Last week, fourteen members of the Georgian Bay Children’s Choir joined choirs from across Canada to participate in the Unisong Choral Festival in Ottawa, Ontario and to sing on Parliament Hill.
At the Canada Day noon show’s dress rehearsal, the Unisong choir performed right after K’naan sang his famous anthem, “Wavin’ Flag.” You might think that this would be the highlight of the day, but what the children talked about the most was the bus ride back from rehearsal that night.
On that particular evening, the GBCC was sharing a bus with the Cantares Venezuelan Choir, a group promoting Latin-American culture, from Calgary, Alberta.
A few young choristers started singing one of the songs from their repertoire. Not to be outdone, the Cantares singers responded with one of their Spanish numbers. This went back and forth a few times before the ride was over, and it was at that point that some of the children really felt like they were part of something bigger than themselves. “I felt like they were our friends,” said Juliette Lafleur. “Every time we saw them after that; we started singing” she added.
Cantares conductor Juan Sosa was also touched by the spontaneous exchange of song. “That was so neat,” he said. “That is probably the best part of this kind of event for me. The possibility to interact with other choirs. We are an adult choir. We never had the opportunity to interact with a children’s choir.”
GBCC co-conductor Leslie Wyber agreed. “It’s about the social,” she said. “Music making builds communities. It’s such a strong bonding opportunity to make music with other people.”
During one of the rehearsals, guest conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée echoed this sentiment while speaking to the choristers about the importance of looking up and connecting with the audience. “Where does communication start?” he asked. “The eyes. Anytime you perform, it’s about communication.”
And communicate, they did. Pride was evident on their beaming faces as they sang “God Save the Queen” and “O Canada” in front of the Prime Minister, the Governor-General, and a crowd of thousands on Parliament hill, not to mention all of those who watched live on television. More than one choir mom was moved to tears as the Snowbirds performed a flypast at the end of the national anthem!
The choir followed that with an hour-long concert in the National Arts Centre’s foyer, where it was standing room only for the Unisong performance.
For soloist Zoe McKittrick, it was a family affair. Both her mother, co-conductor Leslie Wyber, and her aunt, Leah Wyber (a cellist with the NAC Orchestra), shared the big stage with her. The young singer also expressed the importance of sharing the experience with others. “I was performing with a lot of my family members, but also with other choristers too,” she said.
The choristers are coming home with lots of stories to tell, but once the thrill of the large crowds and big venues wear off, they will still remember that one bus ride, and the singing that didn’t even involve any bottles of beer on the wall!
source: media release
