Honour choir to perform in Edmonton

Times Reporter   

 

Every year choir students are selected to attend and sing with the Alberta Children’s Choir (ACC) in Edmonton. The students, ages 10 to 15-years-old, rehearse as much as possible to prepare for the prestigious event. 

Each year the interest has grown and this year it reached the point that a new choir group was created, the Alberta Children’s Apprentice Choir (ACAC), so that a majority of applicants weren’t being turned away. 

Brentwood Elementary School has always had students attend the annual event and this year is no different. There will be five students heading to Edmonton for Jan. 31. 

Natalie Funk and Reanna Thiessen are singing with the ACAC and Metaya Anderson, Janelle Reynolds, and Samantha Walstra will be with the ACC.

For Anderson and Walstra it’s not a new experience, but it is still an exciting one. For Walstra, learning more challenging songs in other languages is something that keeps her coming back. 

“It’s really just a really cool experience,” said Anderson. 

Both girls will be attending junior high next year but are hoping they will again have the chance to attend. 

Reynolds and Funk had heard about how much fun it was to participate in the ACC and had wanted to try it for a while now, but busy schedules didn’t give them the time until this year. 

“Metaya and Sam keep on telling me they have fun and they’re always like ‘it’s so cool and we always get to do all those cool things’ and I just always wanted to go but there’s just always been stuff that’s been in the way. This year finally when my mom said that we didn’t have anything I was really excited,” said Reynolds. 

“The reason I came to honour choir is because I’ve seen all the pictures that are up (outside the music room). I’ve heard people saying ‘oh it’s so much fun’ and I just love choir so I just thought hey why not do two choirs,” said Thiessen.

Both groups are learning five songs. Walstra, Reynolds and Anderson have been practicing ‘Birdsong’ by Paul Read, ‘Two Roads to the Heartland’ by Allan Gordon Bell, ‘Shiru’ by Allan Naplan, ‘Psalm 150’ by Benjamin Britten, and ‘Where’er You Walk’ by Handel every chance they get. 

‘Shiru’ is the one of the hardest songs the girls are learning. It is a fast-paced Hebrew song. ‘Two Roads to the Heartland’ is another one that Reynolds says gives her some trouble because of the pace of the song.

Thiessen and Funk have been learning ‘The Mending Song’ by Daniel Kallman, ‘Hand Me Down My Silver Trumpet’ by Jean Ashworth Bartle, ‘You’ll Never Guess What I Saw’ by Ruth Watson Henderson, ‘When I Lay Me Down to Sleep’ by James Mulholland and ‘A Great Big Sea’ by Lori-Anne Dolloff.

Both Funk and Thiessen find ‘You’ll Never Guess What I Saw’ to be one of their favourites to sing. 

“It’s about a monster, it’s lots of fun to sing,” said Funk. 

 “So is ‘Hand Me Down My Silver Trumpet,’” said Thiessen. 

There are over 160 singers from 42 choirs who will be in Edmonton preparing from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. The ACCC choir will perform at the McDougall United Church at 7 p.m. on Feb. 2.