Wednesday 13 February 2008

Celtic Choir - Sign Up!

In order to give people more time to sign up, we've extended the date to March 4th. Please, if you're interested in joining the choir, call Alan Marsden at the Ottawa Folklore Centre at 613-730-2887, and let him know you intend to sign up. We can't assume you're "in" for the choir until you've signed up and paid. Some of you have asked what my intentions are for the choir. This choir is pan-Celtic, and my intention is to introduce Welsh, Breton, Scots, and Irish songs (and Manx and Cornish too, if I can find some!), as well as English-language songs from both sides of the 'big pond'. The choir is going to be doing performances, whether organized by the Folklore Centre or by me. As such, we're going to be working up repertoire to performance levels. I fully intend to get the choir singing harmony. We'll be doing things like mouth music and waulking songs in warm-ups and in performance, as well as the more 'lyric' big songs of the various Celtic traditions. So, you're going to be getting a mouthful of Scots and Irish Gaelic along with your English, on a regular basis. Of course, I'll be teaching you how to pronounce the lyrics, as well as explaining what the lyrics mean. I intend to have fun with this, and I hope you do, too! Weekly rehearsals are on Tuesdays 6:30-8:30pm. This is a non-auditioned community choir which gathers to learn and sing the music of the Celtic nations and the Celtic diaspora. This means that, in addition to singing songs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, etc., we will also sing songs from Canada's East Coast, the eastern seaboard of the US, the Appalachians, and songs of the Ottawa Valley. The cost will be $35 per Month, $30 if paying for 6 months (max 15 people). For those of you who have signed up and paid, your money will go towards the month of March, as opposed to the month of February. Thanks for your patience, and hopefully we'll see you on the 4th! Ellen MacIsaac