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Martha Wainwright signs Edith Piaf with a choir
Listen to the live recording of Martha Wainwright singing Piaf at the 2010 Mondial Choral in Laval. Martha was accompanied by her wonderful band plus horns and strings and a couple of amazing choirs (La Bohème and Le Collège Vocal) at the Salle André-Matthieu on June 24th. What an incredible evening of music!
Crédit OSA Images
This concert will be broadcast across the country on CBC Radio 2 (Thursday, 23 September at 7 p.m.) and CBC Radio One (Friday, 24 September at 2 p.m.) as part of Canada Live (http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/canada_live).
London Subway bring you home in music
The Swingle singers are giving the London subways users a special ride.
World Choral Festival 2010
First day today!
It’s hot, it’s beautiful outside…what better way to kick off a choral festival! And if you need to take a break between shows, we do have a few small diversions, such as the one in the picture above. Food and bistro tents also abound should you feel a little peckish on site!
Stay tuned for pictures of the massive outdoor stage and the “Voix de l’avenir” concert tonight!
- Francesca
In 25 hours…
…the Loto-Quebec World Choral Festival will begin!
We were on site in Laval today. You have no idea how exciting this festival is going to be. Sure, we have over 100 free concerts, but we will also have a MERRY-GO-AROUND, a FERRIS WHEEL and the second-biggest stage in the WORLD. If that isn’t something to get excited about, I don’t know what is!
The festival will kick off with a concert at the Church of St-François-de-Sales at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature Les Chanteurs de Lorraine, Choeur Cantando, and the Choeur Classique Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
The second concert of the evening will be at Ste-Rose-de-Lima church at 8:00 p.m. This concert, called “Voices of the Future”, will star the Youth Chorale of the Iowa Youth Chorus , the McGill Conservatory Youth Choir and Les Voix Boréales.
-Francesca
Discover and explore your voice!
Following the article I posted yesterday, I am very excited to invite you all to two workshops that are taking place this weekend for the Loto-Quebec World Choral Festival! The workshops will take place on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th at 1:00 p.m. in the Agora of Collège Montmorency. The workshops will be lead by Dory Hayley, a Canadian soprano who is finishing her Doctorate at the Université de Montréal. Dory’s knowledge of music and singing is remarkable and profound – you’ll be in safe hands with her, trust me!
The workshop on Saturday is called “Exploration vocale des jeunes voix” (vocal exploration of young voices) and is geared towards young singers from 6 to 16 years of age. This is a safe and fun environment where kids can learn basic singing techniques such as breathing and body movement. All levels of experience are welcome!
The workshop on Sunday is called “Découvrez votre voix” (discover your voice) and is geared towards adults. Have you always dreamed of singing, but were afraid you wouldn’t know how? Now is your chance to live your dream! Come and explore your voice and learn some basic singing techniques. We promise you won’t have to sing alone in front of everyone! Dory will lead you through some breathing techniques, body movement techniques and vocal exercises. This is a bilingual workshop, so there’s no need to worry that you won’t understand everything that is being explained. Think of it as your first step towards becoming a choral singer or soloist…or at the very least a better shower singer!
See you soon,
-Francesca
How to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony
I feel like a choral blog is the right place to encourage people to sing together. If not here, where? So it is with GREAT pleasure that I am sharing a fantastic idea out of Northern England : teaching people to sing.
Right? Teaching people to sing. Isn’t that what choirs do? Sometimes, but in my life as a musician, I have talked to many people who decided not to join a choir only because they thought they couldn’t sing. They’re scared of sounding terrible or ruining the choir’s sound.
Everyone can sing, at least a bit. And everyone should try.
Learning to sing is one of the most revealing journeys to be embarked upon. Forget the Camino or sky-diving. There is nothing like the feeling of music coming out of you. When the sound resonates in your throat and booms forth in harmony with the voices around you, the feeling is ineffable. You are simultaneously transported and connected. That’s why you should try it.
Back to my story. Last year the Bradford Festival Choral Society offered ‘learn to sing’ classes. 70 people signed up and learned how to sing. This year 50 more are giving it a shot and opera star Lesley Garrett is getting behind the idea. We’re getting behind the idea too.
Last week Bobby McFerrin mentioned the death of communal singing. I think this could be a breath of life into one of the most human art forms.
What do you think ?
-Lindsay
Here is the link for the learn to sing course : http://www.bradfordfestivalchoralsociety.org.uk/#/learn-to-sing-course/4534963897
Here is the Link for the article :
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8155089.Opera_star_Lesley_Garrett_praises_Bradford_choir/
DIY Complaints Choir!
Remember how earlier I posted about the Helsinki and As It Happens Complaints choirs? Well, it turns out complaints choirs around the world have organized via the internet and stay in touch with each other… maybe you want to start a complaints choir.
Check out their website :
http://www.complaintschoir.org/
The Tokyo Complaints choir looks particularly impressive :
- Lindsay
