Get ready to experience the Rhythm of Life
Selkirk’s Community Choir is back at it bringing their voices together for their Spring Concert. This year it’s not just the choir who will be making music on May 26, as they’ve teamed up with the band the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir for an unforgettable night of sound.
Kendra Obach, Selkirk Community Choir’s conductor, who has been leading the group for over ten years explained that the Selkirk Community Choir is a very longstanding group in our community. They are a choir that consists of residents of all ages and this year they will be bringing 40 voices together for their annual show.
There is no auditioning process and anyone can join the choir. This openness to anyone in our community makes for a great show for attendees who want to support the musical talent in our region.
“The power of music is a strong tool for connection and singing is a very intimate yet collaborative art form. That maybe sounds a little cheesy, but that’s okay. I think that [the Selkirk Community Choir] is an open and safe space, I think that we work hard, but do it in a way that is fun and inclusive. We’re building vocal skills for any ability level and we explore a variety of styles of music,” said Obach.
This year the theme of the spring concert is the Rhythm of Life.
“I like to often have a theme connecting stories so the music this year is all looking at aspects of the cycle of life and different moments within it and some stories and connections to that. There will definitely be a few familiar songs that people will be able to hum along to and recognize. There’s also probably some new things and some new experiences in there for their listening and learning as an audience members as well,” said Obach.
In addition to the Spring performance every year, residents will have likely heard the Selkirk Community Choir’s voices ringing in the holiday season during Holiday Alley, at Selkirk’s Remembrance Day service and possibly at their Valentine’s Coffeehouse series in February.
When they aren’t practising for their annual performances the group sings a wide variety of choral music.
“We’ll do some familiar pop songs; we’ll do some choral classical. We’ll explore some world music from different cultures, different languages and connect to the story of each song, which is one of the beautiful things about choral music, is that we have the ability to work and sing with the people around us, but also to use the text to tell the story and connect to an emotion of the music in a different way that instrumental music doesn’t always have the opportunity to express,” said Obach.
The pandemic was a difficult time for the group who weren’t able to sing together in person for a time but Obach explained that the group has rebuilt from that point.
“It is definitely difficult to sing in masks and six feet apart and we did all of that after spending a full year on Zoom, then transitioning back with distance and masks and now we’re back into the full normalcy of choir. So, we have definitely felt the rebuild. With that said we have had some new singers come try it and stay,” she said.
For people who may be new to attending their annual concerts, the Selkirk Community Choir Concert will take place on May 26 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Tickets will be available at the door for $15 and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the concert starting at 7 p.m. There will also be a 50/50 draw and a reception with cake will also take place.
Obach invites anyone from our area who is interested in choral music to attend the show.
“I think that it will be a lovely celebration of choral music and a beautiful evening of entertainment and if it’s ever something that you might be interested in, either in singing or just in supporting the choir come in and listen to a lovely evening of music,” she said.
With the spring concert coming, they are closing out their 2023/24 season but they are very open to new singers joining the group next year.
“We’re always looking to bring in new people and try and reach new community members so that we can provide this safe, wonderful space for anybody who’s looking for a musical home,” said Obach.
Their 2024/25 season will start on Sept. 10 and residents can reach out to selkirkcommunitychoir@gmail.com for more information.
