A special African Prayer as performed by the UP Youth Choir 2012

[The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from 25 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across th...

WESTERN PIECE AT @GACMA2016

You have heard These Islands now get the sheet music and chance for You to make these Your own. The music that You want not up there then contact Fraser. God Be in My Head Vidi Aquam Jerusalem

10 years ago, when Yasmin Cader asked Soul Sounds to do a concert at the then Colombo Plaza, little did I know that 10 years later we would still be singing heralding the birth of Christ at the same venue... I thank God for the blessings, and thank all in...

South Salem High School's Symphonic Choir preforming at the Oregon 6A choir championships. The fabulous amazing spectacular Carol Stenson is their long standing director. South Salem took FIRST PLACE at Oregon's State Competition. this was their fourth an...  this).getParent().getNext().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">moreSouth Salem High School's Symphonic Choir preforming at the Oregon 6A choir championships. The fabulous amazing spectacular Carol Stenson is their long standing director. South Salem took FIRST PLACE at Oregon's State Competition. this was their fourth and final song. this whole competition took place at George Fox University in Newburg Oregon. The South Salem Saxons also took first at their Districts festival in Salem/Keizer Oregon. First Place : South Salem High School 'Saxons" Tied Second Place (alphabetical order) : Canby High School 'Cougars' and Sprague High School 'Olympians' Fourth Place : West Salem High School 'Titans' Fifth Place : Saint Mary's Academy  this).getParent().getPrevious().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">less

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Somebody asked me the other day if I do workshops on songs from the musicals. I don't like musical theatre, so the answer was a resounding “No&rdquo...

A live Performance at the Seventh day Adventist (Pioneer) Church, Babcock University. July 17, 2017.

"Let's sing, it's Spring!" is dedicated to my uncle and aunt, James and Daphne Shaw, and their amazing clan, the "Bowen Island Shaws." I have given this song the sub-title: "A Crazy Choral Etude for Rolled Rs and Perfect 5ths." It is meant, no pun inte...  this).getParent().getNext().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">more"Let's sing, it's Spring!" is dedicated to my uncle and aunt, James and Daphne Shaw, and their amazing clan, the "Bowen Island Shaws." I have given this song the sub-title: "A Crazy Choral Etude for Rolled Rs and Perfect 5ths." It is meant, no pun intended, to be a musical lark, great fun for a choir to sing, rolling Rs like crazy, with no holding back. NB: One day I woke up to the realization that I had independently written four choral works, each of which had evoked a different season, and so it seemed natural to group them together into a choral suite that I have called "The Ottawa Four Seasons Suite." "Let's sing, it's Spring!", with its rousing coda section, works perfectly as the closing number of this suite. Also of note, in early 2018, I applied to be a participant at one of the Vancouver Chamber Choir's Interplay workshops funded by the SOCAN Foundation and to my delight I was accepted. "Let's sing, it's Spring!" was one of the pieces that this amazing choir sight read for me on the sp...    this).getParent().getPrevious().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">less

  Wow 40 years! Where did the time go? I've always been one of the oldest members of the Stairwell Carollers - if not the OLDEST - at our choir's 20th anniversary in 1997 I was 41, but still didn't look a day over 30. Pierre had HAIR - and I sh...