The hills above Ambleside will soon be alive with the sound of music.
If you have ever aspired to be a von Trapp family of singers, this is your cue.
Families, kids, adults and seniors of all stripes are being welcomed to join a new community choir starting Sept. 7 at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in West Vancouver.
The good news is: no registration or opera background is required.
St. Stephen’s minister of music Annabelle Paetsch is behind the mission to bring harmony to the community. The longtime piano teacher says music shouldn’t be a solo act.
“And what I notice is the parents just drop them off and pick them up (from piano lessons),” explains Paetsch. “It becomes a very isolating thing for the kids to not have that level of parental involvement. There’s a lot of benefits for families to continue doing music together.”
Paetsch grew up in a musical home. Her family even formed an ensemble, with the parents playing instruments while Paetsch and her brother sang.
The whole clan would tour around nursing homes and share their music with the delighted seniors, who were prepared with cookies for the kids.
“And it made us feel very good,” recalls Paetsch. “It took us to a different world as children. People responded so positively.”
Paetsch, who helped put the word out there for this new community choir, will soon find out if there’s an appetite at the first rehearsal Thursday.
The repertoire will be decidedly Canadian, in honour of our country’s 150th anniversary.
“Canada is a very broad country and there’s lots of different traditions represented but we’re trying to find something that is common ground,” explains Paetsch, who has multiple music degrees.
The choir will start with folk music and expand from there. Choir members might expect to sing songs composed by Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson or an arrangement of “Northwest Passage” by fellow Canuck, Stan Rogers.
Conducting the choir is Douglas Lau, who studied vocals at Capilano University and is also a jazz pianist.
In bringing together a wide range of ages with projected voices, what will the end result be? Will it be an angelic sound? It’s an experiment.
“I guess we will see,” says Paetsch with a laugh. “Depending on who we get, we could get some children’s voices, some changed voices. We could get some seniors.”
The plan for the choir, explains Paetsch, is to start off in unison, and maybe grow into some two-part harmonies. They might be able to achieve a traditional choral sound if enough musical talent shows up.
Meanwhile, the acoustics inside St. Stephen’s are great, says Paetsch, adding the smaller church is suited for chamber music.
Being part of a choir and singing in general, especially in a non-judgmental environment, has health benefits, notes Paetsch, including increasing the hormone oxytocin which can help relive anxiety and stress.
The intention for the secular choir, which will meet on Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., is to sing on special occasions including Remembrance Day and Christmas, along with some carolling in the community.
More information is available by emailing [email protected].