Come sing with the Revelstoke Community Choir

By Susie Green, Revelstoke Community Choir

Our focus in life changes with the onset of September. For many it means the start of the new school year and all the excitement that brings. For children there is enthusiasm around reconnecting with friends, buying new clothes, school supplies and of course the inevitable return to the school classrooms with the excitement of learning. Let’s not forget the teachers and administrators with the flurry of activities they endure leading up to the first day back for their students. Setting up their classrooms takes weeks of careful planning and organizing along with plain hard work ensuring their charges have a positive start to the new school term. You cannot appreciate this work unless you’ve assisted a teacher friend in this process prior to school.

September also brings a change of season. Gone are the long, warm days of summer sunshine jam packed with summertime activities. It’s a time of relief for some parents to be able to bring structure back to not only their lives but their children. But it’s also a time that brings great joy to me. And why is that? Well, September heralds the start of a new choir session with Revelstoke Community Choir.

As my age increases in numbers I find myself questioning what motivates me to do the things I do. What drives me? What are my passions? As September unfolds I know one passion that leaves me excited about what is to come. Revelstoke Community Choir will again resume! September 13, 2016 from 7 to 9 p.m. Every Tuesday through December you will find a group of likeminded people gathering at the Revelstoke United Church joining their voices in unison. We are a band of sisters and brothers that meet to meld our voices in joyous refrain. What draws us together? Is it the perfection of the art of singing; the sense of belonging; our joy of music; the comradery of likeminded people or is it the sheer joy we receive from raising our voices in song? For me it encompasses all of the above and more. Music has always played a huge role in my life whether listening to live performances, on the radio or stereo but also participating by playing piano, flute or alto saxophone. There was the obligatory school choir that most Canadian children are exposed to in the elementary grades but I came to appreciate the enjoyment of singing later in life, relatively speaking. I recognized the joy it brings me when I lift my voice. It is the perfection of nailing that note with several voices in unison that makes my heart sing “Oh Yeah!”, the synchronicity of all voices combining to make a beautiful sound most pleasing to our ears, giving you shivers up and down your spine when you not only nailed it but so did your whole section and the choir around you.

The sense of belonging to a community within a community is apparent within our choir. In this day of fractured family groupings I find Community Choir makes me feel a connectedness to my fellow community members. I personally belong to a very large, loving extended family and truly appreciate how that makes me feel. Choir also gives a similar connectedness to those in my community around me. You do not have to look far to see or hear about the benefits of choral singing whether postings on Facebook, Twitter or in the general news media. This article is my layman’s opinion, I’m no expert.

In preparation for this article I interviewed a number of Revelstoke Community Choir members about their participation in the choir. Our choir is composed of a very diverse group of individuals of various ages from across the social spectrum that comprises Revelstoke. I had a set number of questions I asked each interviewee and was not surprised at the similarities that unfolded with some of the answers. Questions asked are as follows:

1. How long have you participated in the Revelstoke Community Choir?
2. Have you always sang?
3. Do you have musical training if yes what is it?
4. What keeps you singing?
5. What do you get out of being a community choir member?
6. What special skills do you contribute?
7. If you could name 3 things that bring you the most joy from community choir what would they be?
8. Is there any one person’s encouragement that keeps bringing you back to community choir.
9. Do you have a vision for community choir in the future?

If you’ve ever been in contact with Revelstoke Secondary School, no doubt you have spoken with Clara Maltby, the secretary extraordinaire. Clara started with Revelstoke Community Choir when Melanie Scarcella took over the reins as director approximately 16 years ago. Clara sang in grade school choir as well as Glee club as a youth and like many young girls of that era had dreams of becoming the next singing sensation akin to Shari Ulrich. She took piano lessons and played for approximately 10 years. Her guitar playing days were dashed when her instructor claimed her fingers were too short to make a good guitar player. Singing has always been the constant in her life bringing out the ‘happy hormones’ that just make her feel good while doing so. Each choir session allows everything else to fall away from the day to day while we concentrate on the task at hand of learning a new song and music. It’s the sense of belonging to a group of likeminded individuals that keeps Clara committed to our choir. As well as her superb soprano voice, Clara brings her ‘super-administrivia’ to work with choir. Her ‘I can help’ attitude with registrations and infinite little details behind the scenes leaves the directors and accompanist free to direct. What brings Clara joy is the singing, the wide array of music we explore and the comradery of likeminded singers and musicians coming together to perform a concert that brings pleasure to not only the participants but the whole community to enjoy. She couldn’t narrow it down to any one individual that encourages her to keep coming back. It is the whole collective that is the choir and the sense of fun that keeps Clara coming back. She likes the way the choir is working and welcomes new growth especially in the lower range of voices.

Leslie Pirnke, mainly known for her book keeping prowess throughout the community is also known to have a beautiful and delicate singing voice. She came to choir at the same time as Clara when Melanie Scarcella assumed the directorship. Leslie sang in the community musical “Hello Dolly” in 1998 and from that positive experience she determined to continue singing in a group setting. She claims she is not a soloist but prefers the collective voice of the choir around her. She participated in piano and guitar lessons as a youth and from those experiences can read a bit of music. What keeps her singing with the choir is the sense of satisfaction when all the harmonies come together to make a beautiful sound. She’s not big on the actual performance as nerves can play a part but can’t imagine not having all the practises culminate in the performance. Singing for her is like a form of meditation taking you away from your day to day life freeing you to be ‘in the moment’ to experience mindfulness. Leslie brings her organizational skills to choir and is assuming the new role of advertising along with myself. Continuing with choir allows her to carry on her pure enjoyment of singing, revel in the comradery of being a part of the community choir group and feel the growth in her brain of learning new musical techniques while adding more layers to the songs. She cannot single out one single person that keeps encouraging her to keep coming back to community choir. It is the collective whole of the group and the experiences we have together laughing and learning. A possible vision for Leslie would be to have Revelstoke Community Choir host a musical retreat whereby other smaller communities could come together and sing.

Video of Revelstoke Community Choir by Darren Carey

Lida Carey shares the responsibilities of leading the Revelstoke Community Choir with Gaila Hemphill. Where would we be without our Lida? She stepped in as the principle accompanist for the choir when Melanie Scarcella rejuvenated the community choir 16 years ago. Melanie was one of the first people Lida met when she moved here to assume her role as Math teacher at Revelstoke Secondary School. That chance meeting forged a musical bond of friendship that continues strong to this day. Lida’s extensive piano prowess began with lessons at age 8 and continued when she was the accompanist for her first choir in Grade 7. She continued expanding her musical knowledge by playing trumpet and saxophone in school bands. Music was always present in her home with piano and guitar lessons divvied between her and her brother. He naturally gravitated to guitar, Lida piano. Music as a whole soothes her personally and spiritually and acts as an emotional outlet. In times of sorrow, stress, frustration, or great joy she can always go to her piano and let her feelings flow through her fingertips to the keyboard. Choir is an extension of that same kind of outlet. She often states that her choir night is the cheapest, best therapy she has. She might come to choir sometimes feeling grumpy and not sure of how the evening will unfold but she always, always leaves practice at the end of the evening in a good mood. This is her group, her family and the fact that everyone wants to be there means more than she can express. One of the special skills she contributes to choir is her ability to read the members faces to keep them engaged. If a particular musical piece doesn’t spark interest then it’s time to move on to one that does. Three things that bring her the most joy from community choir is that she always leaves choir in a good mood; she celebrates the end result as greater than the sum of its parts and you can never be a choir on your own. It takes a membership of some pretty amazing people to create the wonderful concert that Revelstoke has come to expect from our community choir.

Geoff Battersby started singing as a lad in the Anglican Church choir and continued through school programs. He also participated in the cadet band throughout school playing drums. He does regret not having structured music lessons. He left the family musical prowess to his sister who was a successful choral director before her retirement. Geoff really enjoys the act of singing and is thankful that an ability to read music is not necessary with our choir. Learning the songs and music by rote is very effective for the non-music readers in our midst. Being a member of the choir is a social gathering where meeting new community members, learning new songs with the various parts and witnessing it all come together is a very enjoyable experience. As one of the anchors in the Bass section, Geoff calls himself a ‘rare bird’. Not a lot of men are able to sing Bass and this section can play a pivotal role in any performance. The choir gladly welcomes all new members but especially for the Bass section. What brings the most joy to Geoff is the fact that we have a large group of diverse people coming together to create a successful result. He enjoys being a cog in the wheel, not the ‘it’ person that has to make things happen. He always leaves choir singing and although claims there is no stress involved in being a part of the choir it is an extremely professionally run group. He names Lida and Gaila as the encouragement that keeps bringing him back. They as a team bring out the best in all of us. On Geoff’s wish list would be to select songs from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s when the big time Broadway musicals were produced and of course who doesn’t love to sing Handel’s Messiah?

Stacie Byrne is a relative new arrival to Revelstoke Community Choir with this being her third year. She began her vocal career by singing in church with her mother on organ. She continued performing in musicals throughout her school years and took piano lessons when small. Her musical training intensified when she went on to study classical voice lessons for five years with a Julliard trained instructor. She was accepted to the music program at Carleton University but ended up choosing a different path for her career. Her fear in pursuing music was the possibility of losing her joy in singing. What keeps her singing is the pure enjoyment she receives from it. She stressed how much fun Community Choir is and how it is a great way to connect with the community. It also brings her pleasure to participate in something bigger than herself. By participating in Community Choir and being away from her nuclear family during the Christmas Holidays our Christmas concert allows her to re-invent her Christmas traditions. As a relative newcomer to Revelstoke choir has aided her with integrating into the community. She loves the laughs we share, our warm up back rubs but one of her favourite memories is of a sectional practise held in a members home her first year of choir. She was invited into a complete stranger’s home for that practise which left her with such a warm feeling of inclusion. She was accepted into her new choir community without reservation. Joy filled experiences of choir for Stacie are when she sees her friends join choir and have as much fun as she does; connecting with the members at choir and then within the broader community. Another joy is when other people volunteer to solo. She recognizes the risk it takes to put yourself out there as a soloist. She could not single out one single person that encourages her to keep coming back. It is the entire collective that makes up the choir. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If she had a vision for our choir it would be to link with a local orchestra and have a combined concert. She was fortunate to participate in such and endeavour back in Kingston. The orchestra would practise on its own perfecting their music. The choir was simultaneously practicing on its own. When the two forces came together the beautiful music produced was indescribable. I didn’t fully comprehend perfect pitch until I heard Stacie sing her solos in community choir. Her voice has such clarity and depth that it sends shivers up my spine.

Gaila Hemphill is the other half of the choral conducting team for the Revelstoke Community Choir. Being the child of a professional musician father, she was always surrounded and encouraged to participate in all forms of music with various instrument lessons as well as voice training. Gaila went on to study music at the University of Alberta and hit a proverbial wall in that process. Her joy was gone. For 10 long years she quit music altogether, neither singing nor playing. In that time her family relocated to Revelstoke. During her hiatus from music she described a ‘gentle tapping’ on her psyche that she could no longer ignore which lead her to join Revelstoke Community Choir under Melanie Scarcella and Lida as accompanist. Gaila’s first few years were as a sectional singer/soloist — another lovely singer with perfect pictch. Due to life happening Gaila was sporadic in her participation for a few years. Thankfully for us choir members Gaila’s passion for music has been ignited in the form of teaching. Over the last three years, through Lida’s encouragement Gaila began honing her skills as a choral conductor attending training sessions on choral leadership, two of which Lida also attended. When asked what keeps her singing I couldn’t help but smile as she arched her eyebrows, and formed the words with a perfect rendition of ‘north-south mouth’ as she exclaimed, “Because it feels so AWESOME!” She was also the most effusive at describing what she gets out of being a community choir member. It is a great stress reliever; cheap therapy; builds the immune system; great brain work out; form of worship; and celebrates joy. If she had one special skill to contribute it would be her goal to ignite enthusiasm and the joy of music in other people. Gaila lists the three joys she receives from community choir as her sense of family she feels; the accomplishment of a concert well done and received and seeing other peoples enthusiasm ignited. She does not hesitate to name Lida as being one of the instrumental people in maintaining her commitment to community choir. She is also thankful that Lida helped awaken her teaching ability. Gaila’s vision for the future would be to grow the choir to give more balanced sections. However, growth at any cost would not be worth it if the special feel that we have developed amongst our choir members were lost.

This series of interviews is not meant to be all encompassing. It intends to give a glimpse of the people that comprise the Revelstoke Community Choir, why we belong to this organization and what we receive from being a member. An overall feeling of infectious enthusiasm permeates each member. We get together to raise our voices in song for the simple statement that, “It feels AWESOME!” We are all united in our love of singing and if you want to sample what we experience in this extended family then join us every Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Revelstoke United Church. You will be welcomed!