Brandon University choir's international tour a chance to build relationships through music
Chelsea Kemp | CBC News | Posted: April 26, 2023 10:00 AM | Last Updated: April 26, 2023
Brandon University Chorale's tour of southern Manitoba, North Dakota will be advanced choir's 1st in 3 years
A group of Brandon University students are singing the praises of once again being able to travel with their advanced choir, which is headed out for its first international tour in three years.
Conductor Andrée Dagenais says the tour for the Brandon University Chorale, which includes stops in southern Manitoba as well as in Grand Forks and Fargo in North Dakota, will give the choir an opportunity to create harmonies with others who share a passion for music.
"It is such a small, rich world," Dagenais said. "You just vibrate. You just connect at quite a deep level with people that way… That is very powerful. That is life-changing."
The university's chamber choir was in rehearsals late Tuesday night before heading out on the road Wednesday for a four-day tour. Around 20 Brandon University students who are part of the choir will host workshops in Manitoba high schools before performing at the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University.
Alto Kendalyn Penner says one of the most important aspects of the trip is that the choir will be able to foster a community on the road.
"I think we're going to make a lot closer relationships with everybody," Penner said.
Soprano Lauren Shymanski says there's a mix of excitement and nervousness ahead of the tour because it is the first time this group will be on the road together.
Both singers, who are in their second year with the choir, started singing with the chorale during the COVID-19 pandemic. When they started at Brandon University, COVID restrictions meant they had to be six feet apart, wear masks and couldn't hold public performances, Shymanski said. The pandemic also limited the choir's travel.
This year, something as simple as being able to stand next to each other in rehearsals has created "a different sound," Shymanski said.
"The short, packed tour" is the BU Chorale's first major road trip since the start of the pandemic, Dagenais said. In the past, the ensemble has travelled to Quebec, South America, Europe and across the Prairies.
Creating new relationships through music
At the start of the tour, the ensemble will host clinics with high school choral programs in Winkler and Gretna.
Dagenais said the choir features a wide variety of music in its repertoire that is designed to attract a wide audience. That helps when performing for high schools, she said, by allowing them to share some of their easier songs with students.
Both Penner, who plans to be a choir teacher, and Shymanski said working with high school students will be a highlight of the trip for the performers in the choir who are, or intend to be, music teachers.
The hands-on experience "gives us that little head start into the education world, and gives us that little boost on how to talk to students and almost get that little bit of teaching in," Shymanski said.
"We all have a love for music, and obviously some of us have a love for teaching and education and spreading that ... to other people," she said. "Music really is a language that we all speak."
"It's super exciting to sing with new people," Penner said. "I'm super excited to create new relationships with all the people on our trip and really get to know the music a lot more."