BEHIND THE SONG– Off- Season Buzz– planning the choir year ahead

Although the Stairwell Carollers has not had a rehearsal since mid-December, a lot has been happening that is crucial to its very existence.

The choir Steering committee met to discuss strategy and set  policy for the new year and particularly for the upcoming spring season.

Andrea, Pierre, Susan and Nancy

Our PR committee, notably Anne, David and myself, have been working overtime on and off the ‘Net to round up auditionees for our depleted Tenor  section . Success! A brace of  hopefuls will be auditioning this coming Wednesday – good luck to you all -- and if you are reading this – no worries – you don’t even have to read music – just have a pure clear voice, good ear and great attitude and you are a shoo-in for our group!

Pierre is continually liaising with the committees and choir members  about myriad details.  Besides attending committee meetings, he regularly posts new video on YouTube (our 2010  Xmas concert is in the works) answers email questions almost every day and sets up the entire Spring season for the choir (this task is so massive, it will be covered in a separate post)

At the moment, Andrea -- committee secretary -- is delegating the onerous job of researching  grants.  It is a huge responsibility and will most likely be shared amongst  a few people. The application process for getting a grant can be complex and each one is different. I will post the particulars on any grants we apply for, in a future post, as a help to other non-profit groups in their  funding endeavours.

Youssef, Tenor, focusing lights

External funding can make our choir hum a little sweeter. In the recent past, we attained a Trillium Grant, which helped us acquire proper lighting and sound equipment – greatly enhancing our concerts. We don’t use mikes to sing – but they sure help for speaking to the audience. And as anyone who has seen a Stairwell Caroller concert knows, our concerts are about much more than just the music. We love to share some of the history and little known facts – it adds another dimension to the singing and helps newcomers t connect to the music – perhaps understand the purpose and spirit behind the tune and lyric.

 But, as usual , I’ve gone off on a tangent – to refocus, we seem quiet right now, but are paddling away under the surface to make this upcoming season of Stairwell Caroller song the best ever!



Ducks courtesy of Pierre's brother, Serge