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IQALUIT - The Iqaluit Music Society is busy again this year planning lots of community initiatives and performances.

Mylena Idlout, left, and Crystal Mullin throatsing at the Iqaluit music Society's Musical Tea on Oct. 21. The tea, which was held at the Francophone Centre in Iqaluit, was the first of the season for the society. - NNSL file photo

One of their projects is to put novice musicians in touch with musicians willing to share their skills with others.

"We'll get calls from people who are interested in music lessons either for themselves or for their children," said society vice president Jane Chisholm.

"All we do is we act as an information base. If we know someone who is interested in teaching then we can pass the name and number along to the person who is interested in giving lessons. We're interested in anyone who has music skills and who would be interested in passing those skills on."

The society also released its schedule of events this weekend for the next year.

Their first gathering is a musical tea scheduled for Oct. 5 at Aqsarniit Ilinniarvik school at 2 p.m.

"We try to have an event every month so there's a coffee house in November and then there's a community Christmas concert in December and another coffee house in January and another musical tea in February and it goes from there," said society president Heather Daley. "We're hoping to restart up the community orchestra but it always depends on who's in town and what instruments they play."

The high school is staging a production of Fiddler on the Roof this year and members of the society may help out in the orchestra pit.

The society's community choir held its first rehearsal of the season last week. About 20 choristers attended. The choir usually maintains from 15 to 25 members throughout the year. The chorus performs at the musical teas, coffee houses, Remembrance Day ceremonies and the community Christmas concerts. They also often sing at Canada Day and Toonik Time events.

"Occasionally the music society will organize a formal concert and this year for sure we will have a community choral concert but there may be another concert depending how many volunteers and how many volunteers want to put something together," Daley said.

Last year the society coordinated a community choral concert that featured about 100 singers from several schools and the community choir.

Performers of all stripes are encouraged to participate in the society's coffee houses and musical teas. In past years the events features everything from classical to folk to jazz.

"One of the things I really try to work on for both the musical teas and the coffee houses is to ensure that we do have youth involved performing and that we have some Inuktitut and hopefully some French so that we are representing the community," Daley said.