Woke up this morning with my mind set on singing... A relief after waking up for the last month  thinking of children in detention and small Thai boys isolated in a cave deep in the mountain.

It wasn't a particular song that woke me, though that often happens and I wake with some song that I've been learning repeating itself in my psyche until I get out of bed and start the work.

This time it was just an urgency to choose some beautiful songs for the fall. Our choir doesn't do choral arrangements of Christmas carols, but I do choose songs that suit the mood of autumn and anticipation of winter. I almost always have the feeling that the songs choose me. This session's songs seem to be about love, mothers, home.

I became enamoured of the new Sting and Shaggy CD called 44/876, named for their respective country codes. I loaded it on my iPod and listened during work-outs at the YMCA.
Last week, Sting's version of Love Changes Everything announced itself, and I began work on a four part arrangement for the choir, inspired by Sting's version ...  but without the horns.     :)
Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vU_YEYukzs

Also, our accompanist, Fiona Evison, has written a beautiful song called Love Lead Us Home.

Then there's the arrangement of Loreena McKennitt's Lullaby.

So many beautiful songs, so little time!

This set of five weeks will be fun and relaxed. 
Truthfully, I really enjoy singing without the impending stress of performance, even though I have achieved a pretty relaxed attitude toward performance. We're all having fun... what can go wrong?
And even if something does go wrong, it's still fun!
And working toward a performance is a great experience, because  you take the song to the next level and achieve that state.... there should be a word for it.... that birds and fish do when they move in unison. It can be ecstatic when you're in the zone. Read Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness Singing with Others, by Stacy Horn. It's a great read.
But there is no performance at the end of the spring session, so we can just relax and enjoy the process. So far, I plan to teach a Zulu song called Zidele Amathambo,  and also a simple version of Harry Belafonte's song, Turn the World Around. And we might finally do  the beautiful Kyrie that I learned 9 years ago and have never taught. Still waiting for the others. So much music, so little time! ...ha ha.
Actually, the songs have a personality, and as they say in comedy, everything is timing. So I wait until the song demands to be taught. Meanwhile, I continue to accumulate more songs, and more songs!
Like Smaug, only my jewels are songs! 

...is that you forget to write them!!

Well, here it is February 2018, and we're starting a new term. Since it's exactly 50 years since HAIR was released on Broadway, and I happen to have a copy of HAIR: a Medley in my music library, I thought it would be fun to sing it together. 
And since everyone enjoyed learning Goodnight Sweetheart last year - doo wop is really fun - we're going to follow that theme... old treasures from 50+ years ago. And most of us are 50+ so it feels appropriate, though I think our younger members will enjoy this music too.

Will we sound like the folks in Young at Heart? If you haven't watched that movie, add it to your list. It's pretty great.

I'm excited about the blend of music that's really fun to sing, along with some serious subjects. We'll sing a song by Laura Sandage that sounds like doo-wop, but was written as a reaction to the death of friend. The lyrics show how shaken she was: "How do I know anything with certainty; How do I know anything for sure. I can STOP! Am I breathing? STOP! Am I listening? STOP! Is my heart opening to love...."

​

Well that was fun!! We surprise flash-mobbed Karen Schlacht's (aka. Karen Croker) retirement party at Coffin Ridge Winery! We arrived singing Forget Your Perfect Offering, then sang the Yeah Song (for positivity), stopped for a glass of wine and cheese tray, and then sang Till We Meet Again before we left. Karen was really surprised... and happy, I think... happy tears?
Congratulations on your retirement, Karen. You deserve some play time!

it's Friday afternoon and I'm missing a workshop in order to rest. nearly 1/4 of our original 40 participants have come down with a bug that's circulating and I'm really, really hoping I'm not getting it. Our performance is tonight and I really want to go! I'm presenting 2 songs: one is a blend of Bambelela and I Feel Like Going On, that I arranged yesterday morning at 6 am, and the other is a song I wrote the previous morning at 5 am.... it's a Gratitude song for the whole choir to sing to our hosts and teachers, Denis, Siobhan and Gloria. So I guess it's too be expected that I'm fatigued. !!    
I just thought of a good name our choir. You all knew before I did that OSSIA just wouldn't work because people can't pronounce it and don't remember it. I'm thinking that Oh Sing! would be a good name, and not that different from ossia..... it has the same starting sound, and it's about the same length so we can use the same logo.
​Try it out:   "What's the name of your choir? Oh Sing!"

AND there are no other choirs with that name yet. What do you think???

This is a photo of our lovely mentors, Denis Donnelly and Siobhan Robinsong. Their dedication and generosity is truly humbling.

It's Tuesday morning actually. I intended to blog last evening but the computer ate my day's collection of sound files (that's much worse than the dog eating your homework) and searched frantically until I found them. Long story, but it has a happy ending. I found them.
They included a 2 hour tape of Dr. Adam Con who is researching lifelong singers, and combining his knowledge of Tai Chi and choral singing!               
We learned about how to use the body for conducting, how to create neuro-imaging in your singers. After 2 hours, our 40 conductor/singers were putty in his hands. He would barely move his hands to create the most subtle variations in sound. Unbelievable!!  Here is a short video of an interview with Adam Con.
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZ9zYyeozk

I met a dear friend from Hornby for lunch at the best vegan restaurant I've ever been to called Be Love, and then we were treated to a couple hours of Laurence Cole teaching us his new work.
Here are a few photos from yesterday, showing the beautiful room and ceiling of the Church of Truth where we meet.

After a 3 hour get-to-know circle and planning meeting yesterday afternoon, Pat Robertson read us a beautiful Rumi poem, translated by Daniel Landinsky, called Isn't that Something?: 
I
like when
the music happens like this:

Something in Her eyes grabs hold of a
tambourine in
me,

Then I turn and lift
a violin in someone else,
and they turn, and this turning continues,

It has reached you now.
Isn't that something ?

Then we all went to dinner together at The Mint on Douglas Street. After dinner, Denis got his guitar and started a song. That started the ball rolling and people took turns coming forward to lead and teach songs. Happiness is people sharing a mutual passion. Isn't that something?

Victoria BC in the rain! Loving it!
Last night was the big Gettin' Higher Choir Concert, with Denis and Siobhan leading, and guest Fintan O'Brien, as well as Laurence Cole singing a fantastic rap song that he wrote about creating beauty out of our failures. And Sara Thomsen was there to sing a wonderful new song of hers. The choir sang two of her songs, finishing with Water is Life. 
Today is a slow day to get sorted out, chat, meet and greet. There are 40 CCLT's from all over the country and the learning started right away over coffee this morning with Tina Filippino, who has huge paperless choirs in Courtenay BC. Quite a different philosophy, and I'm looking forward to more discussion about that.
I want to record every conversation! 
Please post comments and questions if possible. If not, let me know!

Earth Tones is a sweet memory for the singers now, but I hope that the effects of our concert will continue to touch people's lives in small ways. The money raised will be used to build Nokomis/Grandmother Drum, for M'Wikwedong. Perhaps people in the audience learned new things about Indigenous people. Perhaps some will go to programs at M'Wikedong and get to know their neighbours. I know that hearts were touched because people told me they had tears at different moments. I do wish we had a good sound recording... the performing was brilliant. Our choir sounded better than it ever has. Alchemy!! The Drum Circle were incredible! Sylvie and Mike, as always, were wonderful. Miigwetch everyone!