Tonight's "Broadway on the Peace" concert raised $875.85 for the Soup Kitchen plus several bags of dry goods for the Food Bank. Thank you to the many people who generously opened their wallets in support of these two organizations. It was wonderful to sing for you this evening! Please consider joining the choir next year. Our season will start in mid-September. No auditions. If you love to sing, we'd love to have you sing with us.
Well done, choir members! The comments we've received from the audience at yesterday's Choral Christmas Sing-Along have been so positive. Everyone seemed to enjoy the performances and the opportunity to sing along with well-known carols. The event netted $245 for the the Salvation Army Kettle campaign and a table full of food items for the Food Bank, so we'll definitely do it again next year.
Remember the Rotary Christmas Carol Festival? School groups, church choirs and other groups would get together and share their Christmas music and in between performances, the entire audience would join in an old-fashioned community carol sing along. The Rotary Club has been focussing their energies elsewhere in previous years, so the Peace River Community Choir has stepped up to the plate and is hosting a revival. We're calling it a Choral Christmas Sing Along and we hope it will become as popular as its predecessor. Click here for a poster to print or share on social media Choral Christmas Sing Along Sunday, December 14 3:00 p.m. Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church (10405 99 Street) Donations to the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign or the Peace River Food Bank will be gratefully accepted. Spread the news! Invite your friends and family. We won't be having a rehearsal on Tuesday, November 11 however if you are having trouble with any of your Canada Music Week pieces or want to go over some of our Christmas music, you are invited to my house for a quick sectional rehearsal. Sopranos should come at 7:00 p.m., altos at 7:30, and men at 8:15. Nicky will be on hand the entire evening to play the piano for us. I live on the north end of town, the second house past the ball diamonds on River Road.
I've been asked by some choir members to post some photographs from my choir experience in Austria this summer. In August, I sang in the chorus of the Classical Music Festival Summer Academ, http://cmf.ou.edu/. There were about 100 singers from around the world, mostly United States, plus 50 or so orchestra members and 35 pianists and observers. We sang Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Haydn's Creation Mass. The best part was rehearsing and performing in the Esterhazy Palace as seen in the photos below. Haydn worked for the Esterhazy family for almost 40 years, so we were walking on the same wooden floorboards as Haydn and his musicians would have trod some 200+ years ago. We also sang in the Bergkirche (where Haydn worshipped) and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna (the mass was broadcast over Austrian National Radio). Where will your experience with the Peace River Community Choir take you?
Spread the word! Our new Peace River Community Choir season begins on September 23. As in past years, the first three rehearsals will allow newbies to experience singing in the choir without having to make a commitment to join the group. After that, we require a $150 membership fee. With 30+ rehearsals and performances in the season, this works out to less than $5.00 per night. The fee allows us to purchase new music, pay an honorarium to our director and accompanist, and meet operating expenses such as venue rental, entry fees for Festival and advertising costs. If you or someone you know would like to join the choir but can't pay the fee, please talk to Nicola (director), Helly (treasurer) or me (Joan) about having the fee waived or reduced.
We will continue our tradition of socializing at Smitty's Pub following the first rehearsal of each month. We will also hold our annual "Bring a Man to Choir Night" in order to keep the bass and tenor section strong. We have a great choir here in Peace River. Last year we sang for seniors and the community, challenged ourselves with Festival repertoire, and raised $1167.30 for the Soup Kitchen. We welcome your comments, input and suggestions. Come Sing with Us! What an amazing first three months of the 2013-14 season. We are now over 50 members strong -- the largest membership ever! Not everyone is able to come to every rehearsal, but we still managed to pull off six performances. Then, last Friday, we had the most wonderful Christmas party filled with singing until the wee hours of the morning. This is a great group to belong to. Of course, not all choirs require people to sing, as is evident from this high school Christmas concert video making its round on You Tube. Happy Holidays! We had a great turnout this evening for our second trial rehearsal of the season. If you've been thinking about joining the choir, but aren't quite sure what it's all about, please join us next Tuesday, October 1 and give it a try. Fees are due at the end of the rehearsal. The membership fee of $150 helps pay for our rehearsal venue, our music purchases, honorariums to our musical director and accompanist, and other basic operating expenses. It also shows your commitment to the year so we know how many copies of each piece to order.
You might want to bring a little extra cash next week. It's post-rehearsal pub night at Smitty's -- a chance to visit with other choir members over a glass of wine, beer, or something non-alcoholic. Thank you to the Town of Peace River for donating prizes for our "Bring a Friend to Choir" membership campaign. The green "I Love Peace River" t-shirts generated a few oohs and aahs, especially when we read reason #2 -- The Community Choir!!! Flashlights, frisbees, notebooks, water bottles, and shopping bags, all with the Town of PR name, completed the set of prizes. Everyone has a voice. Singing together is a wonderful way to connect body, mind and spirit. Come sing with us! The sixth season of the Peace River Community Choir begins on September 17. As in past years, the first three rehearsals will allow newbies to experience singing in the choir without having to make a commitment to join the group. After that, we require a $150 membership fee. With 30+ rehearsals and performances in the season, this works out to less than $5.00 per night. The fee allows us to purchase new music, pay an honorarium to our director and accompanist, and meet operating expenses such as venue rental, entry fees for Festival and advertising costs. If you or someone you know would like to join the choir but can't pay the fee, please talk to Nicola (director), Sharlon (treasurer) or me (Joan) about having the fee waived or reduced.
We will continue our tradition of socializing at Smitty's Pub following the first rehearsal of each month. We will also hold our annual "Bring a Man to Choir Night" in order to keep the bass and tenor section strong. Last year, there were times when the women had to work to be heard over the glorious sounds from our male members. Let's keep it up! This year, I will be offering Ultimate Music Theory classes for choir members or other adults in the community who wish to learn to read and write music. The Preliminary Rudiments Prep 1 course will be held Wednesdays, September 25 - October 30 from 7 - 9 pm, and the Preliminary Rudiments Prep 2 course will follow Wednesday evenings, November 6 to December 11. Feel free to share this poster with your friends. I will also be holding Recreational Music Making Keyboard Classes for Adults on Monday nights. We have a great choir here in Peace River. Last year we sang for seniors and the community, challenged ourselves with Festival repertoire, and raised $471.70 for the SPCA. We welcome your comments, input and suggestions. Come Sing with Us! Are there any Community Choir members who would like to go carolling with me this month? I think it would be fun to get a group together and go door to door spreading Christmas cheer! Let Joan know if you're interested. If you don't get the humor of the cartoon, you can read about John Cage's 1952 piece, 4'33", here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3 |
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