It was a whirlwind tour recently for the Choralations Children's Choir of School District No. 46. They arrived in Ottawa on a Wednesday and most of them returned the following Sunday. In between, it was a constant round of meeting new people, numerous choir performances and Canada Day celebrations that kept the young people focused and busy.
Choir director Janice Brunson said that one of the highlights, musically speaking, was their performance in Ottawa's vast National Arts Centre with the accompaniment of the Arts Centre's Orchestra under the musical direction of Pinchas Zukerman and of the Youth Orchestra.
"The audience filled the place twice in one day for the choir concerts," she said. "I couldn't believe it."
Another highlight of the trip was the choir's opportunity, along with the massed choirs from each province in a program called Unisong, to work with Canadian composer Stephen Hatfield, whom they have long admired. And "work" was the operative word. The choirs rehearsed with him for eight solid hours to prepare for the concerts.
Their original invitation was for the choir to join in singing O'Canada on Parliament Hill on July 1. That event proved to be slightly disappointing. Because organizers could not fit all the choirs, over 400 people, in the space around the Prime Minister's podium, they asked the various choirs to select only seven from each group to join together for the ceremony. At least one Choralations member, Katrina Woodward of Nelson Island, was seen nationally on TV singing the anthem, while the other choir members stood close by to watch.
The group also shared a concert with three other choirs, from Alberta, New Brunswick and Ottawa, at Christchurch Cathedral. They sang an entirely Canadian program that included a Micmac honour song in which bird sounds combine with lyrics.Many Coast sponsors had stepped forward to provide money for uniforms and other expenses but the bulk of the travel financing came out of individual pockets.
"Next time we'll start fundraising early," says Brunson. But first, a rest. Brunson has already had a chance to relax since the hectic trip while some other parents who accompanied the kids used the visit to Ottawa to start their family vacations.
