Blog: News and Views
Choral Workshop in Kitchener Aug 18
One never knows what to expect when we're told we're presenting a
workshop. Will there be ten people, fifty? What will Diane ask of the
choir over the 4 hour period?
We
were up early to be on the bus at 7:45 a.m. - well all of us but two,
who will be performing penance at some point in the next day and half.
Penance consists of singing an original song for the choir, and so far
they have been quite entertaining!
Our workshop today had one
hundred attendees from as far away as Albany, New York, Massachusetts
Charlottetown, Japan, Ottawa and New England, and within that 100 were
representatives from forty-six different choirs, including a large
contingent of guys from the Amabile Youth Choir from London, Ontario!
Obviously people are interested in just what Chor Leoni does and how we
do it.
We did vocal warm ups together, performed a few
selections, and then spread out to sit amongst the attendees, creating
a large SATB choir (heavily weighted towards the male end of the
spectrum) to sing together.
Bill LaBron, the host and organizer
of the event kept us all moving along. It was great to meet so many
people interested in all things Chor Leoni. After a coffee break Diane
was made an honorary life-time member of the Association of Male Choirs
of Ontario.
Later we divided into smaller groups. I was with the
Choir Administration, Board Structure, and Publicity topic. Pete, David
and I as presenters thought we'd get an early chance at the lunch-time
beer only to discover that this was a very popular topic. We had people
from organizations that were 45 years old to choirs that had not yet
founded their first board of directors peppering with questions. It was
obvious after our twenty minutes were up that we could easily have
filled an hour or two on this topic alone. I guess we'll just have to
come back.
Upon reconvening, our small groups wowed them with
performances of The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane, Sarah, And So it Goes,
and Trinque L'amourette. It was fun to sit in the audience for these
and watch the way the guys interact.
The workshop included a
terrific barbeque - along with ice-cold beer. It was a terrific ending
to a great experience and I hope we get to do another workshop again
sometime soon.
Bruce
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Comments:
Hey Lions!! Diane, you're a lion too!
I've been thoroughly enjoying reading the updates of the tour! Thank you Bruce. Of course wishing I could be there wish you. I think of you guys all the time. Have fun on the last few days and have a safe journey home. I'll be attending a choir rehearsal tonight. An all men's barbershop-type choir called the 'Sydney Harmony'. We'll see what they sound like. I'm open to trying it out, though I know it won't be the same..I'll keep Diane posted. If any of you have leads on some great choirs down here, please let me know. :)
I look forward to the next time I will sing with you great gentlemen.
Best,
Eric.
Posted by: Eric Nelson | August 19, 2007 I 8:17 PM