Blogs

"Wendy is first on the left in the first row behind the orchestra."

… Overwhelmed to Overjoyed (Freude! as He himself would say).

While classical music isn’t really my style, when an opportunity to sing with the Ottawa Choral Society for the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s presentation of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony arises, who passes that up? 

In merely 16 days, with just 9 rehearsals, 118 singers accomplished what initially seemed impossible, learning the notes and words to what we commonly know as “Ode to Joy”, but in German.

What could be more exciting than preparing for a show? Nothing! Canadian Showtime Chorus is in the planning stages of our first show since 2018 and we have titled it “A Musical Mosaic, Celebrating 40 years of Harmony”.

We have a name. We have a date, November 16, 2024. We have a venue. We also have an evolving plan of how to best celebrate and represent our 40th Anniversary with Sweet Adelines. Songs have been chosen, with a shout out to nostalgia as well some new music as well. What a pot pourri.

What a birthday it was! 99 years and counting. 

In February, a small version of Canadian Showtime Chorus had the honour of singing for a former member who sang with us well into her 80’s and who was about to celebrate her 99th birthday . You can’t hold a dedicated singer down. She now calls a long term care facility home so our Sunday afternoon performance was enjoyed by other residents too. 

For me, this has been a lifetime in the making, although I didn’t know anything at all about Sweet Adelines until I joined this chorus back in 2001, on the coattails of CSC’s first big Wild Card win. 

I first had a taste of arranging music for my grade 13 instrumental music class when I wrote something for several brass & wind instruments an assignment. It was all hand-written in my musical chicken-scratch; Who knows now if it would’ve even been playable? I came across it once a while ago, but fortunately I can’t find it now.

This past July, No Compromise quartet had the incredible opportunity to attend Harmony University (HU), thanks to the generous support of Sing Canada. The quartet track at HU opened doors to invaluable learning experiences and personal growth that will resonate with us for a lifetime.