Tag: choir

  • 2018 Fall Choir Camp

    2018 Fall Choir Camp

    This year’s camp was yet another success! Choristers showed up at Camp Horizon buzzing about the weekend to come and were already looking forward to Skit Night, campfire songs and all the other activities camp has to offer. After the first night of icebreaker games, the real “work” began. The first full day at camp…

  • 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!…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The Importance of Musicianship in Singing

    Musicianship is a musical term used to describe the skills a musician possesses related to their aural skills; intonation, ear training. Musicianship is absolutely a skill as well that can be learned, and should be carefully honed. Here are three reasons why musicianship is an essential skill in singing: #1. Sight singing: There are few…

  • 5 Tips To Help You Get The Most Out of Choir

    Starting in choir can be a bit intimidating, particularly if you’re new to music, or to singing. Here are 5 tips to help you get the most out of your choir experience! #1. Listen: Choir is different from singing solos, for several important reasons (read more about that here.) But listening is an incredibly important…

  • Welcome to our 2017-2018 Singing Season!

    Welcome to the Calgary Children’s Choir’s 31st Singing Season! Our Calgary Children’s Choir and Calgary Youth Choir start rehearsals tomorrow (Tuesday, September 12th, 2017) Our Music Makers and Calgary Junior Choir start rehearsals on Thursday (Thursday September 14th, 2017) We are delighted to be back after our wonderful 30th Anniversary Celebrations in May, and an…

  • Italy Tour – Pisa and Lucca

    After our relaxing and radiant day yesterday, the choir was in good spirits and ready for more walking! We kicked off the day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel, and made our way onto the tour bus. We arrived at Pisa, at the site of the famous leaning tower, and we were set free…

  • Italy – Rome Day 3!

    We had another amazing (albeit very warm) day. The choir started the day off singing a concert at St. Agnes’s church, a beautiful space. Around the age of 12-13, St. Agnes became a martyr. She had made a vow of chastity, and when a prince of Rome tried to break that vow, he was smited by…

  • Italy Tour – Rome!

      This morning was our first rehearsal of the tour! We found a cute little conference room on the upper level of the hotel, and practiced for about two hours. Following the rehearsal, the choir went to the small bars (little restaurants) just outside of the hotel for lunch. The remainder of the afternoon consisted…

  • Italy Tour – Travel and Rome!

    Hello, it has been a very long day for all of us here in Italy! First things first, at 9 AM on the 2nd of July we met at the Calgary International Airport, bright eyed and exited to fly to Italy! Except first we had to fly to Toronto and wait a bit, having some…