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The 2023 Central Manitoba Youth Choir continues to seek financial support from businesses and individuals who believe in the power of music to enrich our communities.
Our 2023 Sponsorship Letter was recently delivered to businesses in our community with known personal connections to the Central Manitoba Choral Association. If we missed you, please let us know, and we'd be happy to deliver one to you. Feel free to read the letter in its entirety below. You can also download a digital copy if you scroll down. Thank you for your consideration! Already convinced?
We want to ensure that all donors are appropriately and accurately recognized.
Please fill out the short Google form below to submit your contact information. This will allow us to properly thank you, including with a Charitable Tax Receipt. https://forms.gle/pkh3184X1xQdo1jq6
CMCA Sponsorship Request Letter by Central MB Choral
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Hello Choral Enthusiasts! Each year, the Central Manitoba Choral Association hosts many events to support the choral community and programs throughout our region, and our Fall Choral Workshops are coming up soon! Choral workshops are a wonderful way to build community and offer musical enrichment among the young singers of our region. These workshops are also a great way to strengthen school programs by giving your musicians a special day which focuses on them! It is also fabulous Professional Development, as the clinicians and their chosen repertoire are excellent. If you are familiar with workshops past, it may be worth noting that over the past few years we have changed the workshop schedules to be consistent between Senior and Junior - both days now end with a 4:00 pm Concert (ending around 5:30 pm). *If you have grade 7/8 students with changed/changing voices, you may wish to send those particular students to the Senior Workshop instead - we support whatever you feel will serve your students best. Please ensure that there is a chaperone attending either way. I've included more details below, but as always, please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns! We hope to see you there! Melanie Urichuk CMCA Corresponding Secretary & Past-President THE BASIC DETAILS: Attached are the registration forms for the Central Manitoba Choral Workshops. There are two separate dates, depending on the age of students you intend to bring:
The cost of the workshop is $20 per student, and includes the cost of renting the venues, purchasing sheet music, playing clinicians, and more! Students are asked to bring their own bag lunch, but snacks will be provided in the morning AND afternoon for all singers. Chaperones are needed for each choir that your students are participating in (i.e. if you are bringing Grade 5s and Grade 6s, please send at least 1 chaperone to be with the Grade 5s, and at least 1 to be with the Grade 6s) If you are sending an individual singer or student, please ensure they have an adult who is considered "their" adult, and is responsible for them in case of emergency or other concerns. REGISTRATIONS ARE DUE BY SEPTEMBER 28th Check out our Workshops page for more information!
Central Manitoba Choral Association will be hosting its 2023 Annual General Meeting on Monday, April 24th, 2023!
Interested in joining us? Send us a message on instagram OR email us at centralmbchoral@gmail.com We'd love to see you there! We will be hosting our regular monthly meeting in addition to taking care of annual tasks such as the election of our slate of officers. There will also be the opportunity purchase dinner and beverages to enjoy throughout the meeting. Whether you're interested in joining our committee long-term OR just want to pop in for the day, we'd love to have you! (and we MAY or MAY not be saying goodbye to a couple of long-term committee members, so if you're hoping to share a meeting with the Thorleifsons, it's now or never!) CMYC 2022 Recordings are here!
Big thanks to Evan Giesbrecht of AccuSound for recording our concert at Altona Mennonite Church and mixing the files for us! Follow this link to download your own copies of each song! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YmumfPbmmVIiQlsLRti4T_lguyCwRB8y Thanks again for a wonderful season and a triumphant return to CMYC! Keep an eye on our social media for some familiar faces as we head into new events and prepare for future seasons of CMYC. "I would very much like to thank Kendra Obach for expressing different cultures and giving me the opportunity to play djembe... I've made new friendships that will last forever. To all the people that made this happen, thank you once again. This has been one of the most fun experiences of my life." - David Singi Singi (Winkler) Writeup by CMCA Committee member/CMYC 2022 Tour Manager Kimberly Harms CMYC 2022 was an incredible season of remembering why we love choral singing, and to begin a healing of all the music that we have missed so much these past couple of years. With each singer arriving at our rehearsal camp, we could feel a restarting of all the wonderful moments to come. We met for two rehearsal weekends at Circle Square Ranch just south of Austin, MB in September. The first rehearsal camp started with our traditional circle introduction game, and while some CMYC traditions managed to find their way back, some were left behind and other new ones began, such as line-dancing at the end of SNL which happens on Saturday evenings after rehearsals. Our tour, which was October 13-17, held 3 or 4 concerts each day, and we were able to sing in both middle years and high schools, senior centres, and various churches. Kendra Obach (of Selkirk, teacher in Stonewall), our conductor, put together a fabulous repertoire that brought us on a journey of Darkness to Light. It was wonderful to see the choristers begin to dig into more than just the songs, but what it means to bond as a choir. They discovered the joys of being singers from across southern Manitoba who come from all walks of life and how to become one moving part that finds unity in song. Kendra brought such a gentle, emotional approach to the music, and drew each one of the singers into finding their own heart in each piece. With Loren Hiebert (Altona) as our accompanist, each note seemed to melt like snow and seep into our dry and thirsty souls. We were reminded that music truly does make us feel. Tour ended with many hugs and tears, but so many of these relationships will continue as friendships were born and became tightly bonded in a just a few weeks time, and many of them talking about reuniting in February at Manitoba Sings. We were thrilled to have two very deserving singers receive scholarships to Manitoba Sings, and look forward to seeing many of them singing together again. Registrations for auditions for CMYC 2023 will come out mid-February, with auditions most likely occurring later in May. Rehearsal camps occur the second and fourth weekend of September, and the tour the weekend after Thanksgiving. The CMYC tour is often book-ended with Junior and Senior Choral Workshop. This year's workshop was attended by 188 students, Grades 7-12, and we were thrilled to welcome Jenny Steinke-Magnus as she brought wonderful greetings at the workshop concert from MCA to kick off CMYC tour! We look forward to bringing choral music to singers across our region again next year! “Taking part in CMYC has pushed me to try things I never thought I would be ready for. It really has opened so many doors for me in my future as a choral singer in Manitoba.” - Sarah Stephens (Pilot Mound) “Music can change the world because it can change people” – Bono
Music is powerful. Music connects us - singers, audience, community. Music can express joy and it can be comforting in sorrow. Music can be a light in the darkness. This program begins with a statement of hope. Ad Astra shares the message, in both Latin and English, “to the stars through difficulties, move forward, look upward, leave all cares behind.” The next piece asks the critical question, Can We Sing the Darkness to Light? This song asks the audience to imagine a world that is built on mercy and compassion rather than on greed and war. It could be beautiful. The next several songs explore themes of darkness and sorrow, beginning with a chilling Canadian Folk song telling the story of a whaling boat frozen in Frobisher Bay. As the ship’s captain holds on for one more whale, the crew miss the opportunity to leave before a storm hits and the ship is stranded in the ice for a long, devastating, potentially fatal winter. Weep, O Mine Eyes is an English madrigal first published in 1599. The poetry, though likely meant to be slightly over-dramatic, declares the wish to literally drown in tears of sorrow. We continue with another song of love and longing, Umru Mayne sets a Yiddish poem in an early Romantic era musical style. The title translates to ‘My Unrest.’ These words repeat several times throughout the song and seem to be referring to the haunting of a love that continues to overwhelm the poet’s every thought and action. Superstition is a classic Stevie Wonder funk song from 1972 in which he warns about the ‘dangers of believing too much in superstitions.’ This arrangement is set for a cappella choir and requires many of the singers to create instrumental lines by singing scat-syllables and additional harmonies. The next song explores the possibility of what life might be like withoutaccessible water. What happens if (when?) the water fountain runs dry? Though many of the lyrics are nonsensical in a childish sing-song style, Water Fountain is a commentary on drought and life. It begins with a simple melodic line and ends in many parts, multiple keys, and an array of chaotic sounds to help the listener feel increased discomfort and anxiety. The set closes with a tenor/bass feature of a song made popular from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow was originally written around 1913, recorded in the late 1920s, and revived in the 2000s with the release of the movie. From the darkness comes the light. Waniska, Wake Up, is a song about waking up to a beautiful morning and wanting to share it with someone you love. It is written by Sherryl Sewepagaham, a Cree-Dene artist from Little Red River Cree Nation in Northern Alberta. She uses a blend of Indigenous musical elements and Cree text blended with Gershwin inspired harmonies and a classical cello. Next, we explore the hope that can be found through faith with a Schubert setting of the Credo. We will only be performing the first segment of the Credo from Schubert’s Mass in G, however it will be sung three times through. The first time will be fairly true to the original setting, the second more drawn out and contemplative, and finally it will be performed with each singer moving at their own time. This aleatoric setting represents faith as a mystery, unique to each person, and the multitude of beliefs around the world, or simply the independence of each individual. Malakatumba was inspired by a singing game and includes imitating voices and nonsense syllables. The sounds are simplyfun to sing with no translation or literal meaning. The vocal lines are playfully combined with body percussion to create the energetic game-like vibe. The soprano/alto feature is a song written by Winnipeg artist Joey Landreth and arranged by Winnipeg conductor Scott Reimer. Better Together is a song about being there for your friends, overcoming the tough times, and surviving with the support of one another. Pentatonix made a cappella singing mainstream after their debut in 2011. Take Me Home is about appreciating the little things, remembering that “our heartbeats going strong” is the most important thing, and about finding comfort in home whether that is a place or a person. As the program builds to a conclusion, we focus on a message of supporting each other and building a community. Built with two musical theatre hits, Found/Tonightweaves together the song You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen along with The Story of Tonight from Hamilton. We finish with two contrasting, heartfelt, and emotional pieces. A Sesotho song from South Africa, Hlonolofatsa, is a song of blessing and celebration. This represents the absolute joy of making music together. Our final farewell, Good Night Dear Heart, is a stunning setting of a Mark Twain poem as seen on the grave of his daughter who died and left him broken-hearted. Though the piece is full of sadness, the text has elements of hope and the recognition that you only grieve because you have loved something so much. Music is powerful. Music can be the light in the darkness. Thank you CMYC singers for taking this journey with me, it has been an absolute honour - Kendra We are so thrilled to have been able to host CMYC 2021 in person this fall. Under the direction of the magnificent Marla Fontaine, and accompanied once again by the incomparable Loren Hiebert, our singers worked hard and sang their hearts out to deliver a beautiful concert! We are immensely grateful to the Dufferin Agricultural Society for the use of their grandstand, which allowed us to rehearse and record a concert outdoors while following all provincial protocols. Special thanks also go out to:
You can find individual videos of each song on our YouTube channel, or you can watch the concert in its entirety (including introductions) here: We're thrilled so many folks could join us for our day of learning and connection. This year's themes were Technology and Community, and we loved being able to explore them with you. Follow the links below to view recordings, download resources, and offer feedback for our February 12th Virtual PD Day! As always, please email melanie.urichuk@gvsd.ca if you run into any problems or have any questions. Session 1: Avonlea Armstrong-Green https://youtu.be/XTA08_FaBuA Session 4: Dr. Stuart Sladden https://youtu.be/8AKpy3sCxOU Presenter Resources are available on Google Drive: If you click the link below, you'll be able to view and download files from our presenters! Each session has its own folder, so if a presenter shared resources, you can find them all together. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11-T_Wqbf4bQplJlJY-Aj1tek3wCnP-Qg?usp=sharing Post-conference Feedback Form:
We'd love your feedback in order to help us plan and improve future events! Please fill out the form below, whether you attended live OR watched the videos after the fact. https://forms.gle/TWfk87HmUf62fHV5A Feel free to join us at our upcoming Annual General Meeting!
It will be held March 10th @ 6:30 pm on Zoom. Please email melanie.urichuk@gvsd.ca for the link if you'd like to attend! Looking to watch our CMYC 2020 Virtual Choir video?
Follow the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR-GnR7oAuI&feature=youtu.be |
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