A fan of singing is hoping to bring a bit of harmony to her community by starting a new choir. It’s called Sing It Powell River and it’s not a run-of-the-mill chorus.
“I just want to get more people singing,” said Julia Adam, who is organizing the singing group. She invited friends to sing in her living room last November and more and more people kept showing up. Now she’s moving it to Cranberry Community Hall.
“For a lot of us, our environment tells us we’re either a good singer or a bad singer,” said Adam. “I think that’s kind of tragic in terms of our daily living, so this is working to respond to that. For a lot of people around the world, their reality is that singing is part of their lives.”
Sing It Powell River is a new kind of choir that recognizes and celebrates the contribution of all voices, inexperienced or otherwise.
“It’s for building community and just plain old singing from the soul,” said Adam.
Sing It Powell River is a part of the global Ubuntu choir network. The choirs promote inclusivity, are non-auditioned, community-focused and socially engaged. There are 20 registered choirs in BC, mainly on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
“We already have a range of singers signed up and many who have previously described themselves as ‘non-singers,’” she said. “This choir is not product or performance oriented. It’s really about getting singing back into our daily lives, our homes and community.”
Described as a “hippie choir,” the repertoire is varied from folk songs to world music.
“We sing a lot of songs about change like South African freedom songs,” she said. “The repertoire is really unique.”
Jacqueline Huddleston, who’s been singing in Adam’s living room since November with her husband, said that she likes the discussions about where the songs come from and the stories behind them.
“It’s an alternative choir,” said Huddleston. “There are a lot of formal choirs out there that sing gorgeous religious music, but this is not it. This is the other choir.”
Adam said she is planning a free session of Sing It Powell River so that the public can see and hear what they do. It’s being planned from 7:30 to 9 pm on Wednesday, February 6 at the hall, 6828 Cranberry Street.
The first three-month session of the choir is set to begin on Wednesday, February 13 and run to the end of May. Membership cost is on a sliding scale from $90 to $120, but Adam said that she won’t turn anyone away who has financial constraints. Fees go to pay for space rental, sheet music and binders.
For more information about Sing It Powell River or how to join the choir, readers can contact Adam by email at [email protected] or by phone at 604.414.6808.
