Adult, middle years choirs open to new members
Prairie Soundscape launched its 2025 season in the choral room of Northlands Parkway Collegiate last week, but it’s not too late to join in.
The Winkler-based adult choir held its first Wednesday night rehearsal April 9, and their middle years choir was slated to meet for the first time this week. The group also runs a small ensemble choir.
All three choirs will rehearse weekly through to the end of May, when they’ll take the stage on Saturday, May 31 at St. Paul’s Church in Morden at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The “Night at the Cinema” theme will feature popular songs from the movies. Admission is by donation.
The choir has been providing vocalists with an inclusive, non-auditioned space to share their love of music together since 2018, says Melanie Urichuk, artistic director and adult choir conductor.
“Karen Giesbrecht and I started it, and I think we had 15 singers that first year,” she says. “It’s grown pretty consistently ever since.”
Last week’s opening rehearsal saw about 30 people of all ages and skill levels come out to raise their voices together in song, which was music to Urichuk’s ears.
She and the late Giesbrecht began Prairie Soundscape to give their former students a much-needed musical outlet.
“We were both high school directors here in Winkler and it was so hard to grapple with the fact that we had these incredible students with so much passion for music who would then graduate and there weren’t really many opportunities for connecting with music and continuing that learning,” she says. “We just wanted to create spaces for more singing and more joy and more community.”
Even if it’s been years since you’ve sung in a choir, you are most welcome at Prairie Soundscape, Urichuk stresses.
“Our adult choir is very much intended as a place to connect and get comfortable,” she says. “We’re all about creating access and opportunity for people who don’t necessarily have it in other places … we want to make sure that experience levels aren’t stopping people from the joy of making music.”
The adult choir is open to anyone in Gr. 12 and up, while the middle years choir is aimed at Gr. 5-8 students.
“We need lots of voices still,” shares Courtney Yeo-Thiessen, coordinator of the youth choir, who notes they had about five kids pre-register but hope to see more come out this week. “If parents have a kid that they know likes to sing in the shower, maybe give them a nudge to come join us so they can grow their voice and make some musical friends.”
Palmer Toews, who is on the board as a creative consultant this season, has been involved with the adult choir from the get-go. Toews finds the sense of community to be invigorating.
“A lot of people’s schedules are so full and they feel so drained. For me, I found coming back to it, it’s something that fills me.”
“We have such a cool community that we’re building,” adds Heidi Friesen, who heads up fundraising for the group. “It’s very inclusive, very welcoming and come-as-you-are. It’s very positive and uplifting. It’s a nice community to be a part of.”
If you’d like to get involved, simply connect with organizers through the Prairie Soundscape website (www.prairiesoundscape.ca) or stop by an upcoming rehearsal night (the middle years choir meets in the NPC choir room at 5:30 p.m. followed by the adult choir at 6:45 p.m.)
There is no cost for middle years vocalists to take part, but adult members are encouraged to make a $40 donation to help cover the costs of rehearsal space rentals, if they can.
“It’s very important to us that everybody be able to participate, regardless of financial situation, so we have a pay-what-you-can model,” stresses Friesen. She notes people are welcome to give more than $40, if they wish, to sponsor other singers unable to make a donation. “We don’t want anyone to not be able to sing with us if they want to.”
