If you’re one of those folks who loves to sing aloud to the radio while driving down the highway or who bursts spontaneously into song in the shower, now’s your chance to break out of your bubble and get heard.
The Gimli-based Westshore Singers is putting out a call for younger people – teenagers, 20-, 30-, 40-somethings and so forth – to join them and help bring the joy of music to the community.
Westshore director Karen Lamb said the choir is looking to the future and would like to see new singers getting into the act, especially younger people who might be thinking of a pursuing a career in music and could benefit from a little musical direction and public performance time.
“Our choir members are getting older and we can really use an influx of younger people – and we’ve gotten a couple of them,” said Lamb who used to teach music to kindergarten to Grade 12 students. “We’ve got one member who is 15 years old, another in his early twenties and a few in their thirties.”
The choir has a policy requiring youth under 18 to be accompanied by a parent during rehearsals. The 15-year-old’s mother happens to be a member of the choir and new parent-youth singers are welcome.
In addition to looking for younger members, the choir would welcome anyone who simply “loves to sing,” said Lamb, who in addition to serving as musical director makes stunning quilts and other textiles and will be holding her 10th quilt raffle (via her personal Facebook page) this fall to help raise money for the Parkinson Canada charity.
Westshore, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year, is made up of singers from communities such as Petersfield, Winnipeg Beach, Gimli, Riverton, Arborg and Teulon. It provides twice-yearly public performances in June and December in Gimli and communities such as Riverton and Arborg.
To help people get familiar with how a choir operates, Westshore is holding an open house for the public on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 6-7 p.m.
“The public or anyone interested in joining the choir is welcome to come out for an hour and see what we do,” said Lamb.
The ability to read music is not a prerequisite to becoming a member.
“A certain percentage of our members don’t read music and you don’t have to know how to read,” she said. “But I think if you’ve sung in a choir for 10 or more years, you’ve developed an understanding of what’s happening with the notes.”
Current choir members are preparing to get their vocal cords warmed up after having the summer off. Regular rehearsal nights are on Wednesdays from 7-9 at the Gimli Lutheran Church.
On Saturday, Sept. 7 the choir is planning a workshop (with lunch) from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. so that current and newly minted members can get to know each other.
The joy of singing, building a repertoire of songs and acquiring musical knowledge are just some of the benefits of joining in a choir. There’s also a social component that helps build community, said Lamb. And members are free to suggest songs they want to sing.
“People suggest songs all the time, and sometimes I use the songs and sometimes I don’t,” said Lamb. “Sometimes it’s a piece they heard a choir sing and they want to try it.”
The choir is already looking forward to its winter concert and will be performing three shows on Friday, Dec. 6 in Riverton at the Lutheran Church, on Sunday, Dec. 8 in Gimli at the Lutheran Church, and on Monday, Dec. 9 in Gimli at the Lutheran Church.
“We’ve singing a real variety of different music for our winter show, which is titled Winter Song,” said Lamb. “We’ve got some pieces that are just for winter, some classic Christmas pieces such as Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree and Jingle Bell Rock and some sacred pieces.”
For more information about Westshore Singers, visit westshoresingers.ca
