Category: Music

  • The Five Senses In Singing – Smell

    Welcome to our series, The Five Senses In Singing! For the next five weeks, we will be examining how the five senses – sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch, are all related to singing!     The human ability to smell is the hardest sense to relate to the area of singing, because olfactory perception is not…

  • The Five Senses In Singing – Sight

    Welcome to our series, The Five Senses In Singing! For the next five weeks, we will be examining how the five senses – sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch, are all related to singing!   Sight: Sight is a vital sense to the art of singing for several different reasons. Sight allows singers to read…

  • The Five Senses In Singing – Hearing

    Welcome to our new series, The Five Senses In Singing! For the next five weeks, we will be examining how the five senses –  sound, sight,smell, taste, and touch – are all related to singing! Hearing: Our ability to hear is one of the most obvious senses involved in singing. It’s also one of the…

  • Halloween Concert Roundup!

    Despite the 15 centimetres of snow, and blowing winds last night, our first concert of the year – the much anticipated Halloween concert – was a rousing success! The hall was decorated for Halloween by our amazing decorating committee, led by our Creative Consultant, Kat Long (who dressed up as an ice cream sundae!) It…

  • House Songs!

    This year, at our choir camp in September, we had a Harry Potter theme. As part of that theme, the choir members were divided into three different houses: House Harmony, whose Head of House was our Creative Consultant Kat Long, House Rhythm, led by our Artistic Director Marni Strome, and House Melody, whose Head of…

  • Choral Singing Versus Solo Singing

    There are many differences between choral singing and solo singing. Here are three important differences to consider: #1. Blend: One of the key factors in choral singing is blending many voices to sound as one. This involves modifying vowels, matching voice colours, and decreasing vibrato, all to make a seamless sound. In solo singing, the objective…

  • Choir Camp 2013!

    This weekend, the Calgary Children’s Choir went out to Camp Horizon to enjoy a wonderful weekend of choir camp! Camp is a great opportunity for all of the choristers to get to know one another, and really get comfortable as an ensemble. We could not have asked for a more stunning location for our weekend…

  • All Too Soon

    We started our day at 9:00 in the morning, when we got on our tour bus to go to the El Prado Museum. We were all very excited because we had learned a bit about some of the paintings during our rehearsals in Calgary. While we were there, we all got to see some really…

  • Singing in Segovia

    The day started off bright and early with a lovely breakfast at 7:45!   After a delicious breakfast we departed for Segovia, where we visited the castle Alcazar, the segovian cathedral, and admired the beautiful architecture of the roman aqueducts. The Aqueducts are truly works of art! They are held together with noting but gravity,…

  • Today in Toledo

    It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to sing in a cathedral that houses a Michaelangelo painting.  We had this amazing opportunity today in Toledo. After a morning of shopping in Madrid, we boarded our tour bus and set off for Toledo.  Toledo is a beautiful city about an hour from Madrid full…

  • Bienvenido A Madrid!

    Today was definitely a packed day! It began with the whole choir waking up early and heading to the airport at six o’clock in the morning. We said farewell to Paris and started for Madrid. Our journey continued after the flight, as we got on yet another tour bus to drop off our luggage at the hotel,…

  • Let Them Eat Cake!

    This morning the choir visited the Chateau de Versailles, and then spent the afternoon near the Sacré Choeur Basilica. (Photo by Kat Long)     (Photo by Kat Long) (Photo by Kat Long) The palace, the construction of which took decades, was an incredibly opulent, massive, artistic marvel. We were given a private tour which…

  • Notre-Dame and Saint Eustache

    What can I say about today that will do it any justice? One thing is certain: it is unanimous among the touring choir that today was one of the most amazing days ever! It began with the world-famous Notre-Dame Cathedral, which is hard to even describe if you have never been. It’s more than just…

  • Un Canadien Errant

    Que c’était un journée tellement excitent! We started our very long, very eventful day at the VimyRidge Memorial in Arras. I think I speak for all of us when I say that it was a truly meaningful experience. Beginning with a guided tour of the trenches and tunnels that were built for a battle nearly…

  • Arrival in Arras

    We have finally arrived in Europe! Wow! What a long day we have all had! After two plane rides (first Calgary to London, and then London to Paris) and a two hour long bus ride from Paris to Arras, we have finally arrived at our destination – Arras, France!   (Photo via Travel Tidbits)  …

  • Welcome to Tour 2013: France and Spain!

    Happy Canada Day! We are so thrilled to be leaving tomorrow (July 2nd) for our 10 day tour of France and Spain! Stay tuned to the ‘News’ section of our website to keep updated with the tour blog that we will be keeping! The daily blog posts will start on July 3rd, and will also…

  • 6 Great Resources For Choristers

    The internet is full of so many valuable resources, and nowhere is that more evident than in the myriad of websites designed to help musicians! Here are a number of great resources for choristers of all ages: #1. Virtual Piano: It can be difficult for singers who don’t have a piano, or keyboard at home,…

  • What Choir Means To Me

    At our Annual Spring Banquet Sunday June 2nd 2013, our board president, Dan Link, asked our Artistic Director, Marni Strome, to discuss what choir means to her. The following is the transcript of Marni’s speech: Choir is: many voices making beautiful sound. LIVE. The whole thing is alive, happening in the moment – it’s spontaneous…

  • 5 Life Lessons From Choir

    #1. Always Bring A Pencil: It’s a pretty good rule of thumb that in choir, you should always have a pencil. This is pretty good advice in life as well; always be prepared! #2. Work as Part of a Team:  The great thing about singing in a choir is that you’re singing with many voices,…

  • 3 Different Types of Vocal Scores

    Vocal scores have had a myriad of different incarnations as the art of musical notation has developed since music first began to be transcribed. There are different types of vocal scores from all regions of the world, with many varied notation systems. They are all fascinating, and many of them are aesthetically stunning. Here are…

  • 3 Reasons Why Singing in a Choir is the Best Thing Ever

    #1. Many Voices as One: One of the goals of quality choral singing is to blend the unique sounds of different voices into one seamless sound. This is very technically challenging, given that each individual voice has a unique timbre, but it is such a rewarding feeling to achieve that beautiful blend of sound! Even…

  • Thom(p)son Grey Tartan

    One of the most important symbols of the Calgary Children’s Choir is the iconic kilt worn as part of our dress uniform. Our kilt is made from an authentic Scottish pattern called a tartan. The specific pattern we use is called the Thom(p)son Grey tartan, and it was registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority in…

  • Blogging For the Joy of It!

    Hello and welcome to the Calgary Children’s Choir blog! This will be a space where you can access all kinds of important and interesting information about the Calgary Children’s Choir, and our community. As many of you know, the choir now has a Facebook page, and Twitter account, as well as a LinkedIn company page! If…