Choir Notes 2007

Lilting music, melodic voices, tinkling laughter, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and tasty goodies. It’s Thursday night at St. Paul’s and the senior choir is in full swing.  

Typically at year end, we take a moment to reflect on our blessings and the fellowship we enjoy year after year in the choir is definitely one of them. We very much appreciate each of our members who so graciously organize and serve at our monthly after-practice coffee hour. Our warmest thanks also to Ken and Beth who serve coffee and muffins between services on communion Sundays.  

We constantly appreciate the range of talent that can be found in our ranks. At the Easter services in April, we were treated to an outstanding flute solo performed by Kim, one of our esteemed sopranos. For those of you who may not know, soprano Judy-Ann Macaulay (known affectionately to choir members as “The Judy-cator”) is a vocal teacher and alto Heidi Bowman enhances Sunday School musical selections by playing the guitar. Heidi is also choirmaster of the Victoria Choir. Thank you ladies, for sharing all of your special talents with us. BUT, it’s not just the ladies who have a corner on talent! During a service in June, our very own bass, Jay, not only sang a spectacular solo performance of “The House of God”, but actually wrote the lyrics of the song, to the tune of Paul Simon’s “Take Me to the Mardi Gras”.  ‘Way to go, Jay – thanks for giving the guys a boost!  

In May 2007, Beth (just Beth) joined the choir bringing the alto section up to a total of five. Welcome, Beth! Also in May, the carillon bells, donated by former choir member Ellen, were dedicated in memory of her husband, also long-time choir member, Harvie.   

Summertime brought with it the wonderful combination of warmth and light – and a choir practice hosted by Jim Diamond at his home followed by some great food and drink.  Thanks Jim, for your shining hospitality! The annual evening service for the Caribbean Workers Outreach Program in September took place on a communion Sunday this year, which meant we had a “three event day” after singing at two communion services that morning. So, yes, we certainly do keep busy!  

Our group just wouldn’t be the same without all the various personalities who bring light and life to the choir. What would we do without our “elevator director”, Ruth Anne, to whom we all look when it’s time to stand up or sit down?  And what about our “deputy choir president”, Gary, who hints at overthrowing the president when I was away on an extended trip this fall? Luckily, we have Hilda, who keeps her eye on all of us by quietly and carefully setting out our music folders every Thursday night before practice. And just ask George about the friendly rivalry between the basses and the tenors – like any good tenor, he keeps a dossier of jokes just in case we get too solemn!   

But the real light and life of our choir is our organist, Ian Madge, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you, Ian, for always being there for us.

For the senior choir, 2006 turned out to be very much like a crescendo – a definite "high" for all of us – punctuated with interesting people, places and events.

At Easter we generally strive to bring a very special lustre to our presentations during Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. This year was no exception. Judy-Ann Macaulay at the piano, teamed up with Ian at the organ, to bring us an offertory selection on Easter Sunday that was truly inspiring – "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." Sadly, the choir was called upon to sing at Grace Jewitt’s funeral just prior to the Easter weekend, and Judy-Ann again stepped up with a tender solo performance of "Unto Thee O Lord".

During Rev. John Cruickshank’s last service as minister of St. Paul’s, the choir sang two special anthems and Ian reprised his familiar technique of setting the organ and then accompanying himself on the piano with "The Lord’s Prayer" at the offertory. In a stroke of brilliant genius, he went on to thrill us all by playing "Chariots of Fire" as the postlude – thank you Ian, for such a magnificent and creative choice.

John and Jackie’s retirement and thank you dinner at the Army, Navy and Air Force hall in Simcoe, was another opportunity for the choir to exercise our vocals in praise and appreciation for John’s ministry. Thanks to Ellen Main who composed a unique and fun piece for us to sing as a special tribute to John.

According to the old saying, the whole is only as great as the sum of its parts. So it is with the individuals in the senior choir. Their commitment to the group is sometimes overwhelming – such as in the case of Hilda, who suffered the trauma of a car accident on a Saturday night, then showed up ready to sing at services on Sunday morning. At other times, we surprise each other – such as the day in September on our way to a dedication ceremony at the Crieff Hills Presbyterian retreat. Ian gave the other choir members erroneous driving directions. Luckily everyone except Ian and I made it there. In biblical imagery, you might say the two of us were "wandering in the desert" a bit before we finally found the place! The dedication ceremony by the way, commemorated the involvement of long time St. Paul’s choir member Harvie Main and the time he so generously contributed to various activities at the retreat.

From time to time we are fortunate to have an opportunity to join together with other choral groups, and in October we hosted the Unionville Presbyterian Church choir. It was an honour to perform three anthems with them that Sunday morning. We enjoyed the rich soprano voice of their director, Ani Imastounian, who sang an aria from The Messiah, and we lunched with them at Beth and Ken’s house after the service.

New members are always most welcome in the choir, and we especially would like to recruit some sopranos. We offer an excellent "benefit package" – namely fun, fellowship and occasionally food! Please see Ian after any service.

As president of the senior choir, I’d like to sincerely thank all of our members for their enthusiasm and support year after year. I’d also like to thank Stan for encouraging us to learn new hymns and embrace challenging new music with syncopated rhythms and upbeat tempos. And finally, I’d like us all to turn to the organ and applaud Ian, for whom our admiration and respect are boundless.