They've caught us in the web.

Hi Everybody!
I've heard that we should google ourselves from time to time to see what's out there about us.
So, I've googled myself and the choir and I found some nice things. I've shared a couple of them here.
One is a youtube video of the York Region Community Choir singing Hallelujah and another of the Snap article about our concert. There are a few pictures there too. Have a look.
It won't be long before we're singing together again. I can hardly wait.
Yours in harmony,
Renate

Hallelujah

SNAP Aurora - Thank You for the Music

SNAP Aurora - Thank You for the Music

Our Current Executive

Hello Everyone,

Today, I will introduce you to the Executive of the York Region Community Choir for the 2011/2012 Choir Year. We elect the Executive every year at our Annual General Meeting, AGM, in June. 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 and music library.

First of all, our President is Heather Vickers (hvickers@rogers.com). She took over from Steve Loweth, of Mayfair Music, who is hoping to be a very active Past President. Heather is responsible for everything happening.

Our Vice-President is Lauren Solar (laurensolar@gmail.com). She'll be there to help Heather and anyone else on the executive when they need a hand.

Sandra Winters (s_winters@bell.net) has stepped into the gap that Heather left, and is our new Public Relations Committee Chair. She's the one you need to contact if you'd like us to sing for you or if you'd like to give us a free advertising spot. Contact Sandra if you'd like to join us and want more information.

Michele Horton (michelehorton@hotmail.com) is our Secretary/Treasurer, and she does all kinds of wonderful things for us besides taking notes at meetings and keeping track of our money. She is presently the longest-standing member of the Executive.

Trix Verge (trix.verge@gmail.com) is our Music Librarian. 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.

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. Debbie's had our coffee (and tea) equipment and supplies in her basement for many years. She buys good Decaf.

We have a Reading Committe which is not elected, but appointed. They are Heather Vickers, Teija Cumming and Enid Maize. They help choose music and order it from the publishers. They are chosen for their ability to read music and knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses.

Our roles are not all very well defined because we mostly work together, brainstorming and planning at meetings, and sometimes at the beginning or end of our Monday evenings. Being on the Executive is fun and rewarding. From time to time, we work really hard, and then we sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labours with pride.

We'll be getting together next week to make sure everything is in place for September 12th. It's only a bit more than a week away! Can't wait to see everyone!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Two Weeks To Go!

Hi Everyone,

Summer is almost over. The nights are getting cooler and my elder daughter went to school today for Registration Day, also called Welcome Back Day.

It's funny, there was a typo on the school website and it said Welcome Bank Day. That's an appropriate slip. It was mostly about paying fees today. $30 for the student card and agenda, $56 for the yearbook and DVD, other fees for Grade 9's. Soraya's going to be in Grade 10.

Tomorrow, my younger daughter, Victoria will go and see whose class she'll be in. It'll be posted on the door of her school. She's going into Grade 6.

And, tomorrow, Sapphire and I, with Steve's help, will be recording the accompaniments and parts! I'm very excited and nervous. We'd like to have CD's ready for September 12th. It's only 2 weeks away! I'm looking forward to hearing Sapphire play. She's so amazing. And, I'm curious to hear how the new music sounds. It looks really good.

I'm really looking forward to this new season. It's going to be great!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone come back and also to welcoming new people. It's always fun when new people start in September. We'll be sure to sing some of our best pieces to impress them and we'll start learning something new to show how we do it.

Two more weeks!

I'm excited.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Too busy for apps

Hello Everyone,

I get a email newsletter from 96.3, the classical radio station I like. Today, there was a cool article on iPhone and iPad apps for music lovers. I have to share it. Click here to link to it.

I still don't even have a cell phone, let alone an iPhone, but I can dream. I don't think I'd ever leave my room if I had all those amazing things to play with!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

YRCC Calendar

Hello there, Everyone!
I just discovered a relly neat tool: The Google Calendar.
I created a calendar for the choir and named it YRCC Calendar. We can put information about our concerts and our rehearsals here. Invitations to the concerts can be emailed from here. We'll have our resident tech person, Trix, get all the details and we'll make good use of this. The link below will take you to the calendar. We'll try to keep it up to date with useful information. We'll make it public so that you can access it anywhere.

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=7bc9d2sphu4knvj0mpho2nm19k%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Toronto" style="border: 0" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Money and Happiness

Money, it is often said, does not bring happiness; it must be added, however, that it makes it possible to support unhappiness with exemplary fortitude. (Robertson Davies)

It’s a good thing I’m a happy person.

I wrote that quote down in the middle of reading rhe book. I actually stopped reading, put my bookmark in, and went and got paper and pen to write it down. It’s that good, isn’t it?

I’ve started reading Roberson Davies’ Salterton Trilogy. (Love Robertson Davies.) The first book is called Tempest Tost. It revolves around the production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in a small community, Salterton.

My favourite character so far is the music director J

The music director is a happy guy with very little money.

Money would be nice. The alternative to money is dreaming.

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping (Who said that first? The original get going version is attributed to JFK’s father.), but window shopping works too. Spending money is very satisfying, but not entirely necessary. Dreaming, visualizing is powerful too. 

We’re in the process of planning a Mini Choir Executive Field Trip. A trip to Ikea is taking shape. There’s a place to dream in! Walk around the “rooms” and imagine and wish and escape. And, there’s usually something inexpensive that you can buy for even more satisfaction.

Postive thinkers, and Olympic athletes, use Creative Visualization to create postive outcomes. They tell you to "go to your happy place" for pain control. What if that happy place is Ikea?  

We're going to go and dream and increase our happiness.

We'll let you know how it works.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Not wearing makeup

Hi Everyone,

I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and thought that I should put some lipstick on. It was just for a moment, but it made me think.

I was getting ready to go to work, and I liked my hair today. And, my skirt and my jacket were nice and matched my shoes perfectly. Lipstick would have looked good.

I don't usually wear any makeup. If I have a big zit, then I try to cover it up, but I only wear makeup when I'm performing or when I'm going out for a special occasion. Even then, it's usually just lipstick and eyeliner with maybe a bit of eyeshadow. I do wear lipstick sometimes, just because.

The thought that came into my head quickly right after the lipstick idea was that Jeff and Jack at work would never think about putting makeup on in the morning.

Then I thought about my mother. When my mother came to Canada in the 1950's, she was told to wear makeup at work. She was working at an insurance company at the time. She wore lipstick and mascara at work because she had to. At that time, it was ok to insist that flight attendants (stewardesses), be pretty and a certain height and weight, and wear makeup and high heels, etc. I'm glad times have changed.

I could have put the lipstick on. It would have looked nice. But, I'm glad I could choose not to. For my mother and other women who didn't have a choice, and for those who don't feel they have a choice even now, I chose not to.

Thinking about choices,

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Beat the heat

Hi Everyone!

We’ve been having the hottest July ever! It’s amazing, hot and sunny every day.

I’m so glad my house has central air. At our old house, we had a couple of window air conditioners and we also used fans, but it’s not the same. It didn’t quite work and it was very noisy.  I’m so much happier now. Still, I try not to be wasteful, and I keep the temperature set at 25. That means that the basement is cool, the main level is very comfortable and upstairs it’s a bit too hot. I try to continue to use my hot weather strategies from the old house so the house stays cool and the air conditioning doesn’t run all the time.  I’m going to share them with you.

Here are some of my tips for beating the heat:

·         Close the curtains that get morning sun.

·         Open the north and west-facing windows in the morning while it’s still cool.

·         Keep lights off as much as possible.

·         Turn off the computers that aren’t in use, at least the monitors.

·         Cook potatoes, pasta or rice in the morning for salads at supper. Use the fan.

·         After cooking, rinse food with cold water, and put in the fridge immediately. Put the pot with cold water on the stove to cool off the element.

·         Don’t use the stove or oven in the afternoon or evening.

·         Use the BBQ to keep cooking heat outside. Mine has a burner too.

·         Sleep on the lower levels, or use a fan to blow cool air up from downstairs.

·         Wear your hair up off your face and neck.

·         Take a quick, cool shower before bed.

·         Wear a skimpy nightie. Your husband will love it. But, don’t flash the kids.

·         Only use a sheet to cover yourself at night, if that.

·         Avoid going out during the day. Sounds obvious, but we’re used to jumping in the car whenever we think of something we need or want. Wait. Stay home. Later or tomorrow will be better.

·         Take the kids out in the morning or later in the evening. Or go for a walk, or whatever you do outside then- don’t go out in the heat, and keep the house closed.

·         Keep calm, think positively, and move elegantly.

·         Remember that it will pass soon. Before you know it, you’ll be complaining that it’s too cold.

Keep cool, but whenever it’s not way too hot, go out and enjoy the hot sun, safely with sunscreen and lots of water to drink.

Sweat, and swim at a pool or at the beach, have a cool drink with some friends with some fun summery music and think about how much it costs to go away in the winter to someplace that’s hot and sunny like home in July!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

You can sing. Yes you can!

Listen Edith, I know you're singing and you know you're singing, but the neighbours may think I'm torturing you. - Archie Bunker

Archie Bunker said all kinds of stupid things. Luckily, Edith was good-natured enough, and smart enough, not to listen to him most of the time.

I’ve met too many people who have told me that they were told that they can’t sing. Not just, “I can’t sing.” But, “My mom or my teacher, someone said so. So, I won’t sing, don’t sing.”

This really bothers me.

Everyone can sing, should sing. People sing differently. Some will like your voice, your style, and others won’t. We’re not all expected to be Celine Dion or Sarah Brightman, Pavarotti or Elvis. But, when everybody’s singing American Pie or 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, you should join in. It feels good.

Sing in the car. Sing with your baby. Sing to your plants, your garden. Sing when you’re cooking. Sing when you’re vacuuming. Sing when they don’t expect it.

Sometimes during a quiet moment at the dinner table, or while everyone’s reading, I’ll sing a little something. Lately, my little something is: Grab somebody sexy: tell him, Hey!

I feel the same way about dancing.

It bothers me when people don’t dance and say they can’t dance. Bah. Just do it. It feels good. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a good dancer. If they do, don’t let it stop you. Moving to music is heavenly. I take every opportunity I can to dance.

I’m not going on TV to dance with the stars. I dance in my kitchen. I dance in the basement. I dance at concerts. I dance at weddings, all night long.

I got a really great greeting card once that said: Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth. Mark Twain said that first. Smart guy.

Try to sing and dance and love more. It feels good.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Still working on choir stuff

Hi Everyone!

Are you having a good summer?

We're really having great summer weather, aren't we? It would be really hot singing in seniors' homes now!

The choir season is over, but some of us are still dedicating Monday nights and countless hours to the choir.

Filing and inventory

Trix, Sandra, Michele and I worked hard last night emptying the binders and filing the music. It was good getting together and getting it done. Trix and I will be working on the inventory. We’ve got quite a bit done already, but there are the new pieces to add and we want to count all the copies we own. That work will continue during the week. And, next Monday night some of the executive are getting together at Trix’s again to work on that as a team.

New Music

Some of us are busy looking at music to decide what to sing next season, and even further ahead to next spring. We’re hoping to buy a few new pieces for our winter season.  We need some music from other cultures to make our Christmas season more inclusive.  I’m looking for wintery music too.

My family thought I was strange listening to Christmas music and songs about winter a couple of nights ago. But, we’ve got to plan what we’re going to sing, get a binder made up for Sapphire and then set her up to do the recordings of the accompaniments and parts. I’ve got to get my hands on all the new pieces to learn them before I stand in front of the choir in September.

Preparing to teach

Sapphire and I work hard to learn the music before teaching it to everyone else. Supporting us, we have Trix who makes sure we have the music and there’s a copy for everyone in the choir. There is the music committee who seek out and buy new music and top up our sets of old music. There’s Steve with the recording equipment.

Booking and advertising

Other jobs are Sandra’s work to contact venues to book our shows and later our seniors’ home visits. We’ve been in contact with Trinity Anglican already and have our booking for May 5^th, 2012! We’re having a problem with our winter date, so Sandra has her hands full with that. She’s also planning to have a table at the registration fair at the mall in August. She’ll be advertising the start of our season in papers and online all over the place. Carol and Steve are working on a brochure to advertise the choir, with a new logo.

Sing-along project

Trix and I have taken on the job of cleaning up the sing-along music. We’ll tackle the Christmas stuff first. Steve will be helping us out with that. He’s going to source new accompaniments and we’ll make up a new booklet to hand out.

Steve has also offered to work on creating a new spring sing-along booklet for all of us and our audiences.

Labour of love

There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure our choir is the fun and successful organization we are. We love our choir. We have a good time together whatever we’re doing. We’d rather be singing, but we’re happy to do what needs to be done.

It’s a labour of love.

I'll give you a taste of Christmas in the heat of July. Check out this fun piece, called Minka. Check out the whole website for Alfred Music. You can hear samples. Very cool ;)

Keep singing!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day, Everyone!

Main Street and Fairy Lake

I took my girls to Main Street and Fairy Lake for the Canada Day festivities. What a beautiful day, a perfect start to summer: hot and sunny. There were tons of things to see and crowds of people there to see them, lots of people in red and white and lots of flags. The Town of Newmarket had a booth and some nice ladies were handing out little flags, flag pins, and flag stickers.

Music everywhere

I paid more attention to the music this year. At our executive meeting this past Monday, one of the things we talked about was participating in more community events. Canada Day is one of the events we’d like to suggest to the choir. I think it will be great!

Today, we heard all kinds of music all over the place along Main Street and in Fairy Lake. Music makes any event more exciting. Live music is best of all!

YRCC on stage next year

There is a stage on Main Street that would be perfect for us. I took a good look at it. There was a small band playing excellent jazz. Chairs were set up for people to sit and listen down on the street in front of the stage, but people were standing all over the place and walked by too. There should be enough room for the choir to stand up there on stage with Sapphire and the keyboard. I think I’ll have to be on the ground though. We might have to buy a riser.

I hope the weather is nice next year for Canada Day. I think that the YRCC will be singing!

See you there!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Il Volo

Hey, Everybody!

Check out the boy band Il Volo!

Ok, they’re not really a boy band. They’re a vocal group, more like a cool, teenage Il Divo, like the Canadian Tenors or the Three Tenors only cute and very young and cooler. I’m thinking young Josh Groban times three, cuter and hipper than three Andrea Bocellis.   

Pop-opera

Wikipedia calls them a trio of pop-opera singers. On the Il Volo website it says they sing new and traditional, classically-influenced pop songs. It’s kind of like the music that Josh Groban sings that gets on the pop radio stations.

Italian content

I heard Piu’ Ti Penso, a version of You’re Still You which Bill in our choir sings (a big Josh Groban fan), on the radio (96.3 Classical) Monday on the way home from Victor Travel. Love it! I hear Italian spoken at work and hear conversations about places in Italy. So, it felt right to be listening to these guys singing in Italian on the way home. The song is beautiful. Their voices are so strong and their singing so passionate.

Which one is the cutest?

Such amazing voices they have! Each one is distinct, so you can picture them when you hear their voices.

If I were younger, I’d be deciding which one to have a crush on. The one with the smouldering eyes, Gianluca is obvious, so not him, at least I wouldn’t admit it. Ignazio, the chubby one is adorable, sparkles. He reminds me of me (Ain’t She Sweet)!  Couldn’t admit to loving a version of myself. The one with the glasses, Piero, is so different with all those big goofy glasses, my teenage self would probably choose him. I think those glasses will become popular.

Soaring

One of their signature pieces is O Sole Mio. Anna in the choir sings that too. She’s fabulous. I love it when she sings in her native Italian. She glows and her voice soars.

These boys are called Il Volo which means flight. Great name. They soar, and their lives are now spent flying around, sharing their passion with the world. Lucky boys. Lucky world.

Go to their website, find them on YouTube. Follow the links above to discover them for yourselves.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Last concert of the season

Hi All,

That's it. We're done. Hollandview Trail was our last seniors' visit. It was great, wasn't it? What a beautiful place, and what a beautiful audience!

The last concert of the season

The highs are high and the lows are low. This is the emotional one. The last show is special.

We’re all relaxed and in top form, having the experience of several shows under our belts. So, it’s our best show. We’re so hot we’re smokin’.

But, then it’s over. It’s a sad moment when you hand in your binder, give away your music, and it goes into the box. Final. Everyone says goodbye. There are hugs. Someone says, “See you in September!” Then, you realize that you won’t be singing next Monday night, or the next, or the next.

I’ll miss my Mondays.

My baton will have to stay at the bottom of my choir bag. But, I’ll have lots of choir work to do. I’ll be working with the executive and Sapphire to get things ready for September.

 I’ll keep on blogging. Renate's Baton continues. Stay tuned.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

You are what you sing!

Hello Everybody!

Identity

You are what you eat. That’s not new.  I’ve been thinking about my own identity in terms of, “You are what you say, read, and write,” and “You are what you google”( more to come on that another time).

Now, I’m thinking about the choir’s identity. What is the York Region Community Choir? Who are we?

I think we can determine the identity of our choir by what we sing.

Discos and Rockers

When I was in high school, we were labelled according to the music we liked: rockers and discos.  There were also fashions and hairstyles that went along with them. Fuzzy dice! Some people fit very clearly into one or the other. 

YRCC

Let’s see. Looking at the list of the songs we sang this past season, I’d say we were beautiful, fun and Popular!

We seem to like popular music, popular music from the past, that is. So, we’re also old? No way!

Best Concert Ever

The York Region Community Choir has never had a more successful concert than our spring concert last month. We made a bit more money at our Christmas concert, but all things considered- quality, participation, fun, audience-response and revenue- this one wins.

Best Music Ever

One of the things that I heard repeatedly was that the music was excellent, the best ever.  The audience loved hearing all those well-known melodies. We had fun learning and singing songs we love. Choristers have asked for more familiar songs.  

Next

For Christmas, we’ve decided to include music from different cultures to reflect the diversity of the choir and the community around us. So, we’re continuing to build our identity through our music.

We are more than our music, of course.

We love to bake and eat too! Ok, there’s more than singing and eating, but that’s the topic of another blog, another time. (In another, maybe I’ll talk about how my Book Club is really a Reading and Eating Group.)

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Autocomplete me

Hi Everyone!

People out there are always trying to figure out who I am and what I want. That’s ok. So am I.

Google Search

Google Search is cool. It knows so much about me. I start typing in the thing I’m looking for and bam! It’s there before I’ve typed the third letter. How did they know? It’s called autocomplete. How does it work? Math. Algorithms, not a team of psychics with runes and cards or secret spies, predict what I want based on what everybody else has wanted, basically.  And, if I’ve signed in to my Google account, it will personalize the search, taking into consideration all the information they have on me, including my past searches.

Facebook

Some people don’t like the way Facebook takes your profile information and places ads in the periphery of your page. I like it. I don’t have to pay much attention to those ads, but I can see what they think I might like. Sometimes something will catch my eye.

A bright red book cover caught my eye when I logged on to Facebook this morning. The title was You Are What You Speak. Well, that’s right up my alley. I love stuff on language use and perceptions. I could guess at all kinds of things this book might be about. I didn’t click on the ad like I’m supposed to. I went to Google. (Is that ok? I figure if I click on the link, the writer will have to pay.) Turns out I think I’d love to read this book. I’ve read a bunch of stuff by and about this author now, clicking around this morning.

I already know a bit about how language use defines us. Sociolinguistics is fun. So, I am what I say and read and write. I know that I am what I eat. I am what I google too.

Think about what you eat and read and say, and also what you google.

Who are you?

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Ain't We Sweet!

Hello, Everybody!

Jokes

I have some jokes that I use when we go out singing with the seniors. It feels good to make them laugh, and it sets the tone for informal fun. I think it helps the choristers to relax too. Sometimes we get a bit nervous performing J

One of my regular jokes is a comment on the sing-along sheets that we hand out. Each song is a page. The songs are numbered, but we don’t use all the songs. So, page one is #4. When announcing the song, I’ll say: “Go to number four. It’s the first page. That’s new math.”

It's about me
Number 4 has its own joke too. The song is, “Ain’t She Sweet.” I’ll say: “Now we’re going to sing one of our favourite songs. It’s about me!” So, we have groans and giggles in the choir and shock and laughter in the audience. Later, we might sing “Hey, Good Lookin’!” I’ll say, “Hey, another song about me!”

Sometimes, I’ll switch it up a bit and say it’s a song about our accompanist. Sometimes, it’s Debbie-“Five-foot two, eyes of blue”.

Thanks
Yesterday, we had our AGM. We met with pizza and treats, and got the business of the choir done. The evening is an opportunity to acknowledge everyone who helps out with the various tasks that have to be done to keep things going. I am the conductor, so nice things are said about me and I get a pretty card and a generous honorarium. I like that part of the meeting.

My song
This year I got the best gift ever. My choir sang for me. It was better than all the Happy Birthdays I’ve had sung to me. It was totally impromptu. Robin put up her hand and said something like “I think we should sing Renate her song.” They sang “Ain’t She Sweet”.

Now, I ask you very confidentially, ain’t they sweet?

Thank you, my choir! I love you!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Dances with seniors

Hello Everyone!

The YRCC had fun last night at Sunrise Senior Living in Aurora. We were upstairs on the third floor with the folks that can’t usually make it to a concert downstairs.  

The music moved her

Some of them were very lively, though. Several of us danced with one of the seniors! She had a great time. I like it when our music moves our audience so much and they feel comfortable enough that they get up and dance. It happens. I can totally relate. I love moving to music and can’t always control myself.

Sit down

Others were not so happy about her getting up and moving. They asked her to sit down. I understand their point of view too. It’s a bit distracting having someone dancing. But, I wanted to say to them, “Get up and join her. Dance while you still can. And if you can’t, at least be happy for someone who still can.” You’d think that seniors would get that. I hoped that they could see that we were fine with it so they could relax too.

We like our seniors’ performances to be casual and fun. We interact with the audience, talk to them and include half an hour of sing-alongs.  Some of our music is pretty impressive and we look great with our black bottoms, white tops and pretty red scarves. Maybe that’s a signal to some people to sit and behave. Or, maybe they want to look at us. If someone is standing, they can’t see.

Distraction

We do hear some funny comments about how we look. Last night, someone pointed out to me that Michael wasn’t wearing a red scarf a couple of times (until I put one on him) and another pointed out that she could see lots of toes (-it was hot). I always tell the choir that they can be more relaxed at the seniors’ homes, and wear short sleeves, short pants or skirts and have bare legs because it’s hot and we’re trying to be informal.

For our public shows, we’re fussy. We have our pretty red scarves with gold music notes. We wear white shirts with long sleeves and black pants or skirts with black hose and shoes. We don’t want anyone distracted by our clothing or shoes. One pair of white socks, or bare legs, and that’s all some people will see.  We work really hard on our music. We want them to focus on that.

Appreciation

When an audience is sitting and listening and then they clap, it’s good. When they are moving and clapping and singing along, and then shout out at the end, it’s heavenly. Yesterday, several people spoke to me after the concert to tell me how much they appreciated it, and to ask if we could come back. Even one of the ones who was sitting quietly and without expression throughout called me over to say thank you.

This time, it was especially important to hear that all went well, because it was actually fairly stressful for us, and did not go as well as we would have liked it to. It was far from perfect. We had trouble with the space, with not being able to hear or see each other, and issues with our equipment. We had a very shaky start. Throughout the program there were challenges. Still, we had some truly beautiful moments.

Sharing

I’m so lucky be the conductor. I get so much more face time with our audiences. I talk to them during the show. I was the first dance partner last night. I’m the one that most people seek out at the end to say thank you to. I try to remember to share that with the choir. This blog is another opportunity to do that.

Don’t worry. They loved us. We worked hard and we were good.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Too old for new tricks?

Hello All,

I just did my piano playing for the day.

I try to play for at least 10 or 15 minutes a day even though my lessons are over until September. I don’t want to forget everything over the summer. Today, I played Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, Go the Distance from Disney’s Hercules, and Time to Say Goodbye. It’s very satisfying to be able to play music like that, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say that I can play piano. I’m afraid it might be too late for me.

Piano Lessons

I started taking piano lessons when my daughter Victoria started, 3 years ago. Our piano teacher has a family plan that was too good not to take advantage of. My older daughter Soraya refused, so I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to have piano lessons as a child, but there was no money, no room for a piano in the house, there were excuses. I did get recorder lessons, and later in school learned to play the clarinet.

Keyboard or Piano

At first, we used the choir’s keyboard to practise. I seem to always end up being the one to store and carry around the keyboard for the choir. So, it was a good arrangement. But, soon we wanted to have our own, and something with more than 66 keys. It was hard to decide to get an electronic keyboard over a ‘real’ piano. I did some research on the internet. Pros and cons were listed, and we ended up with a Yamaha DGX-230 Portable Grand. It has tons of features that we have no idea how to use. If you haven’t decided, here’s a good reason to get an electronic keyboard: when Victoria is playing her songs for the week, she often tries them out using the pan flute setting, or guitar, or several of the other gazillion different sounds the keyboard can make. Variety is good. She plays more.

Memory work

Victoria plays a piece a few times, and she’s got it memorized. She often plays from memory. Sometimes I have to memorize parts of a piece because I can’t look at the music and at my hands at the same time. If a section is really hard and I have to play it a hundred times before I get it, I end up memorizing it. But, I don’t think I’ve memorized a whole piece, and they’re all pretty short still. Now, when I see people play from memory, I’m impressed.

Multi-tasking

I used to think I was good at multi-tasking. I’m a mom. I can do laundry, cook supper, check homework and chew gum at the same time. But, the first time I had to use the pedal, I thought I might never be able to do it. It was hard enough doing something different with my right hand and my left hand, but adding my foot in at the same time, doing something else was frightening. It was hard, but I’m getting better at it. Sometimes, I’m pretty good at it. I used the pedal very nicely today, even adding it in where it’s not marked.

Brain fitness

Sometimes, when I’m learning a new piece, I feel like I must have smoke coming out of my ears. It’s that hard. My brain doesn’t seem to want to handle it all. That’s when I know I made the right decision to take up the piano in my 40s. Piano lessons challenge me in so many ways. There are regular theory tests, which I study for, and surprise quizzes which are scary, but I do pretty well on. And, there are scales and chords and arpeggios. I remember a great deal from high school, but there’s a lot of piano theory that I don’t know. Learning more about music helps me with conducting the choir.

Physical benefits

And, sometimes the muscles in my fingers hurt. I’m using my hands in a whole new way. Now, I can type much better. I have better control of my fingers. I often walk to and from my lessons, so that’s another way I benefit from them.

I’m glad I’m taking piano lessons. I do believe that you can teach an old dog new tricks. I love it when I can play a song that I like. But, I’ll never be a pianist.

Learning to conduct the choir has been very satisfying, and I continue to learn and improve all the time. I am really grateful to the choir for helping me grow in this way.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Driving Music

Hello Everybody!

The other day, my choir friend Heather posted on Facebook that she found herself speeding when the song On the Floor was on the radio in the car. 

Oh yeah. I know how that feels. It’s happened to me many times. And, I love that song too. It has great dancing, bouncing rhythms. A driving beat. The driving beat makes your foot hit the floor. Suddenly you’re flooring it! It’s especially dangerous on the 404. I’ve found myself doing 130km/hr or more!

Driving with classical music

When I’m commuting to and from work at Victor Travel- a 45 minute drive- I usually have very pleasant drives up and down Dufferin Street. I pass by rolling hills and horse farms with 96.3fm providing a lovely soundtrack.

I’m not an experienced commuter. Sometimes I find the driving a bit stressful, and classical music is usually calming. I try not to get distracted or end up speeding.

A greater distraction

But then, like this morning, something worse happens. The music is so moving that I start to cry. Not just cry. My breathing stops and then I sob. It happened this morning when I heard a harmonica play Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. OMG! It was very distracting at first just trying to figure out what that instrument was. Then, the thought of this one guy on his harmonica, playing that awesome music with such skill and passion, with a powerful orchestra behind him, just blew me away. A double forte, and I was breathless. And, I couldn’t control the tears. I wonder what the man at the stoplight thought.

Well, the bottom line is that powerful music is dangerous.

Dangerous music

I had the same problem when I heard Libera for the first time. I was in the car, listening to some pretty music on 96.3fm, when suddenly I was in tears. Those beautiful boy voices soared and I wept. It was so beautiful that I went home and went to 96.3fm’s website and looked up the piece on the playlist. Then, I went to the Newmarket Public Library’s website to see if they had it and went in and borrowed the CD. My family was very patient with me when I played that CD all the time for a few weeks!

I started to think, “Maybe I should contact the radio station. They shouldn’t play music like that during rush hour!” Of course, I can’t do that. Those were things that moved me, but they won’t have the same effect on everyone. My family calls Libera the singing coyotes.  

What kind of music do you play in your car? Do you listen to the radio or to CDs? How distracting is it? Do you find yourself flooring it when certain songs play?

I'd love to hear your stories.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Ballet tours

Hi Everyone!

Did you know that you can travel with a group of Ballet lovers, go on a tour devoted to Ballet?

It’s true.

Travel for music lovers

A quick survey of the web will confirm that several companies offer specialized travel for music lovers: ballet tours, opera tours, jazz tours, and all kinds of classical music tours. You can join a group with your focus, travel together and catch special performances which you can then all talk about.

Tours en l’air

Tours en l’air takes you to Ballet Performances all around the world with your knowledgeable escort, Katherine Barber. She plans amazing itineraries for Ballet Lovers, accompanies and guides the tour group to fabulous locations, into famous opera houses, to the best seats in the house to watch beautiful ballets. Sometimes the group can go to a rehearsal. Informative talks and discussions ensure that you get the most out of your experience.

Travel arranged

CWT Victor Travel and Katherine Barber take care of all the details. No worries. You can have your whole trip arranged: your flights, transfers, hotels, sightseeing, dinners, and of course the best seats in the house at the performances. And, Katherine is there to guide you.

Katherine Barber

Katherine Barber is a balletomane. She’s crazy about ballet, and can talk about it from the perspective of the audience or from inside the tutu because she also loves to dance ballet. She takes ballet classes and teaches ballet history and ballet appreciation courses in Toronto, when she’s not travelling to London, Paris, New York, etc. Check out her travel plans at http://toursenlair.blogspot.com/.

Canada’s Word Lady

You might know Katherine Barber better as Canada’s Word Lady. Katherine was probably first called “The Word Lady” around 1996 when she started her regular segment on word history on CBC radio. She’s an expert on English. She is a best-selling author, writes for the Toronto Star, and is a busy speaker, giving talks on the English Language and Canadian English specifically.

It’s all about me

I run into Katherine sometimes at Victor Travel, and Katherine was a special guest at one of my Reading Group meetings. We were discussing The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester. Katherine was the editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, so she had a unique perspective and great stories.

I studied Linguistics and taught ESL (English as a Second Language) for many years, so that was a thrill for me. I was on the edge of my seat.

Then, I found out that we have something else in common. Katherine sings! She’s an alto in a choir in Toronto. Now, looking at her blogs, I’ve discovered more. We both speak English, French and German.

And the choir: YRCC travelling?

Steve, Heather, and I were talking about arranging a choir “field trip”. We don’t travel to enter competitions like some choirs, but we can go on a musical outing. Why don’t we arrange a trip? We could get a bus, plan some sightseeing and go and see a musical, or a concert with a group discount. Steve recommended going to Stratford to see Jesus Christ Superstar. What do you think?

I think it’s a great idea. We’ll talk about it at our AGM.

Yours in harmony,

 Renate