir director confused worship with a concert. In her quest for perfection, she left in her wake a little boy who grew up to be a man afraid to open his mouth and sing."

I've grumbled about this before: People being told by someone that they can't sing, and that stops them forever. So many people when asked to sing along at a campfire or around a piano at Christmas say "I can't sing." It's so sad! Very few people (there's a statistic: 4% or less I think) are actually tone deaf. The rest of us -96%- just need to be supported to go ahead and sing (and I would even encourage people with tone deafness to join in on a sing-along. It's that much fun.). If someone doesn't like the sound of your voice, that's their problem. Same with dancing. We're not talking careers, but enjoying the ways we can express ourselves. Don't steal the pleasure of singing or dancing from anyone. Watch what you say. Be kind. Love your singing neighbour. Love every dancing child.

Current Executive 2013/2014

Introducing 

the Executive of the York Region Community Choir 

for the 2013/2014 Choir Year:

The Executive works together with the Director and Accompanist, and the Reading Committee, to choose music, decide when and where we sing, and make sure people are there to sing and to hear us sing, and take care of our equipment, finances, website and music library.The Executive is elected and the Reading Committee, Conductor and Accompanist are appointed. 

Our President is Lauren Solar (laurensolar@gmail.com). She was VP last year, and is adopting the more responsible role this year. Simply put, Lauren is responsible for everything happening. 

Our Vice-President is Heather Vickers (hvickers@rogers.com), who was President last year. She's taking on a more supportive role and will be there to help Lauren and anyone else on the executive when they need a hand.

** Please note:Sandra Winters (s_winters@bell.net) is not able to continue in her role as Public Relations Chair. If you need to contact us regarding advertising, or to book us for a concert, or just need some information, please speak to our VP, Heather Vickers, above, until we elect a new PR person. The PR role is to keep us connected to the community. Choristers, if you are interested in the PR position, let Lauren know. 

Daphne Young (youngdc@rogers.com) is our Secretary/Treasurer, having taken over from Michele Horton. If you want to write us a cheque, make it out to York Region Community Choir, and Daphne will put it in our account. We accept cash too. Daphne will keep our paperwork in order, creating and maintaining records like the minutes of our meetings and accounting stuff. Michele will support Daphne and will continue to represent us when we share condolences and congratulations. 

Trix Verge (trix.verge@gmail.com) is our Music Librarian and Webmaster. She has our music collection in her basement and makes sure we all have music to sing every Monday, and has extra binders made up for guests, or people who are checking us out. If you have a binder of music that belongs to us and want to know how to get it back to us, contact Trix. Trix is the one to go to for help using the website, and she makes sure that it's functioning properly. 

Carol Ford and Debbie Hood are the Registrars. They make sure the membership list is up-to-date and coordinate our Coffee/Social hours, among other things. They will be handling the waiting list. Debbie's had our coffee (and tea) equipment and supplies in her basement for many years. She buys good Decaf. 

Heather Vickers, Teija Cumming and Enid Maize are the Reading Committee. They help choose music and order it from the publishers, shopping in person and on line. They are chosen for their ability to read music and knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses. 

Renate Naghavi (That's me.) is the Conductor/Musical Director of the YRCC. The Conductor chooses a theme and selects music for each season, with the help of the Executive and the Reading Committee, and with input from the Accompanist. The Conductor teaches the music with the help of the Accompanist, and leads the choir in performances. 

Anne Marie Vandekemp has been the Assistant Director, officially and unofficially for at least a decade. Since she is one of the original members of the choir, Anne Marie is consulted on everything from music to venues and managing member politics. Together with Heather Vickers, Anne Marie leads the small group rehearsals. 

Sapphire Navaratnarajah is our Accompanist. She is a talented pianist who helps Renate teach the music and accompanies the choir in rehearsal and in performances. 

Summer Concerts

Last night Soraya, Victoria, and I went to a free outdoor concert at the East Gwillimbury Civic Centre (Leslie and Mt. Albert Rd). The band was Fleetwood Mix, a Fleetwood Mac cover band. I had forgotten what good music Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks made! Fleetwood Mix was a group of 5 excellent performers. They put on a very professional, passionate, fun show. We loved it! And, it was outdoors and free. Summer at its best.

This past Sunday, we enjoyed the free concert at Riverwalk Commons in Newmarket. We hope to manage some more of the Newmarket Music in the Park concerts.

Every Saturday there's music at Riverwalk Commons during the Farmer's Market and we've listened to some fantastic musicians there.

You can go to YorkScene.com to find all kinds of things to do and they've got a page for all musical events. Here are a few links that you might want to go straight to:

 Newmarket's Music in the Park: free concerts every Wednesday and Sunday
E.G.'s Music at Civic Square: concerts every other Tuesday.
Unionville hosts the Markham Concert Band on Sunday nights

We will just keep our lawn chairs, blankets, and bug spray in the car like our old soccer days.

I love swimming

I've had a few wonderful days at the beach so far this summer. It's been incredibly hot and humid, and swimming in a lake is the best way to keep cool. On our camping trip, we went to the beach at Port Burwell- at the town beach and the provincial park beach- and at Port Stanley on Lake Erie. Port Stanley was super! The town is charming and the beach was big and the sand was nice and clean. Closer to home, we enjoyed the clear waters of Lake Simcoe at Willow Beach. It's only half an hour away. Going to the beach reminded me that I love swimming! I love to be in the water. The best way to be in the water is in a lake with a beautiful blue sky above and clear blue water below, but swimming in a pool is great too. So, I've started to swim some lengths at the Magna Pool, and I'm feeling great!

Reading List: Long list for the Man Booker Prize Announced

The long list for the Man Booker Prize was just announced. There's the list below. Apparently, not all of these are available yet. And, I guess the library won't have them all. But, I like having a list like this, even if I don't read many of them.

I also like looking at what the Bookerellas at church are reading. I've read almost all of their books.

I miss my Reading Group. I was in a book club for 15 years. It got harder and harder to get together and finally just ended. So sad. I haven't been able to get started in another group again, even though I've had invitations to a couple of different groups.

I do have an account on Goodreads, and follow what others are reading, but it's not nearly as nice as talking about a book for a couple of hours with friends.

I haven't read any of these. Have you? I don't even recognize the authors, which is good: new stuff to discover.

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw (Fourth Estate)
We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta)
Harvest Jim Crace (Picador)
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press)
The Kills Richard House (Picador)
The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)
Unexploded Alison MacLeod ( Hamish Hamilton)
TransAtlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury)
Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle)
A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)
The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)
The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín (Viking)
- See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/longlist-2013-announced#sthash.awGQjrdt.dpuf

Camping: My final word is "yuck".

I didn't do tent camping when I was a kid. We had a wonderful, simple cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, on the Georgian Bay side. It was heaven. I went camping once with cousins.

I went into camping with my family with a bad attitude. So, I wasn't surprised when I didn't like it the first time. But, I was open to trying again because the first time we went too far for too long and complicated things somewhat with washable dishes and ambitious meal plans. And, my girls loved it. They woke up with smiles on their faces, were happy all day and went to sleep happy.

The 2nd camping trip was way better. It was shorter, in a perfect spot in Gatineau Park, our meal plans were simple and we used disposable dishes, and we concluded our trip with a couple of nights in a good hotel in Ottawa.

Now, I've had my 3rd camping trip and although I've worked hard on my attitude and simplified everything, I still cannot say that I like camping.

This time, it was the mud and mosquitoes and sleeping on the ground (even on a blow-up mattress, I was achy and miserable) that bugged me. We were lucky, we didn't have to set up or take down in the rain, but it rained every night except one. The mosquitoes were awful. The best way to avoid mosquito bites is to avoid mosquitoes. The woods we were in were teeming, so we had to leave our campsite to avoid the monsters, which we did as much as possible. Then, you can cover up. We were in the middle of a heat wave, so covering up was not possible and they bit through clothes anyway. So, we had to spray chemicals all over us and used an Off lamp and citronella candles. Here's an article on insect repellents that says they're not so bad, but yuck. I was achy for several days after returning to my comfortable bed at home. So, yuck is my final word.

However, I'm not the only one in the family so I put our camping gear away where we can find it if we need it instead of putting it all in the yard sale pile.

YRCC sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" (June 2013)

So proud of us for doing this song so well. It was a fun challenge.

Keep Cool Carefully and other thoughtful tips

(Barrie Waterfront from Ontario Trails Council Website)

Summertime is a good time to think about the environment. You're likely to spend time outdoors in nature, enjoying lakes and forests. Feel the love. Remember to do your part to reduce our impact on climate change (or climate chaos, as I've also seen it called).

Think about some small changes you can make every day to do your part to maintain the beautiful natural places that you love. Here are just a few to think about and to start you thinking about other little things you can do to show your love:

House and Garden:

• Use blinds or curtains to keep the sun out of the house to help keep it cooler. If you're just starting your landscaping, plant a big deciduous tree on the south side. And, set your thermostat to 25 or higher. It's summer, right? Open windows in the evening when it’s cool.

• Try not to use the stove or oven when it’s hot outside. Cook and eat outside (BBQ) or serve cold dishes. Plan ahead and cook in the morning before it's too hot.

• Switch to perennials. Find plants that tolerate our summers. You won’t need to water them.

• Container plants need to be watered daily. If you love container gardening, use a rain barrel.

• Hang your laundry out to dry. 

• Take advantage of the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

At Work:

• Wearing a sweater at the office? Speak up. Don’t put up with too much air conditioning.

• Make coffee at home. Drink it out of a real mug and sit and talk to your family while eating breakfast. Pack a lunch in reusable containers. Save money and the planet at the same time, and you'll probably eat better too. 

• Find out if you can work from home some of the time.

• Think twice before printing something. Can you read it and save it electronically instead? 

Holiday Travel:

• Don’t forget your reusable water bottle. You really don’t want to have to buy plastic bottles of water. Have coffee in the coffee shop. Stop. Sit. Talk to the locals. Use real cups. Don't idle in the drive-through!

• Travel close to home. Our part of Ontario is beautiful. Discover Ontario :) 

• Take public transit into Toronto and be a tourist there. 

• If you have to fly somewhere for your summer holiday, consider buying carbon offsets (this can be done formally, through a company such as Tree Canada or Carbon Footprint, or informally by making donations to environmental groups of your choice).

Summer Reading: Music stuff

I found an interesting reading list that I'm going to be working on between my more traditional escapist-novels-in-a-lawn-chair reading.

I've shared it on my Musical Empathy blog because the books are all about music, the brain and the soul. Nice, eh?

Here's a link to my blog post with the list.

BTW If you're looking for a good escapist novel, I recommend The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I just finished reading it and it's awesome!

Are you on Goodreads? Find me there, and we can be "friends".

The choir of life sounds great

"When we pay attention to nature's music, we find that everything on Earth contributes to its harmony."

As the conductor of a choir, I feel this keenly. In the choir, every kind of chorister adds her voice-the sweet, the crabby, the loud, the quiet, perfect pitch and perfect timing and the opposite too- but the whole is not the sum of the parts. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. And, the song is different depending on the perspective of the one who's listening.

What I hear when we perform a song that we've learned is harmony and love. I have put my love into it and it comes back to me multiplied. I don't hear the disappointment of the perfectionist who didn't get every single part right. I don't hear the missing voice when someone chooses not to sing. I don't hear the discord of a sour relationship between 2 sopranos. I hear that I have taught them well, and the strong are carrying the weak. I hear the choir singing the song together and the result is more than pleasing: it is electrifying and satisfying because I contributed well.

I love all the songs. I love the sweet ones and the grand ones, the jazzy ones and the funny ones. The easy ones are great and the difficult ones are great. I love the choristers too.

My choristers don't always understand that a performance went well. They don't have my perspective. They are in the middle of the choir, hearing the wrong notes and wondering about the singers who don't make a sound. They feel their own mistakes as huge distractions from the beauty of the song. I tell them not to worry, to try to relax and have fun. If they're doing their best, then it will turn out fine. Where they are weak, others will be strong. When they listen to a recording of the choir, they are surprised at how wonderful it is.

I see a life lesson in this choir experience.

The better the weather gets, the more I think about being outdoors instead of sitting at my computer. I want to go back to my childhood summer days at the cottage without even a TV, a really simple time spent mostly in the open. There was big open water, dense forest, fields of cows, and gravel roads. There were rocks and there was soft moss and poison ivy. There were storms and there were days when the lake was so calm and silent it was like a sheet of glass. It was wonderful. I am happy that my children also have some memories of that place and that way.

When I was a child, I just lived it and enjoyed it without thinking about it much. When I gave the experience to my children it was with intention and awareness. When I think back on it, I recapture that harmony and it inspires me to try my best and to relax, and to be mindful of my contribution and my perspective.

Origins of the York Region Community Choir

Finally, here is the promised Origins of the York Region Community Choir post. 

The Executive of the YRCC recently did a bit of house-cleaning and found a history of the choir which described the origins of our choir.

“In 1995, after the York Regional Police Male Chorus was formed, Sheryl Mac Phail and Wendy Evenden Loney, female members of the York Regional Police, created the York Regional Choir as a mixed choir which would welcome men and women employed by the York Regional Police as well as members of the surrounding community. By January of 1996, they had a director and an accompanist, and by late spring of that year, the choir performed. At the request of the organizers of the Celebration of the 200^th Birthday of Yonge Street, the choir performed an original composition written especially for the occasion by choir member Roy Hamilton at the Holland Landing portion of the celebration.

In 1998 a choir constitution was passed and the choir became known as the York Region Community Choir.  The first executive was lead by Wendy Loney as President, with Marlene Shruiff as Vice-President, Thelma Evenden as Secretary-Treasurer and Roy Hamilton for Public Relations.“

Since then, the choir has undergone several changes as directors and accompanists have come and gone.  At the moment, there are only a few members from those formative years.  The constitution has been updated but we have maintained a focus on singing a variety of music that reflects the variety of people that make up our choir and our community, as a fun musical outlet for our members and to share the choral experience with the community. We have collaborated with the York Regional Police Male Chorus, which rehearses across the hall from us. We participate in community events in addition to giving 2 public performances every year, and each season we set aside time to sing at several seniors’ residences. 

My baton, my magic wand

As I said, there were some stressful moments at the rehearsals, culminating in moments of utter frustration for me on Saturday before the concert. Walking around snapping at people, 4-letter-words at the tip of my tongue (in a church!), I felt that it would have been nice if my baton were really the magic wand that it sometimes feels like it is. Zap! It would have been nice. Pfzzzt! Bam! There were moments when I felt like a witch. 

Luckily, all of that negativity vanished when I actually picked up the baton and the choir started singing. It was heavenly, and I was transported as the true magic of the music did its work. Thank God for music! I still like to think that there is some magic in my baton. 

Success! Stressful rehearsals really do produce a good show

Well, we certainly had issues during the last rehearsals, but in the end the show was almost flawless! All the messy bits cleared up and we sounded fabulous!

The great variety of music was a smash! People loved all the different kinds of music we sang and there was very little time wasted with moving around. It went as smoothly as possible.

I think we gave everyone there a very entertaining Saturday night with a very high level of professionalism. Honestly, have you ever heard anything better than Kristen and Todd or Janet and the Kevins? And, I can't wait until you hear the recordings of our choir songs. I know that when you're standing in the choir, you can't hear what I heard. Just wait until you do! You'll be amazed!

The bake sale was fantastic as usual. So much variety there too!

Although I'm exhausted and my arms and neck are achy and I needed a nap today, I'm very happy and satisfied. I'm sitting in front of my big, beautiful bouquet of flowers and feeling blessed. Thank you, YRCC!