An Invitation to a great show!

Choral Music and the Goose-Bump Effect by Rosemary Phillips

The Power of MusicAnd what power! “Music has the ability to transcend language and cultural practice,” explains Tony Araujo, artistic director of the British Columbia Boys Choir whose many members, drawn from throughout the Lower Mainland and Central Vancouver Island, come from various backgrounds and cultures.“Where conventional language fails us, music gives us another language, a new way of looking at things, of sifting through what life hands us, with hope for the future. With choral music we recognize the power of text linked with melody to not only move the senses but to move the spirit, as a catalyst for transformation, to help us recognize something extraordinary – our

potential for personal growth and excellence - and live it!”Here Araujo speaks not just about the effects on the choristers themselves but also on the audience. “There’s an expression I often use – ‘I don’t choose the music, the music chooses me’. There is something dialogical about music, particularly when we listen with the heart. If we listen deeply and allow the music to flow, we can get to the point where we are no longer playing, singing or listening to the music, it is coming through us, playing us, working us. Some call this the ‘goose-bump’ effect!”When the BC Boys Choir joins with local youth choirs from Aspengrove School, Dover Bay School, the Nanaimo Youth Choir and Parksville & District Musical Association Youth Choir at the Port Theatre for The Power of Music on Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m. – with over 130 young voices raised high in song, there may very well be ‘goose-bump’ moments!The music – the songsSays Marla Mason, conductor of the BCBC Vancouver Town Choir, “The songs chosen support the idea that music has the power to promote and affect so many things in our lives; peace, healing, reconciliation, joy, love and much more. And because part of our mandate is to teach boys how to sing with good technique together in a choral setting, we choose pieces that have wonderful melodies and textures that help support the vocal range and choral teachings that we incorporate into each rehearsal.”“Music has potential as a tool of unity and harmony in our world,” says Edette Gagné, BCBC associate conductor. “Each of the songs on the program offers one or more of these things to us as singers and to the audience in turn as we share the songs with them.”

Says Patricia Plumley, conductor of BCBC Vancouver Island, “Songs being sung by the junior and senior choirs include: If Music be the Food of Love; For the Beauty of the Earth; My Heart Soars, based on text by Chief Dan George; I Believe in the Sun, about believing in the sun even when it isn’t shining; All Things Bright and Beautiful; Ahrirang, a Korean song with a stunning ‘round’ setting; One Song that has the overall message of the joy of singing and its effect on people; and we come together with the Touring Choir for World of Difference – my favourite line is ‘It takes a world of differences to make a difference in the world!’ ”Adds Mason, “That song talks about joining all cultures together and celebrating diversity.” “There are also some fun songs,” continues Plumley, “like Cactus Swing, Back to the Market, Getting to Know You and the powerful songs One Single Light, Go Forth with a Song, C’est l’au revoir and Ode to Peace, based on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.”But about those ‘goose-bump’ moments...“Choral music is about the experience,” adds Araujo, “whether rehearsing, practicing, performing or listening. At any point in time – such as in rehearsal, or walking to the bus stop, or standing in front of, or sitting in an audience, there can come that moment when the music moves us into a completely different space, into a magical place. That is The Power of Music!”Tickets for this powerful experience are available by calling the Port Theatre Ticket Centre at 250-754-8550 or www.porttheatre.com.