Choirs for the rest of us/ Summer closure

I have participated in choirs since age 13. The problem is, I have no voice and my favourite key is "off". But my thin, colourless soprano has mustered, whether for the Latin hymns of my Catholic school choir or "Be My Baby" in a karaoke-night girl group. Lately, this rewarding non-talent has roared back.

Choir!Choir! Choir!'s Davide Goldman, left, and Nobu Adilman, right

If you don't know the Toronto-based musical phenomenon "Choir!Choir! Choir!", check out their performances on Instagram. In 2008, two young musicians, Nobu Adilman and Davide Goldman,  started an evening pickup choir that met weekly in a friend's real estate office and then moved to a series of pubs on quiet Tuesdays.

You showed up, paid $5, got the evening's lyric sheet, grabbed a beer and the learned your part; attendance built by the month. For years, this was a local event; they built a warm community, attracted visits from Rufus Wainwright, Patti Smith, David Byrne, and weathered the pandemic pause that silenced choirs worldwide.

From Montréal, I watched, fascinated— a choir open to all, singing cool songs; I saw their rapt faces. Then the duo started to tour. In the fall of 2023, their debut in Montréal, my daughter-in-law Tash and I joined several thousand happy singers to kick off with "Livin' On a Prayer" and winding up with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" nearly two hours later. (That was the '80s-themed show.)

Their shows are chorally-enhanced singalongs; the melody and harmony parts taught quickly, with side-of-room rather than voice divisions. Adilman says, "We encourage people to be vocal. We encourage them to yell at us, we yell at them. We make mistakes, we celebrate mistakes." How different from my Catholic school choir, when Professor H. berated anyone who dared whisper! 

Last fall they returned for a sellout show where 2, 500 persons sang "Hallelujah" in Leonard Cohen's home town, moving native Montréaler Davide to tears.

 

Several weeks ago, I attended the 40th anniversary recital of the Montréal's Au Choeur Du Centre-Ville, in which a friend sings. The repertoire was varied: Bach, Verdi, Schubert, Fauré, a Bulgarian folk song—and back-to-back "Hallelujah"s, Cohen's and Handel's. (You have to sing Leonard here.) Led by the charismatic Alexandra Fol, this choir has a similar mission: to make choral music accessible and inclusive.  There is, however, a request for commitment via weekly rehearsals.

My friend Keefer, a retired primary school music teacher, says parents often asked him, "What should my child's first instrument be, piano or violin?" He always replied, "Voice!" He pointed out that the child already owned the instrument they could play for life, a sentiment echoed by Choir!Choir! Choir!, whose tees and totes say, "Never Stop Singing".

At the shows, Tash and I feel vaulting joy, and afterwards, deep ease. Friend Beth, who has long sung in a highly-regarded church choir, reminded me that singing with a group has numerous physiological benefits, and creates social bonds especially quickly. This September, Choir!Choir!Choir! returns with the Epic Queen Singalong show. We will we will rock you.

Much as I enjoy attending professional recitals, the world can use choirs that embrace G.K. Chesterton's aperçu, "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly". And as I discovered, you are not all that bad, because you learn from the others.

Sorry that we can't upload audio clips in the comments, but please tell us what and when you like to sing!

🍓Summer closure (to September 9)

Let's keep singing all summer—in the shower, car or group—while the Passage is shuttered to indulge in the real-world delights of the season.

Thank you all for being here; I wish you the joys of berries, fireflies, loon cries and lindens‚whatever your corner of the world provides.