Thank you to everyone who sang at Westerleigh PARC on Friday. It went well.
Looking forward to our Dress Rehearsal on Friday. Thanks to the many hands that are making light work on this one!
As noted last Friday, this will really be a “Dress Rehearsal” with the risers in place and going through the program in order. The only difference will be we will adjourn to the audience seats when the moment comes for us to leave the stage for Sweet Scarlet’s set. On Sunday, we will have a quick practice of the move to the chairs in our sound check.
Friday will, again, be a long stand for many. Please be your own advocate and either bring a small stool on which to perch or move down to some chairs we’ll put between me and the choir. I’ll try to find a way for all to sit for part of the rehearsal.
Morna
An Enchor Christmas
Wow! We have sold 240 tickets online for this concert and generated almost $5000 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. The online site is now SOLD OUT. It will be quite a concert! Many thanks to Morna and the Christmas Concert committee for creating such a wonderful event to celebrate the holiday season.
It has come to our attention that some people think that if they have donated to the Food Bank that this is also their “ticket” to the concert. Online tickets are no longer available. We will have a limited number of ticket available at the door for those who think their foodbank donation receipt is a ticket.
We ask all EnChor members to check with their friends and family that they have indeed actually ordered a ticket to the concert and not just donated. If you know of anyone in this situation, please contact Don Blake (dblake@telus.net) ASAP with their contact information so he can inform the Front of House coordinator (who happens to be his wife).
Wow, it’s a tropical storm out there! I hope everyone is staying dry.
Lots to read today. Thanks for being attentive to details.
Here is the final program order for the December 17 concert. I will also post this in the Google calendar along with call times and apparel.
Pieces that you should have in your folder are in bold:
Quintessential Brass – secular Christmas medley
Deck the Hall What Child is This? Singalong: Good King Wenceslas (GCS = Gerry’s Christmas Songbook) Singalong: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (GCS) Halleluia Chorus
Reading: from A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas Auld Lang Syne Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Singalong: Angels We Have Heard on High (GCS) Singalong: Jingle Bells (GCS)
Sweet Scarlet solo set including entrance of Santa Members of EnChor: [Reindeer rap]
Singalong: Silent Night (You don’t have this yet. I will bring Friday) We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Here are some other important details for the day:
Please buddy up with one other singer and decide which of you is bringing 10 sweets on a disposable plate for our audience reception. The other brings a poinsettia to decorate the church. Please tape your name under the plant so you can take it back home later.
Apparel is red poncho/black shirt with fun Christmas tacky stuff during Jingle Bells and for the rest of the show. It would be great if everyone could don this. If you have extras, please bring, and perhaps mark with your name so we can get it back to you.
We would love to have more children at the concert. Please let Susan know if you know of any coming so she can have enough jingle bells to give them. sj_mac@telus.net
Thank you, Valerie, for playing for a carol singalong at the post-concert reception, and to Don Blake for creating the concert program, singalong sheets, Christmas “cards” and many other things.
We could use three non-singer volunteers who are not helping with Front of House and not concerned that they won’t hear the concert. Please email Hazel if you have someone in mind. hazelmackie@telus.net
As last year, we will be signing “Christmas cards” at rehearsal on December 15. On the 17th, each singer will take 2 or 3 and hand them to audience members following the concert.
If, for some reason, you are not able to be on stage for an EnChor concert but would like to attend, you are most welcome (unless sick with something catching!) and you do not have to buy a ticket to see the show! This policy applies to all our regular concerts at which we control the box office. It would be very helpful if you could get word to Lorna Blake that you are coming. lblake@telus.net. And then, I look forward to your “audience feedback”!
Morna
HEADS UP COURTESY OF BARRY HONDA & DEBORAH KEYES
People on the North Shore might have issues getting to PSUC for our Xmas concert, depending upon how quickly things clear after the Lions Gate closure ends at 11am. Lions Gate Bridge and the causeway are closed in both directions starting at 8:00 am. https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/arterials-impacted-in-stanley-park-nov-2023.aspx
My thanks to our Board of Directors who put so much time and thought into planning EnChor’s journey. We are in really good hands.
Next up, of course, is “An EnChor Christmas” on Sunday afternoon, December 17. At this concert, every penny given by audience members is donated to the Food Bank. We can be really proud of this ongoing project.
The Christmas concert committee is meeting tomorrow and we will share all plans for December 17 with you soon. Sweet Scarlet are our special guests. Also, there will be a reception across in the East/West Hall following for the whole choir and audience. We’ll be putting our a call for “seasonal sweets” to the choir for those who like to contribute in this way. Details next week.
Hearing Aid Survey
For any EnChor members who wear hearing aids, whether in rehearsal or not, we’d like some information from you through this survey: https://forms.gle/wpzjzE1X2Qg94vsCA
Please complete this now while you are thinking about it. The information gathered will be used to share experiences between singers and for Morna planning seating arrangements. It is optional whether you provide your name.
If you do not wear hearing aids, please do not answer the survey.
CANDID PHOTOS FOR ENCHOR CHRISTMAS CARD
Don Blake is still looking for photos of choir members/small groups decked out in reindeer horns, Christmas hats, whatever, to adorn a Christmas card for our December concert patrons. Please do this on or at Friday’s rehearsal. Send the results directly to Don (dblake@telus.net)
FROM VALERIE
We have an interesting roster of outreach concerts coming up, including some new venues for us south of the Fraser! Friday afternoon is still the preferred time slot. However you will notice two exceptions to this for the New Year. We are going to sing for a Parc residence in White Rock on Friday March 1st- Oceana Parc. It is a stunning 20 plus storey independent living building right opposite the Semiahmoo Mall. In consideration of the distance, and difficulty in getting back through tunnels and over bridges during Friday afternoon rush hour, we have come up with a novel approach for this concert. They are able to have us perform in the late morning-11:00- and Morna has agreed to drop that rehearsal in order to facilitate this adventure! They can’t accommodate all of our numbers, so we only need about 30 singers to come south that day. Those that don’t come will have the Friday off! If people would like, I can arrange for a group lunch (self paying) at a Brown’s just opposite the Parc after the concert. There would still be time for a walk on the pier before heading home if you wanted. The other exceptional date is Saturday May 11th, a 7:00 pm concert at the Oasis at Elim Village. We sang here once before a few years ago, and this is a beautiful octagonal wooden domed hall used for concerts and community events in the retirement village. These folks love music, and most have grown up singing hymns, they will really appreciate our music making. I’m hoping for a big turnout from the choir to this one. Elim Village is about a 30-35 minute drive from Vancouver, off 160th in Surrey. The other two concerts are in North Van and Delta. Unfortunately, the North Van concert needed to be scheduled on the day of our dress rehearsal for our spring concert. We will start our rehearsal at 9:30 that day, (Friday April 26) and end at 12:00. This should give sufficient time to make it to North Van for the concert. If you find this combination too taxing, please don’t feel you need to volunteer. This venue can only take about 20 singers. All information about the concerts is being put in the calendar section of our secure member website, so that you don’t have to try to remember which weekly email it might have been in! Click on the event and all the information will pop up about who is singing, location, time, repertoire, dress, parking etc.
To assist in planning these concerts we need to know who can participate. Please click HERE to answer a poll on availability.
Encouraging Friends to Attend our December 17 Concert
The very best way for any choir to have a big audience is for its members to encourage their friends and family to come. For those who use Facebook, there is a very simple tool to do this.
Open Facebook
Type “EnChor Christmas” in the search bar. Scroll down to the “Event” and click on it
Under the poster on the right, mark yourself as “Going”
To the right of the Going button, click “Invite”. All your friends’ names will pop up. Scroll down and select people who might be interested. At the bottom, press “Invite”. They will get a message in Messenger that says your name and that you are inviting them to the concert. If some names are greyed out (not available to be selected), that means someone else has already invited them through this Facebook function. This prevents people receiving too many invitations to the same event.
Silent Auction Items for EnChor’s Social Evening
EnChor will again be hosting a social evening for members, family and friends, on Feb 10, 2024. If you were at the fabulously entertaining event held at the Alpen Club in 2020 then you will recall what a fun evening it was, and what a great fundraiser it was for EnChor.
For the 2024 event we are planning more of the same, with lots of amazing talent from your fellow singers, plus a silent auction (which was hugely popular at our last event!), plus more more and more, stay
For the silent auction we need items, so are asking for your ideas and donations. We are happy to accept your contributions individually, or perhaps you could coordinate with your section buddies to contribute as a group! Here are a few suggestions for donations:
– Any items that we can use to create some gift baskets, (the organizing team will put these together), examples:
o Wine!
o Food, nuts, cheeses, coffee, tea, nuts, cookies, anything packaged (ie. not needing refrigeration)
o Chocolate (gourmet of course)
o Candles, lotions and potions, coffee mugs, wine glasses, or anything else that might be great in a gift basket
– Gift certificates to restaurants, stores, attractions
– Tickets to concerts (ours and others)
– Music CDs
– A gift of your time….
o 1 or 2-hour lesson with you (instrument or vocal or some other talent)
o prepare a meal in the winner’s kitchen (are you a great chef?)
· Please check the EnChor calendar for more details.
· Addresses, exact times, wardrobe and singers will be listed in the calendar for each event
DATE
TIME (check calendar for exact times)
TYPE OF EVENT
VENUE
CITY (check calendar for exact address)
Friday, Dec. 8th
2:00-3:30pm
Outreach Concert
Westerleigh PARC
West Vancouver
Sunday, Dec. 17
3:00-4:30pm
EnChor Christmas Concert
Pacific Spirit United Church
Vancouver
Friday, Jan, 26
2:00-3:30pm
Outreach Concert
Augustine House
Ladner
Saturday, February 10
7:00-10:30pm
EnChor Social
Polish Hall
Vancouver
Friday, April 19th
Later afternoon sound check, concert in the evening
Concert with Vancouver Chamber Choir
St. Andrew’s Wesley
Vancouver
Friday, April 26th
2:00-3:30pm
Outreach Concert
Cedar Springs PARC
North Vancouver
Sunday, April 28th
3:00-4:30
EnChor Spring Concert
Pacific Spirit United Church
Vancouver
Saturday, May 11
6:00-8:00pm
Outreach Concert
Elim Village
Surrey
Vancouver Youth Choir Free Tickets
I have 2 free tickets for the first person to contact me at cathybayley55@gmail.com for the Vancouver Youth Choir Concert on December 16th at 7:30 at the Chan Centre.
Wow – thank you for a wonderful performance yesterday! I thought there were many moments in which we were making nuanced music and really in synch with each other. The Lord Byng choir absolutely shone! And what a friendly audience. All in all a lovely afternoon with lovely people. Thank you for your singing, playing, and for encouraging your people to come hear us. I look forward to hearing your feedback on Friday.
We now start the 4 weeks of preparation for the December 17 Christmas concert. You have all the music you need in your folders. I will be changing the order slightly to accommodate a brass “overture” to open and a few other tweaks. In addition to this and guest artists Sweet Scarlet, I am pleased to announce that we will have an excerpt read and acted from A Child’s Christmas in Wales and a fun “rap” about Santa by some of the sopranos and altos. And, yes, a visit from Santa who happens to be Finnish this year! (thank you, Santa!).
John Culter and I will work to decide what November music you are handing in versus keeping for outreach performances. More on that Friday.
Despite the short time between these gigs, I am very confident that we will have the choral rep and singalongs well in hand for December 17 and be able to enjoy ourselves in celebration of the season.
Morna
From Peter and Cathy
Congratulations everyone on terrific concert yesterday afternoon! We had the rare opportunity to be a part of the audience and hear what all our wonderful followers already know about. As we all suspected, EnChor is really good! Morna’s programming, as usual, was superb, and the variety in repertoire all flowed together meticulously. It was so obvious that each and every choir member had worked really hard on the music for this concert. Cathy had 2 women sitting in front of her and after almost every song, they would turn and look at each other and sigh in delight! Evelyn, your playing just added the extra touch to the concert. People leaving afterwards were saying many wonderful things about the whole concert. It was wonderful to have Lord Byng a part of concert as well, and just like last year, they didn’t disappoint!
December 8 Outreach performance at PARC Westerleigh in West Vancouver
Thank you to everyone who responded to the availability survey about December 8. The PARC facility is turning this into quite a Christmas event, including inviting friends and family of the residents. Our call time will be 2:10pm. You will be heading home by 3:25pm.
Soprano – Ann, Rosemary, Gail, Lori, Dorothy
Alto – Kathie M, Hazel, Carol, Susan, Valerie, Heather
Tenor – Chris, Hyo, John, Richard, Graeme
Bass – Barry, Paul B, Paul G, Jay, Peter O
They can fit up to 25 singers, so I would take one more per section if anyone else wants to step forward. Please email me directly at mornaedmundson@telus.net. All details of call time, apparel, and repertoire will be put in the Google Calendar by the weekend. Thank you to Valerie for her organization.
Morna
Pacific Spirit Choir Concert
Pacific Spirit Choir (the choir in West Vancouver, not the church!) is pleased to present our first concert with our new music director, Kevin Zakresky. Many of you know Kevin from his past interactions with EnChor. There are also a half-dozen EnChor singers or alumni in PSC—Val Geddes, Gail Hauschka, Heather Ireland, Debra Keyes, Hazel Mackie, and myself. Barry Honda has also agreed to boost the basses for the last few rehearsals and the concert.
The concert is on Sunday, December 10, at 15:00 in West Vancouver United Church. We’ll be singing the Vivaldi Gloria and the Bach Magnificat, with some sing-along carols, all with full orchestra and professional soloists. More information is available on the PSC home page. Tickets are available from choir members and on our ticketing site.
Thanks for your flexibility on Friday when we realized we were in the sanctuary due to a church function.
Looking forward to Friday’s rehearsal in our usual room. You can use the detailed grid circulated last week when preparing for that. I might sneak in Wind Rising in the Alleys as well, since I missed it last week.
Our audience singalong on November 19 is going to be Blackbird by the Beatles (in C major). We will have music for you. If you need a refresher, please find the track online and listen while going about your day!
Morna
Encouraging Friends to Attend our November 19 Concert
The very best way for any choir to have a big audience is for its members to encourage their friends and family to come. For those who use Facebook, there is a very simple tool to do this.
Open Facebook
Type “EnChor Sure” in the search bar. Scroll down to the “Event” and click on it
Under the poster on the right, mark yourself as “Going”
To the right of the Going button, click “Invite”. All your friends’ names will pop up. Scroll down and select people who might be interested. At the bottom, press “Invite”. They will get a message in Messenger that says your name and that you are inviting them to the concert. If some names are greyed out (not available to be selected), that means someone else has already invited them through this Facebook function. This prevents people receiving too many invitations to the same event.
We are particularly interested in having you “invite” great choral singers you know who are between 55 and 65, as we want them to have EnChor in mind as a possible new choir home in the future.
Don will also have small flyers and posters for you to pick up on Friday. Click HERE for the poster in .jpg format for you to pass on to your contacts and/or post on your Facebook page.
EnChor Rehearsals moved to Tuesdays as of September ,2024
Dear EnChor Members,
At the board meeting this morning, the EnChor board made the final decision that our rehearsals would move from Friday mornings to Tuesday mornings, effective September 2024. This decision was made after hearing a thorough report from the ad hoc committee tasked with ensuring that all members of the choir had an opportunity to make their opinions known about the change. Very little, if anything, had changed from the spring, when a majority of choir members indicated that they support a move to Tuesdays.
Many thanks to Kathryn Nicholson, Jay Black, Lorraine Slater and Heather Ireland for serving on this committee and making the final report to the board.
Although the majority of the choir supported the move to Tuesday rehearsals, we must acknowledge the sad fact that there may be some choir members who are not able to return in September. In spring 2024 we will be asking all choir members about their intentions for returning in the fall, so that Morna can plan repertoire.
I sure enjoyed our time with Lorraine Reinhardt on vocal technique and the rest of the retreat day. Thank you all for making time for this and for your attention. Thanks also to everyone who organized and/or brought things. The flowers were so beautiful and the treats fabulous.
Click HERE for the grid of what we are rehearsing for the next 2 months. Please print this for yourself or have it nearby to refer to. It’s useful when you are preparing for rehearsal and also if you missed and need to catch up. Check in with your section leader if you have musical questions.
I have also made PDFs of my scores of O Loveand Wind Rising in the Alleys. These are being made available so you can write in all the breaths and dynamics if you missed any rehearsals this fall. Thanks for taking care of that before Friday. I will also scan O Magnum Mysterium for you but ran into technical issues with it today.
Several musical things for homework:
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – soloists (one T or B and one S or A) will sing the opening solo and the solo spot later in the piece. I will call on people during rehearsal who are interested in auditioning for this. Please email me before Friday if you would like your name on that list. Thanks.
Sonnet 43 – please work on your own on this before Friday. We will work on it every week between now and November 19.
In the Night We Shall Go In – altos, please look at pages 13 and 14 so this melody is in your bones. Thanks.
O Love – I find the bar and page numbers hard to see during rehearsal. If you do as well, please write them bigger.
Wind Rising in the Alleys – if you are new to this piece, please do work on your own to get the notes and rhythms learned. People who were in Powell River, although we will have our folders up in support of new people, I would love it if you could sing it memorized. I’m sure you can do it!
See you Friday!
Morna
OUTREACH POLL
Planning is underway for our outreach concerts for the 2023-24 season!
Please CLICK HERE to fill out a survey about your availability for each of the events coming up in the next two months. Please be aware that your availability does not guarantee that you will actually sing for the event, as some venues are smaller and accommodate fewer singers. Morna will be balancing the sections, so will have the final decision as to who sings, based on indicated availability. PLEASE RESPOND BY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26.
ENCHOR ARCHIVIST WANTED
As Suzanne indicated on Friday that she is looking for a new Archivist. The task is not huge or very time consuming, but always interesting, and there is lots of support from other singers. Don Blake especially is very conscientious about ensuring copies of posters, programmes, etc. are given for the files. EnChor has a rich history! Can you help?
A warm welcome to two new sopranos: Betty Macdonald on soprano 1 and Sue Magnan on soprano 2. We hope you enjoy being part of our community. Thank you, Ann, for all your work coordinating the auditions.
This Friday’s rehearsal repertoire will be: In the Night We Shall Go In, Sonnet 43, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, You’ve Got a Friend in Me, O Love and, from Gerry’s Christmas Songbook: Angels We Have Heard on High and Good King Wenceslas. New singers, we will also do Wind Rising in the Alleys again. As returning singers know the notes of this like the back of their hand, please spend some personal rehearsal time before Friday learning the notes and rhythms of this robust and exciting piece. Thanks!
See below re: details for our Retreat on Friday, October 20 and pls respond with fun and games if you have ideas.
Morna
How Many Collective Years of Choral Singing Do We Have?
Morna loves to tell audiences that we have a collective total of 2,500 years of choral singing experience in our choir. She’s curious whether that is close to accurate. Please complete a very simple survey, providing your own total years. They do not have to be contiguous. And approximate is just fine! Click HERE to access the survey.
EnChor Retreat – October 20
Our annual EnChor Retreat will take place in the PSUC East-West Hall Friday, October 20, from 10:00 to 3:00. We’re very pleased to have Lorraine Reinhardt join us for a vocal workshop in the morning session. For lunch, we will once again ask everyone to bring their own “main course”, plate, cutlery, napkin and mug. You can also bring a cold refreshment but coffee and tea will be provided. We will have a sign-up sheet for desserts or fruit plates available next Friday, so please think about your favorite finger food recipes and sign up next week! The afternoon session will include some fun activities, and we’re looking for some great ideas, so if you have some, please let either Chris or Morna know. Last year, we all really enjoyed the charades game with the pieces we were working on, but it’s fun to have something new each time. Finally, we would love to have some volunteers help us set up and take down tables for lunch, so that we can move quickly and efficiently from the workshop to lunch, and back to the workshop again.
Thanks again to the Section Leaders for their leadership last Friday. I know that was time well spent. And we’ll do one more such session before the November 19 concert.
This Friday, repertoire will be:
Auld Lang Syne Sure on this Shining Night Padayon Wind Rising in the Alleys Hallelujah Chorus Tabula Rasa A Maiden is in a Ring
We will once again be welcoming several singers for post-rehearsal auditions. Thanks to the Section Leaders and Ken for staying late for this.
As noted at the AGM, Larry Burr is stepping down from his role as Outreach Concerts Coordinator after many years of service. THANK YOU, Larry, for your stellar work! A related note about these Outreach Concerts, as we will soon be sharing with you a few upcoming dates. As you may know, they are generally about once a month, and after lunch on rehearsal days. Most of these are what we are going to name “Small Ensemble Outreach Gigs” as the venues cannot fit the whole choir. To that end, we’ll announce dates, ask for who would be interested, and then I will create a balanced roster. Notice of who is singing will, I hope, be available about 10 days before the gig.
Please remember to check the EnChor online calendar regularly for details about upcoming gigs, dress code, etc. It’s all there at enchor.ca/calendar.
See you Friday!
Morna
FROM THE TREASURER:
First of all, on behalf of the board I would like to thank everyone who has made a donation to the choir during the past year, either as a one-time donation, a monthly donation, or a gift in kind. Your support of the choir is greatly appreciated! THANK YOU!
Next – a gentle reminder that the annual membership fees ($400) are now due. You can pay by cheque (payable to EnChor) or e-transfer to EnChor Choir (alderwols@shaw.ca). I will not be at the rehearsal on Friday, Sept. 29th, so if you wish to pay by cheque you can give it to me the following week. Thanks to all who have already paid!
From Cathy Bayley. Board President
Based on previous consultations and a survey of members, the board recognizes that moving our rehearsals to Tuesdays is feasible for EnChor.
The board wishes to ensure it has received as much considered feedback as possible about changing our rehearsal days, and that all members have a confidential opportunity to give that feedback. To that end, we are commissioning a committee of two board members (Kathryn NIcholson and Jay Black), plus three other choir members to solicit feedback, summarize it as necessary, and provide it to the board. The board is committed to balancing the EnChor Choir’s best interests with the personal and collective feedback received.
The committee will communicate a schedule for private and group meetings shortly, and the board will announce its decision by November 27th, 2023.
________________
The Board has decided that Zoom coverage of rehearsals will be provided as needed for the fall season. As before, notice of intended zoom attendance should be sent to John Smit at least 2 days in advance if possible.
FROM DON BLAKE
I have two tickets for the Music in the Morning Concert on Thursday, October 12 at 10:30 in the Vancouver Academy of Music concert hall, 1270 Chestnut Street. The Isidore String Quartet (https://www.isidorestringquartet.com/) will be performing. Tickets are free to the first person who contacts me by email (dblake@telus.net) AND will be at this Friday’s rehearsal to take delivery.
I’m looking forward to seeing you all Friday morning at 10 for another great season with EnChor! The room will be open at 9:30 for anyone wanting to come early and share your summer news. There will also be music to pick up (thank you, John). Note that we will not be providing Zoom at rehearsals going forward. If you are not feeling well, please do stay home.
We will have some people auditioning Friday morning. Thank you, Ann, for coordinating and corresponding with these folks, and thank you Ken and section leaders for staying behind after rehearsal to do the auditions.
See you all Friday!
Morna
Reminder from the treasurer:
Choir membership fees are now due. You received news earlier this summer that the board has increased the fees for the 2023-2024 year to $400. It is expected that each member will pay the full fee for the year to remain a member in good standing; this applies equally to those who might plan to be away from the choir for part of that year. Under extenuating circumstances financial adjustments may be considered.
You may pay in one installment, or divide the payments into two installments of $200.00, one payable now and the other payable by the end of January. Payment can be made by cheque (mad e out to EnChor Choir) and given to me at rehearsal or mailed to me at the address below. If you prefer to do an e-transfer send it to alderwols@shaw.ca and it will be deposited directly into the EnChor account.
The financial statement for the 2022-2023 fiscal year will be sent out before the annual general meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon – on Friday, September 15. Please arrive a few minutes early to pick up music.
Meanwhile, an Elektra singer is considering getting hearing aids and I assured her that several of you use them successfully in EnChor. She thought maybe she would have to take them out while singing. She would love to hear any advice if you have experience in this area. Please send your comments to me by the end of August and I will compile and forward them. Thank you!
Morna
New Tenor Section Leaders
I am very pleased to let everybody know that Graeme Stager and Ron Smail have agreed to together to take on the role of Tenor Section Leaders. Recently Pete Chamberlain sent a message to all the tenors in which he wrote,” “After 15 years as your section leader, I’ve let Morna know that I’m ready to pass along the duties to another. It gives me huge pleasure to announce that Graeme Stager has agreed to take over the reins, while, at the same time, Ron Smail has very kindly consented to continue in the capacity of “co-leader,” guiding us in sectional rehearsals. We are, indeed, very blessed!”
Many thanks to Graeme and Ron for taking on these positions. We know the Tenor section will continue to be in good hands.
And to use Pete’s words, EnChor has indeed been very blessed that Pete has been a member of our choir all these many years. As one of our Founding Members, not to mention a board member for nine years and a section leader for 15 years Pete has given invaluable leadership to our choir. On behalf of everybody in EnChor I would like to thank Pete very much for his many contributions to the choir.
EnChor Singers at the BCCF Conducting Course
Many thanks to the EnChor members who were able to attend the BCCF Conducting Course session last Saturday. Kevin Zakresky very much appreciated your presence.
From Kevin: “Please pass along my sincerest gratitude to everyone in EnChor for participating in the BCCF Conducting Course this weekend. It is so very important for the students to have the voices to practice with. And your voices sound so good! Let’s make it an annual thing! I’ll let you know the summer 2024 dates as soon as I know them.
Best,
Kevin”
A special thank you to Valerie Weeks who coordinated this with Kevin, communicated with EnChor singers, and made sure everybody received their music before the event.
