Third time’s a charm, or so they say. That certainly seems to be the case for the Georgian Bay Children’s Choir. The singers are finally going on tour after a trip to England was put off due to funding, and another trip to Ottawa was postponed due to a last-minute festival cancellation.
This year, however, nothing will stop these young voices from being heard! The choir has been invited to participate in the Unisong Choral Festival next month. They will be part of a massed choir that will perform “O Canada” on Parliament Hill on July 1st!
Fourteen singers are travelling to Ottawa for a few rehearsals and some sightseeing before the big performance on Parliament Hill for Canada Day followed by an afternoon concert at the National Arts Centre. They will be accompanied by parents, chaperones, and GBCC conductors Linda Hawkins and Leslie Wyber, who will also be singing.
The children are very excited and honoured to be part of this group. They are also eager to meet other choristers from all across the country and to learn from the Artistic Director Robert Filion and Guest Conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée.
Their repertoire will feature songs, such as “Un Canadien Errant” and “Frobisher Bay.” The GBCC is no stranger to singing in other languages. At their spring concert, they sang in German, English, and three different South African dialects, and they routinely sing in French as well. Artistic director Linda Hawkins doesn’t think the languages will be a problem for her group. “Unisong is cool,” said Hawkins. “We are singing in Sanskrit, we’re singing in Ojibway, we’re singing in French and in English.” Not that they don’t have their work cut out for them. “The challenge for them will be the rhythms,” she added.
For Ewan MacLeod, one of the group’s more seasoned singers, the trip comes at an opportune time. He is eager to brush up on his French before leaving on exchange to France in the fall, and he hopes the trip will give him a chance to talk to other singers like him from across the country. “I think it will help me with the French,” he said. “I’ve never been to the capital of Canada, and I think it’s pretty cool, especially because I’m going to be representing my community.”
One of the newest choir members is grade 8 student Paige Klein. Though she is homeschooled, she doesn’t have to miss out on the traditional grade 8 trip to Ottawa, as she is going with the choir! “Travelling is the most exciting thing to me,” she said. “I’m very excited to go sing on Parliament Hill.”
This will also be chorister Anthony Morassutti’s first trip to Parliament Hill. He has family in Ottawa, but he hasn’t had much opportunity to do any sightseeing in the past. He is especially looking forward to the fireworks cruise that the group has planned for Canada Day.
If you’d like to follow the choir, just look for them on Parliament Hill - they’ll be the ones in red and white. On second thought, you might have better luck picking them out of the crowd by watching them live on CBC television’s noon broadcast!
source: media release
