Our new name!

Hi Everyone,

      We are now "Chorisma"!!!   Thanks to all who contributed ideas, and who voted last week.  The vote was approximately two-to-one in favour of Chorisma over The Offbeats.   The name Chorisma will be just a one-word name, not attached to "singers" or "choir" or anything else -- I think it is a powerful, somewhat quirky and very charismatic (chorismatic?) choice!   If anyone in the group has artistic talents, perhaps you'd like to design a logo to go with our new name???  Suggestions welcome.....

Choir name -- final ballot!

Hi everyone; I sent you a message about our vote for the choir name, and then I realized I should have posted it on the blog (gotta get used to using this great blog format!)  Anyway, our big vote
of last Wednesday narrowed down the field to the top two contenders, and we will be making our
choice between those two next Wednesday, November 9.  The two choices are:

CHORISMA         or        THE OFFBEATS

Please carry those two around with you for the next two days, think about them, and decide which one you think is a better choice for our wonderful new choir.   Then be prepared to vote on Wednesday, and we will have a winner.

If you are unable to come on Wed. but want to send me your preference, I'll enter it for you --- this
election is guaranteed NOT to be rigged!

Thanks once again for all your fabulous suggestions --- there were so many good ones, but I hope we
will all be happy with whichever one is the final choice.

Hey everybody, 

Dave Hess wanted to let everyone know that the fabulous harmony group The Nylons are playing a show in North Vancouver at the Centennial theatre next Thursday, Nov. 3rd. 

You can go to www.nvrc.ca/centennial theatre for more information. 

Have a great weekend! 
-Juhli 

Hey Everybody, 

Most of you are aware that we are still in need of a name for our awesome choir.  Some people have been coming up with names, or words that they think suit the group.  This post can be a place to consolidate all the ideas and then maybe we can vote on the top three names and hopefully have one before the end of the term! 

You can comment on this post with suggestions and ideas.  I know we are a creative group and will come up with a name that captures the energy and enthusiasm you all bring weekly. 

Some ideas that have already been shared are: 
ConTempo
The Spirit Jazz Choir
Juhli's Jazz Jewels 

Other ideas have to do with lunch time (Tea and Tunes), or Groove, or Synchopation (Synchopators...) 

Let the naming begin!  
-Juhli

Here is the video of "Drive My Car" 

Hey Everybody, 

Here is the link to the newest piece "And So It Goes" as performed by the King's Singers.

I'm looking forward to diving into this one.  

An addendum to Peter's post:

I found another link for those interested. There is s mandatory piece "Même mort" for each choir. I cannot copy a link for this, but a YouTube search for "Riikka Talvitie Même mort" takes one to a short (English) description by the composer of her piece, AND the live YouTube channels for each of the three concerts in the competition. 

Interesting choral information from Peter and Claire

Hi Everyone,

This will be my first time ever posting something on a blog (thank you, Juhli, for thinking I was technologically skilled

enough to be able to do this).   Peter and Claire left on Wed. night for a trip to Finland and Sweden, and Peter has

asked me to post the following on our new blog.  I hope it works...

--Paula

Dear all - thanks for a great first practice. C and I are now tucked into a cute pad in the forested northwest corner of Helsinki and will begin to explore when it gets light. Today and tomorrow will find us busy with this wonderful choral event - please take a few minutes to share the experience with us:

Harald Andersen Choral competition. 

The International Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition has been held every three years since 2003. This high-quality competition is open to any mixed choir with 16 to 40 singers, with no limitations on nationality. The choir may include professional singers. The Competition was named after pioneering Finnish choral conductor Harald Andersén (1919–2001).

Nine top level international chamber choirs will compete in the V International Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition on 23rd and 24th September 2016. The competition is organized by the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. 

The participating choirs are:

* Addictio (Finland)

* Ahjo Ensemble (Finland)

* Collegium Musicale (Estonia)

* Kamēr... (Latvia)

* Kampin Laulu (Finland)

* New Dublin Voices (Ireland)

* Spira Ensemble (Finland)

* S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör (Sweden)

* Turun konservatorion kamarikuoro (Finland)

Eleven choirs were initially chosen to participate in the competition but two of them have unfortunately cancelled their participation.

In the preliminary round on Friday September 23rd, the choirs will perform the mandatory competition piece which is the third part Mais je suis mort of Riikka Talvitie’s composition Même mort (2002). Based on the preliminary competition, no more than six choirs will be selected for the final on September 24th. The competition will be concluded with a gala concert on September 24th at 7 p.m. in the Helsinki Music Centre concert hall. In this event, the winner will be also announced. The guest of the gala, performing in addition to the competing choirs, is vocal ensemble Club for Five and the concert will be hosted by Tuukka Haapaniemi.

Those of you who like The Idea of North might want to sample a few tracks from Club for Five:

https://youtu.be/WvEC7a9YUc4

https://youtu.be/NhDyFaM04Bk

https://youtu.be/k66OtrX5YUo

And for those of you with quiet time at unusual times of day (Finland is 10 hours ahead of Vancouver) consider catching the competition online:

http://www.uniarts.fi/en/newsroom/follow-harald-anders%C3%A9n-choir-competition-online

We'll miss you next Wednesday (Peter has work in Stockholm) but will be with you again the following week. 

Peter and Claire

Hey Everybody,

Thank you for such a warm welcome today. What a great, and harmonious, start to the year! As promised, here are the youtube links to the pieces we are working on this week.  Enjoy!

Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder) :

Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper):

Fields of Gold (Sting):

Welcome!

Hi Everyone,

I am really excited to be directing this choir.
Please check this blog for any important updates.  I'll also try to post recordings of our repertoire as well as the occasional photograph.  Feel free to leave a comment if you feel so inclined.

We'll be rehearsing every week at 11am sharp!

Please come prepared to begin singing right at 11.

I'm looking forward to singing with you all!

- Juhli