Author: Rachael Mollison-Read

  • How To Practice Singing Over A Break

    #1. Use Your Voice: The most important thing you can do for your voice over a break is to continue singing – every day if possible. It can be easy to stop singing as much during a break, and choristers often find that their range is not quite as large when they come back from…

  • 3 Reasons Why You Should Join A Choir Right Now

    #1. Singing together: Singing is a wonderful activity, as good for your physical health as it is for your mental well-being. While it’s wonderful, and very valuable to get one on one instruction in singing, learning how to sing with others is every bit as valuable! Choral singing has its own technical requirements and requires…

  • 3 Tips To Help You Get The Most Out of a Choir Workshop

    Choir workshops only happen a few times a year, and at the CCC we like to schedule them a couple of weeks before a concert. They’re an excellent chance for us to really get into the feel of the overall concert, and to discover any areas of the music that aren’t quite working yet, or…

  • 5 Misconceptions About Choir

    #1. It’s too hard: It’s true, singing can be hard work, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But this is why choir is great – you don’t have to go it alone. In choir there is always someone willing to help you, whether it’s staying in tune, reading your music, or keeping in time with the accompaniment.…

  • The Importance of Presentation In Choir

    Presentation in a choral concert is an essential aspect of every performance – and there are several different kinds of presentation that inform a performance: #1. Visual presentation: The goal of choir is to present a multitude of varied sounds as one voice. Our objective then, could be hampered by an incongruous visual presentation. This…

  • 5 Ways To Cultivate Community In Choir

    We are so very fortunate in the CCC to have a thriving community of not just present choristers, but alumni as well. Creating a sense of community, and belonging, is very important to us, and we work hard to make sure that the only requirement for inclusion in the CCC is a love of music!…

  • What Is The Best Age To Start Singing?

    The obvious answer to this question is – as soon as possible! Babies start ‘singing’ as soon as they’re able to vocalize – experimenting with their instrument, and exploring the range and versatility of their voice! For the purposes of this blog post though we’ll discuss the best age to start formal instruction in singing:…

  • Imperfection In Singing

    Singing is difficult for many reasons, but one of the hardest things to deal with is how personal our voices are to every individual singer. Each voice is unique to that person, and as such, singers have an extra level of difficulty to deal with when learning how to use their instruments. Here are three…

  • The Importance of Music Theory In Singing

    Music theory is often a chorister’s least favourite part of choir. But learning to read and understand the technical aspects of music, though difficult, is ultimately extremely rewarding. #1. Musicianship: Singing requires an excellent understanding of the relationship between notes, because unlike other instruments, singers do not have keys, or strings, to manipulate to elicit…

  • 3 Tips To Protect Your Singing Voice

    The human voice, though one of the most powerful instruments, is also an extremely delicate instrument, and can be adversely affected by any number of seemingly innocuous forces. Here are three tips to help you protect your singing voice: #1. No screaming: This is, hopefully obvious, but people frequently misuse their voices; by raising their…

  • How To Deal With Comparison in Choir

    Singing in a choir means singing with other people, of different ages, abilities, and interests. This can be wonderful for many reasons, but it can also cause us to compare our voice to others, and find ourselves lacking. Here are three ideas for how to deal with comparison in choir: #1. Don’t compare apples to…

  • 3 Unusual Reasons We Love Singing

    Singing is wonderful for a number of reasons, but here are three slightly unusual reasons why we love to sing! #1. It’s hard! This may seem like an odd reason to love something, but the truth is that singing is difficult. It’s difficult physically; from breath management, to core support, and projection. Singing is difficult…

  • Constructive Criticism In Choir

    Getting feedback on your performance is a common aspect of almost every endeavour. While it can be a bit uncomfortable to receive feedback about something as personal as your voice, and your singing, constructive criticism is an essential aspect of singing, and particularly singing in a choir. Here are three things to remember about constructive…

  • Singers As Storytellers

    The voice is a wonderful and singular instrument because of its unique ability to convey story. Composers have used variations in tempo, dynamics, melody, harmony and rhythm to convey a story, but singers have the added layer of text, and are thus uniquely equipped to also be storytellers. Here are 3 things singers must consider…

  • Welcome to 2018!

    Happy New Year! We are excited to return for another wonderful singing season in 2018. We have many exciting events upcoming, and we hope you’ll join us for many of them! Winter Camp: We have an upcoming winter retreat to Camp Horizon for our Calgary Children’s Choir and Calgary Youth Choir! This is a great…

  • ‘Johann’s Gift To Christmas’ Concert Roundup!

    This past Saturday we held our Annual Christmas Concert at the Rozsa Centre featuring our three performing choirs; the Calgary Junior Choir, Calgary Children’s Choir, and Calgary Youth Choir. We were also pleased to feature performances from our friends, Hilary and Noel of the Amante Duo, as well as our own choristers in the Calgary…

  • How To Sing Well In Chillier Weather

    We all know how difficult it can be during the colder months in Canada – everything takes longer, and sometimes it’s so cold, it’s dangerous to be out in the elements for too long. This kind of weather has a direct impact on singers as well, so here are three tips to help you sing…

  • 3 Myths About Singing

    There are many misconceptions floating around about singing, which is unfortunate because it makes many people unwilling to partake in all that singing has to offer. Here are three common myths about singing: #1. Tone deafness: People often claim to be ‘tone deaf’ when what they really mean is that they have problems with pitch…

  • The Benefits of Singing in the Community

    The Calgary Children’s Choir performs three major concerts a year, including our upcoming Christmas Concert on Saturday, December 9th. Interspersed with these concerts are a variety of events out and about in the community, and it’s always such an exciting opportunity for our choir to experience these performances: #1. Fresh Perspective: New performance opportunities are…

  • Conductor Profile – Andreas Berko

    Written by Heather Louden New Conductor Has Us Singing His Praises The Calgary Youth Choir has welcomed a new youth choir conductor, Andreas Berko, as the interim conductor while Artistic Director, Marni Strome is away for the year on sabbatical. Andreas began with the choir in September 2017, but he and his family are no…

  • How To Practice Choral Music By Yourself

    Practicing your choir music at home by yourself can feel counterproductive, especially since choir is inherently a group activity. Still, practicing at home will help you to learn your music faster, feel more confident in your line, and let you enjoy your choir rehearsals even more! Here are 3 tips to help you practice your…

  • What Makes Music Sound ‘Haunting’?

    One of the most amazing aspects of music is how it can help to establish an atmosphere, or evoke particular emotions without words, or gestures; through sound alone. Just in time for Halloween, here are three things that help to make music sound ‘haunting’: #1. Modality: Western music has two main modalities; major or minor.…

  • 4 Conductor Secrets

    #1. We can see EVERYTHING: For real. It’s a prerequisite for conductors to have extra ‘nonsense’ senses, but we’re at the front of the room, and often we’re standing while choristers are sitting. We can see you, choristers. Even when you think you’re being sneaky and hiding your phone, or a snack, or a gerbil,…

  • The ‘Ins and Outs’ of Repertoire Selection

    Repertoire is an important aspect of the choral experience, and it’s a topic on which everyone has an opinion – we all have our favourites, of course, but there’s much more that goes into choosing the repertoire for the year than many people think. Here are three things that are taken into consideration when the…

  • The Benefits of Solfege in Singing

    Solfege is sometimes considered a drag in choir, since some choristers can find it frustrating, or boring, and fail to see the use of the method. Still, solfege, part of the Kodaly method, is actually an incredibly useful tool, particularly in singing. At the CCC we are most fortunate to have teachers who are well-versed…