CanSing

Along with Kevin Eng, Andrea Westaway, Tim Mah, Graeme Guimond and all the Vancouver Cansing Choir members, I invite you to LIFE HAS LOVELINESS TO SELL, 7pm, Friday, March 1^st, Charles Tupper Auditorium. The uplifting songs from all genres were chosen to fit the theme of Sara Teasdale’s poem “Barter” (Life has loveliness to sell). I hope “everything is great” and you can join us!

Thank you to Makeesha Fisher for the beautiful poster!

My new SATB choral composition “Life Has Loveliness to Sell” will be premiered by our VCS Adult Choir. Other featured repertoire will include choral selections by Vivaldi, Praetorius, Copeland, Jan Garrett (I Dreamed of Rain – arr Larry Nickel), and a 130 voice mass choir finale of  Bret McKenzie’s fantastic song, “Life’s a Happy Song”, SATB choral arrangement by Audrey Snyder. This hour long program will be “full of highs!”

VCS Choirs are a member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodaly Association and Choral Canada. www.cansing.ca

What gives us the most joy during the holidays? It’s the gifts we give to others and the Vancouver Cansing Choirs, Hillcrest Neighbourhood not only bring the season alive with their beautiful singing but their Christmas Show is an annual fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Foodbank. Last year, the singers raised over $2000.00.

This is the fourth CHRISTMAS IN THE AIR benefit and is a wonderful way to hear seasonal selections including Brian Tate’s THIS WINTER’S NIGHT and Chuck Bridwell’s crazy NUTCRACKER JINGLES, woven with readings from Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express. The audience sing along is always a highlight! Invite your family, friends and neighbours!

Admission is by donation ($15 – 20.00 suggested amount). All proceeds will go to the Greater Vancouver Foodbank (NO FOOD ITEMS PLEASE).

With each $1 VCS Choirs donate, GVFB can purchase at least $3 worth of nutritious groceries and fresh produce for the thousands of people they support each week. Family and friends are welcome!

Member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodály Association and Choral Canada

Chase away the November rains and join the youth and adult Vancouver Cansing Choirs (Hillcrest Neighbourhood) for WE ARE THE MUSICMAKERS, Friday, Nov 16, 7pm, Charles Tupper Auditorium. Admission is by donation ($15 – $20.00 suggested amount).

The songs will include selections from GF Handel, Brian Tate, Gene Maclellan, Jim Papoulis and a mass choir selection of Enya’s Echoes in Rain by Gerda Blok-Wilson. It’s a tradition for the audience to sing at our shows and you will have a chance to burst into song on All I have to do is Dream by (Everly Brothers).

Along with Gerda Blok-Wilson (Artistic Director) and Kevin Eng (Assistant conductor, accompanist), we hope you can join us!

Member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodály Association and Choral Canada.

Twitter: @vancansing

Website: www.cansing.caMusic Maker 8 X 11

The Vancouver CanSing (VCS) 2018 fall session registration is open! All rehearsals begin Tuesday, September 18th, Cityview Church, Hillcrest neighbourhood. We welcome new members (youth and adult) who LOVE to sing and perform all kinds of music. Please help us get the word out. Feel free to share via email, Facebook, Twitter, newsletters so the word gets out to people who are keen to sing!

To register, see the choirs below and click for information and instructions.

LEVEL 1 (ages 5 & 6)

LEVEL 2 (ages 7 & 8)

LEVEL 3 (ages 9 – 15. Non – auditioned)

LEVEL 4 CHORthemo (ages 10 – 18. Auditioned)

ADULT CHOIR (grades 11 and 12 through adult)

The choirs will begin rehearsing for the 60 – minute show, WE ARE THE MUSIC MAKERS AND WE ARE THE DREAMERS OF DREAMS, Friday, November 16th, 7pm and will feature thematic songs from the classic, jazz, popular, musical theatre and folk genre. A more detailed list of music repertoire will be sent to registrants at the end of June.

www.cansing.ca

Twitter: @vancansing

Member of the BC Choral Federation and BC Kodály Association

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is perhaps the most recognized composer of all time.  He is not only known as one of the most famous child prodigy in music history but also as a brilliant composer in his adult life.  The Vancouver CanSing CHORthemo and Level 3 youth choir, directed by Gerda Blok-Wilson and accompanied by Kevin Eng  will present performances of THE MOZART PHENOMENON, Tuesday, May 22, 7pm (Community Show), and Friday, May 25^th, 10:30am & 1pm (School Shows) and 7pm (Community Show), Cityview (4370 Sophia St). Admission is by donation (suggested $10 – $20). 

Crazy, zany and eccentric Mozart’s personality and music speak to everybody, of any age and on any level of musical experience.  This 50 minute musical play explores the wonders of Mozart’s life and music in a fun way.

The audience will be transported back to the 18^th century along with the two main characters, Katrina and Karla, and their new found friend, Mozart.  From touring Europe with his older sister, Nannerl, and playing for kings and queens in the great courts as a young child to his continual search for employment, family life, development of his operas and the mysteries behind his death, the audience will enjoy discovering the phenomenon of Mozart’s life and music.

The choir is a member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodaly Association and Choral Canada.

Do you love to sing? Come sing with us! For information: www.cansing.ca

Vancouver CanSing Adult Choir will present IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE, Tuesday, May 8^th, 8 – 9pm, Cityview Church (4370 Sophia St – 5 mins East from Main & 28^th). Admission is by donation (suggested $15 – $20.00 to cover rent and professional fees).

The choir will perform seasonal songs by Handel, Purifoy, Joel, Tate, Bernon, Blok-Wilson and more. Our programs are always entertaining. We hope you’ll join us! Please help us spread the word to family and friends.

Special guest soloist will be Alyssa Nicole Samson, UBC opera student. This is the second year that the choir has supported an emerging vocal artist and we look forward to sharing the singing experience with her!

This is the final concert of the season for the adult choir. If you are interested in singing with a choir September 2018, come join our group! We are an awesome, friendly community group who rehearse once weekly because we love to sing all kinds of music! Click VCS Adult Choir information

Member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodály Association and Choral Canada

www.cansing.ca

Vancouver CanSing Choirs will explore songs that “Soar” Tuesday, February 27, 7pm, Tupper Auditorium (419 East 24^th). Including works by Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Giuseppe Verdi. Jeanette Gallant, Brian Wilson & Mike Love (Beach Boys), John Lennon and Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Justin Hurwitz (La La Land), there will be a premiere performance of “Rise Up” by Gerda Blok-Wilson.

Along with the final mass choir piece “The Rhythm of Life” (Sweet Charity), performed by 150 singers from five choirs, the uplifting songs in this approximately one hour show promise to be appealing to all choir friends and family.

Admission is by donation. Suggested amount is $10 – 15/person. We hope you can join us!

Member of the BC Choral Federation, Choral Canada and the BC Kodály Association.

On Tuesday, Dec 12^th, 7pm Charles Tupper Auditorium (419 E 24^th) will be alive with the sounds of the season as the VCS choirs along with audience for the Vancouver Food Bank. This is the third CHRISTMAS IN THE AIR to benefit the GVFB.

VCS choirs will provide family entertainment and also lead the audience in an hour long program of some rousing seasonal music. Invite your family, friends and neighbours.

Join the Fun!! The enthusiastic and spirited sound of the VCS choirs is the heart of this event but it’s a fantastic opportunity for the public to join in on many songs in this high energy show. For the Hillcrest neighbourhood especially, this is a fantastic way to reach out and support a charity during this time of year. Last December, the VCS choirs raised $2000.00 after expenses.

Admission is by donation ($10 – 20.00 suggested amount). All proceeds (after expenses) will go to the Greater Vancouver Foodbank (no food items please).

“And then, they’ll do something I (Grinch) hate most of all. Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, will stand close together with Christmas bells ringing. They’ll stand hand in hand, and those Whos will start singing.”

With each $1 VCS Choirs donate, GVFB can purchase at least $3 worth of nutritious groceries and fresh produce for the thousands of people they support each week. Family and friends are welcome!

Member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodály Association and Choral Canada.

Vancouver’s unique multi-generational choir and Gerda Blok-Wilson (Artistic Director) and Kevin Eng (Assistant conductor, accompanist) will present their season’s first performance, To the Spirit of song Friday, Nov 17, 7pm, Charles Tupper Auditorium. Admission is by donation ($10 – $15.00 suggested amount). The choral celebration will include four youth choirs and an adult choir.

The songs will include Canadian Music Educators Association 50^th Anniversary award winning piece, I am Song by Jen McKen, Sing by Pentatonix, and Sing for Joy (Judas Maccabaeus) by George F. Handel. The mass choir will be Craig Hella Johnson’s arrangement of I Love You/Wonderful. The audience will have a chance to sing too: I’m singing in the Rain.

This hour long uplifting program with both youth and adult singers depicts VCS choir’s passion and love of music and how it speaks to the soul of our singers and our audiences in many wonderful ways. We hope you can join us!!

Member of the BC Choral Federation, BC Kodály Association and Choral Canada.

Twitter: @vancansing

Website: www.cansing.ca

VCS in the Vancouver Hillcrest neighbourhood, began in 2010 and is comprised of 4 youth choirs and an adult choir (all ages) and provides opportunities for youth and adult musical collaborations and music-making.

The choirs rehearse and perform separately at Cityview Church (4370 Sophia St) but one of the highlights is the multi-generational singing that is built into the rehearsal and performance format. Each session creative programming provides for children to perform with adults (many who are parents).

The approximately one hour long performance is built around a big theme. Songs for each choir are chosen from this theme including several mass choir selections which include multi-generational singing with different youth groups and adults and youth. The connection between the singers and audience is also of key importance and for each performance there is at least one audience sing along song that fits the theme.

The rehearsals run for a period of 8 – 10 weeks and then all the choirs come together to perform for each other, friends, family and general public. The finale piece is always a mass choir selection with five choirs performing together. The final rehearsals are an exciting way to grow musically and socially.

The philosophy of the community group is “if you can talk, you can sing.” The program is for people who have had previous experience singing and those who can carry a tune but would genuinely like to learn how to sing. The music is eclectic but chosen from the finest choral songs with a preference to Canadian composers. The development of singing skills and overall musical learning is a key aim along with social interaction.

The sense of community and joy derived from this choral approach has been exciting for both youth and adult singers. In just a few years, the choir has made great musical strides. The full membership has grown from 25 singers to approximately 140 singers per session.

Here are five favourite mass choral selections that have worked well:

All Choirs

We Rise Again arr Stephen Smith

Hallelujah arr Emerson

Land of the Silverbirch arr Gerda Blok Wilson

Light One Candle arr Cormier

Let the River Run arr Craig Hella Johnson

Youth

All the Little Rivers Larry Nickel

Oleana arr Gerda Blok-Wilson

On the Back of an Eagle Nancy Telfer

Yesu Ni Wangu arr Ruth Morris Gray

Path to the Moon Eric Thimann