Blog: News and Views

A Choral Director's Thoughts on PROMYS '07

As a new teacher full of passion for my career, I am always looking for truly genuine and exciting opportunities for my students. I am always thrilled when an opportunity like the PROMYS program comes along because it means a chance for some of my  singers to have a new and challenging choral experience.  What I love about singing in a semi-professional choir myself is the ability to sing through brand new pieces and experience them musically right from the start. 

I love that my keen singers have the opportunity to take part in a similar experience and have a chance to sing with men from all over Vancouver and the Lower Mainland who also have a passion for choral music.

Though I have sent students to a variety of these types of programs this year (some of the younger boys to BC Boys Honour choir, and a mixed group to BC Youth Choir  and BCMEA Honour Choirs each year), what I love about PROMYS is that it is FREE to young men who may not be able to afford the other opportunities out there in the community.  

PROMYS is one of the best experiences available.  The boys get to sing under the direction of a world class choral director, rehearse amongst men who have talent and passion for their art, and perform in two concerts with Chor Leoni. My girls are all jealous that there isn't a similar opportunity available to them!

These young men are thrilled to be a part of the program and I'm excited for them to bring what they have learned back into the school choral program, to inspire other students and to find the passion of choral music that many of us involved in the choral community consider more a lifestyle than anything else!

I hope to send many more boys to take part in this program in the coming years so that they may experience the exciting and rich choral community that Vancouver and the Lower Mainland has to offer.  I know that this program and others like it continue to inspire young singers and encourage them to continue singing after high school and well into their adult lives.

Taylor Collishaw
(Choral Director - Windermere Secondary School)
(member of Elektra Women's Choir and Sarabande - Bach Choirs organization with Bruce Pullan)

Posted by bruce on October 14, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Filed in: PROMYS | Permanent Link