A day for dancing

These are the youtube videos of the songs we are learning in choir:

http://youtu.be/-k6CpNrofZs?list=PLED03686658D47077

Listen lots!

MHC Adult Choir is Growing!

The MHC Adult Choir is gearing up for a new and exciting season this fall!  The choir has been continually growing and we have outgrown our old rehearsal space in the choir room at the Cultural Center.  We are very privileged and excited to begin rehearsing for the 2014/2015 season in the College Theater!  This will give us lots of room to continue growing and also give us the rare opportunity to rehearse in one of Medicine Hat's premier venues every week!

The Choir is always welcoming new members. We are a diverse group of musicians that include singers with no experience to singers with their Masters degrees in music.  There is no audition; all you need to do is show up!  Our first rehearsal is Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at 7pm in the College Theater.  If you have an interest in music or singing, please contact me or the conservatory for more information or simply show up!

Concert programming for this year is well underway.  As always, there will be an eclectic mix of choral standards, new favorites, interesting instrumentation, special guest musicians and more!  Stay tuned to see the entire concert plan coming soon!

Check out the Ahoy! premiere!

The MHC Conservatory Choirs are very excited to present the North American Premiere of:

Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose!

by

Alexander L'Estrange

on

Thursday, April 10, 2014

7pm

Medicine Hat College Theatre

Check out the original performance:

Ahoy! Trivia

Hi folks!

As people enter into the theater for our upcoming performance of Ahoy! they will be greeted with the following PowerPoint presentation.  I thought I would upload it here so you can have a sneak peak!  Enjoy!

PS If I made a mistake or missed something you think should be included, please let me know!






Looking forward to the concert!

Maybe next time!

Alexander L'Estrange wrote us back:

Dear Bradley - what a nice email to receive!  

Thank you for the invitation. With a bit more notice, I would have loved to have come!  I have only ever been to Montreal (where my good friend and ex-Swingle Singer Andy Gray runs the Montreal Children's Choir) in Canada and would love to come to Alberta one day (please ask again!).  However, it is my 40th birthday on April 7th and we have lots of celebrations, visitors and events all of that week and weekend - what a shame!  Maybe one day in the future I could come out and do some workshops or performances with you?

Brilliant that it's the N-American premiere - I hope it goes wonderfully.  If you'd like me to pen a few words for the programme or anything like that (feel free to prompt me!), just ask, won't you?  Also, if you've got any good links, photos, blogs or anything that I can tweet or blog about to spread the love, do let me know.

Very best wishes for now,

Alexander

Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose

The Medicine Hat College Conservatory of Music and Dance is proud to present

 the North American Premiere

of

Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose

by

Alexander L'Estrange





presented by 

The Medicine Hat College Adult Choir

The Medicine Hat College Children's Choir

The Medicine Hat College Girls' Choir

and
The Tartone Singers

directed by

Bradley van Middelkoop 

and accompanied by

Fiddle and Accordion in a Jazz Quintet

Ahoy! is an exciting piece about King Henry VIII's famous ship the Mary Rose. Composer Alexander L'Estrange creatively combines traditional sea shanties, Tudor tunes, and some good old British favourites to bring this work to life.  Adopting the same successful formula of combining Adult Choir, Children's Choir, and Jazz Quintet that he used in Zimbe, L'Estrange adds a fiddle and accordion to truly bring the nautical theme to life.

Some highlights of this performance will be the well known songs Greensleeves and Drunken Sailor, a piece with no words, and texts written by Shakespeare, and King Henry VIII himself!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

7pm

Medicine Hat College Theatre  

Tickets: $10 

Available at the MHC Conservatory of Music and Dance (403-529-3880) or at the door 

Choir is starting!

The 2013-2014 choral season at Medicine Hat College is starting soon! All classes start the week of September 9 and are held at the Cultural Center.

Adult Choir -Tuesdays, 7-9

Girls' Choir - Wednesdays, 7-9

Children's Choir - Wednesdays 5:45-6:45

See you singing soon!

Girls' Choir heading to Scotland

The Medicine Hat College Girls' Choir is excited and honored to be representing Canada at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in Scotland this summer!  Check out the websites to learn more about how Medicine Hat is being represented world-wide!!!

Good luck MHCGC!

Girls Choir Auditions

AUDITIONS

MEDICINE HAT COLLEGE GIRLS’ CHOIR

Directed by Bradley van Middlekoop

What:                    Girls’ Choir membership for the 2013-14 term.

                  

The Medicine Hat College Girls’ Choir is a community choir of teenage girls dedicated to great singing, building friendship through teamwork, educational opportunities and excellence.  The choir functions as a major performing and touring ensemble.  In addition to being active locally, they have performed throughout Western Canada, Europe and Asia.  Choristers and parents must be willing to commit to an active schedule of rehearsals, workshops, performances and fundraising activities.

Previous musical experience is not a requirement.

Who:                     Open to all girls who love to sing and will be entering Grade 7 (12 years of age) through high school grades.  All ages of junior and senior high school are welcome.

When:                    Monday, June 10^th   from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

                             Tuesday, June 11^th  from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

                             Wednesday, June 12^th from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

Where:                   Cultural Centre

Returning choristers will be asked to sing their part from one our pieces this past year, as well as do some vocal exercises. This is also a chance for me to see how each girl is doing and what they are enjoying or not enjoying about their choir experience.  Auditions will be 10 minutes.

New choristers will be asked to do several warm ups, sight read, and learn part of a new song. No prior preparation is needed however it does make a positive impression if girls come prepared with something to sing.  Auditions will be 20 minutes.

A parent is required to attend the audition with their daughter.

 

To book an audition time, please contact the Conservatory office at 403-529-3880 or conservatory@mhc.ab.ca 

If you require any other information please contact Bradley van Middelkoop, bvanmiddelkoop@mhc.ab.ca

Rosebowl Winners!

The Medicine Hat College Girls' Choir is proud to announce that they are the winners of the Medicine Hat Rotary Music Festival's 2013 Rosebowl Competition!

After performing Canadian folk son 'Frobisher Bay' by James Gordon at Friday's competition, we were surprised when we heard the results at Sunday's Stars of the Festival celebration.

We are so excited and can't wait to have a party!

Bad Weather and Bad Men

Ian Tyson Concert

Hello Adult Choir,

After sending our recording in (which was awesome, by the way), I heard back from Ian Tyson's tour manager.  He explained that Ian doesn't use technology too well and that, in his opinion, things were just running a bit too tight to make our collaboration work.

That being said, I still think our rehearsal on Tuesday was a worthwhile experience.  We pushed ourselves to new heights, made some glorious sounds, and we should be proud.

Well done!  See you next week!

Magic of Music History Classes

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Magic of Music classes this week!  As promised below is a link to all the videos we watched in our history classes.

History Playlist

If you have any questions please leave a comment or send me an email!

Bad weather, bad men

Be reminded! All MHC choirs start back this week! The Children's Choir and the Adult Choir are always seeking new members.  If you or someone you know is interested in singing, please contact the Conservatory 403-529-3880.

Adult Choir - Tuesday, January 8; 7-9pm
Girls' Choir - Wednesday, January 9
Children's Choir - Wednesday, January 9; 5:45-6:45

This semester the Adult Choir will be preparing for a concert titled "Bad weather, Bad men" which will feature Canadian folk songs pertaining to the title.  Also, the Girls' Choir will be adding to their list of Canadian repertoire in preparation for their upcoming tour to Scotland!

See you this week!

Bad...

Repertoire for the MHC Adult Choir Winter 2013 season is all ready to go...  The title of this post is your hint.  More details to come!

One month until Christmas...concert!

The Medicine Hat College Conservatory of Music and Dance is proud to present this year's annual Choral Christmas Concert!  The MHC Children's Choir, Girls' Choir, and Adult Choir will be featured in this upcoming concert.  We are also proud to be accompanied by the MHC Academy Orchestra in presenting Camille Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio. Read on to learn a bit more about the Academy Orchestra's and Adult Choir's upcoming performance. 

Born in Paris, France and best known for his composition Carnvial of the Animals, Saint-Saëns quickly learned music theory, piano, several languages, math, and various other academic subjects.  After his intelligences were discovered, his teachers were quick to help nurture his abilities.  Saint-Saëns soon became friends with many other composers such as Liszt and Fauré. In addition to his many natural abilities, Saint-Saëns supposedly also had perfect pitch!

What is perfect pitch? The best way to explain this gift is to imagine how fresh (or un-fresh) your brain is in the morning.  If you were asked to sing or identify a 'G' right after waking up, most people would not be able to produce the correct answer.  However, a select few are able to do this without any trouble.  Identifying or producing a pitch is as natural and easy as identify or producing a commonly spoken English word.  It is important to consider this talent in light of the morning because many people have something called relative pitch.  Relative pitch means that once you know that you have successfully identified a note, you are able to successfully identify every note you hear afterwards.  This means that at any point during the day you can relate the pitch you already know to the pitch you are hearing and you are then able to identify it.  When you wake up in the morning however, you have nothing to refer to thus making it impossible to identify a pitch without a prior reference point.

Saint-Saëns is rumored to write his Oratorio de Noël, or Christmas Oratorio in less than ten days in order to meet pressures from his employer.  It includes a small string orchestra, organ, harp, soloists, and choir.  Because there are no harp players who live in Medicine Hat, we will substitute some sort of keyboard instrument for the harp.  Also, in order to allow the choir (and audiences) maximal enjoyment, the majority of the solo, duet, and trio parts will be sung by the entire choir.  Saint-Saëns modeled several movements after the most famous (even at his time) Johann Sebastian Bach, including the initial Prelude and movements echoing the same theme.  Written in 6/8 time, these 'pastoral' movements are reminiscent of shepherds in their fields who played instruments like flutes and recorders while tending their sheep.

Perhaps the most famous movement of Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio is the last movement.  Familiar to most choral music fans, it is a strong, triumphant, and fitting end to the joyous re-telling of the Christmas story.

We look forward to you joining us at this joyous concert!  Join us on Sunday, December 2 at 3pm at Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church to hear some glorious music!

Merry Christmas!

Back to School, Back to Singing!

It's time to start gearing up for another year of fantastic music making!  Here are some reminders and some information about the upcoming season:

First Rehearsals

MHC Adult Choir - Tuesday, September 11, 7pm
MHC Girls' Choir - Wednesday, September 12, 7pm
MHC Children's Choir - Wednesday, September 12, 5:45pm

Reportoire

MHC Adult Choir - Christmas Oratorio (Oratorio de Noel) by Camille Saint-Saens. Check out some info on Saint-Saens, and listen to a sample here.

MHC Girl's Choir - A selection of music composed by Canadians including an a cappella Latin Mass by Stephanie Martin, We Rise Again which was made popular by the Rankin Family, and two modern motets about being female, Sisters and This Morning by Gwyneth Walker

MHC Children's Choir - a bunch of fun yet challenging stuff, just like always!

Concert

All three groups will share a Christmas Concert this year. Sunday, December 2, 3pm, Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church

Zimbe!

Medicine Hat College Girls Choir takes passion from director - Medicine Hat News

Check it out!  Medicine Hat News did a great article about the success of the choral program at the College!!!

Medicine Hat College Girls Choir takes passion from director - Medicine Hat News

Zimbe!

Hello Choir Fans! The Medicine Hat College Adult Choir is excited to be preparing Alexander L'Estrange's Zimbe! this upcoming term.

Zimbe! is a brilliant fusion of traditional African song and jazz, in a format which is already drawing together singers of all ages, ability and nationalities across the globe. The music is accessible, instantly likeable and fun to learn as well as to perform.

Composer Alexander L'Estrange, himself a highly regarded jazz pianist and bass player, has chosen songs from all over Africa and arranged them wonderfully, interleaving the choral writing with the instruments of the jazz ensemble.

This is a work which forges links between adult choirs and massed children's choirs, placing singing at the heart of the community as it always has been in Africa. And, since jazz grew out of blues which itself sprang from the mouths of African people, what better accompaniment for these songs than a jazz quintet? Zimbe! is at times touching and moving, at other times funky and grooving and all of the time incredibly uplifting both for performers and audiences alike.

Check out the Zimbe! website for information on CD recordings, iTunes tracks, part learning help, and other interesting and helpful resources. Also check out the Zimbe! Facebook site.

The MHC Adult Choir is welcoming new members who are interested in singing, meeting new people, and preparing a concert of African works.  No experience is necessary, only an interest in music and a desire to work hard and enjoy the results.  If you or anyone you know is interested in joining, please contact Bradley van Middelkoop,

Rehearsals are Tuesdays from 7-9pm at the Cultural Centre and begin on January 10. Looking forward to an exciting term learning some fantastic African choral music!