Something about singing seems to help the weary soul
Three years ago I joined newchoir — which bills itself as “Toronto’s first rock choir” — while I was in the process of providing care for a seriously ill partner. It has made all the difference.
Singing is a powerful experience. We are able to escape depression, illness or the illness of a loved one, even though it may be for a brief moment. Something unleashes and it is like we are momentarily free. An added bonus of this is we become part of a community and can create life-long friends or even serious partnerships.
“I cannot tell you how many people have spoken to me over the years, saying how singing with a choir has saved them or gotten them through really rough times,” says Scott Pietrangelo, artistic director for the 160-voice choir that has been performing to sold-out audiences in Toronto for 10 years. “The power of great music, of singing with a community of 160 like-minded people, honing your craft and disciplining yourself to learn, can be exciting, challenging, therapeutic and fulfilling in so many ways.”
That newchoir can be that for its members makes him happy, he says.
“Nothing inspires me more than watching our members learn and grow over the years, not only as team members but as part of a community,” Pietrangelo says. “The true nature of a community choir is people getting together with a common love, a common purpose and working together to help each other achieve that goal.”
Choirs and community organizations make the world a better place. In the words of its artistic director, the ensemble I am part of is a group that “cares about community and is dedicated to music being a means of making life better.”
On top of being a rock choir, newchoir is a registered charity that is committed to the benefits of music education. It regularly contributes to groups such as the Regent Park School of Music.
“Music reaches everyone in some way or another, whether it’s simply a song that picks you up at the end of a hard day or an Alzheimer’s patient suddenly becoming ecstatic at the sound of the music they once loved,” Pietrangelo says. “If newchoir is able to reach its members and its audiences, whether by making them dance or by tugging at their heartstrings, then we have contributed to making their lives better.
“And that is why we do what we do.”
Newchoir is onstage with Cadence on Jan. 31 at St. Michael’s College School Centre for the Arts, at Bathurst and St. Clair, in the first of two midtown performances scheduled for this year. We’re off to New York for a March 29 performance at Carnegie Hall. In May we’ll appear at Koerner Hall on Bloor Street West.
You too can experience being part of a choir.
Newchoir, which rehearses at St. Simon-the-Apostle church at Bloor and Sherbourne, is currently accepting male tenor and bass singers. For those not up to a weekly commitment, Choir!Choir!Choir! offers Tuesday and Wednesday sessions at midtown watering holes. You just show up, pay your $5 entrance fee, grab your music and by the end of the evening you’ve learned a song and had a great time doing it.
Unlike newchoir, there are no solo opportunities in the Choir!Choir!Choir! gig, but the sense of community is strong here and that creates wonderful memories and great friendships.
Cheryl Bower, a longtime midtown realtor, tells stories of how she has been inspired by people and organizations she has met along the way.
Thank you for all the comments posted on Facebook…choirs really are great for the soul!