Choir prepares for bigger show
Working on 40-minute medley to be performed in May
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, January 19, 2017
INUVIK
After a successful Christmas concert performance, the Inuvik Community Choir is upping its ambitions for 2017 and looks to put on a special 100 Years of Broadway performance.
Chris Garven, left, Jonathon Newhouse and Simon Jozzy practise their singing during a community choir session last fall. The choir is now looking to put on a longer performance with a mixture of songs and spoken word. - NNSL file photo
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"We're trying to build the choir into a year-round activity," said Anne Kokko, organizer.
She's now recruiting as many members as she can get to work on a medley to be performed in May.
"It's a mix of musicals from the past 100 years," she said. "The piece is about 40 minutes long (with) chunks of music through the ages that have appeared on Broadway."
There will also be some spoken word and solo parts of the performance, giving members a new challenge to rise to.
However, there won't be any dancing, unless a dance instructor comes in and helps out - Kokko is adamant her expertise is in the singing part.
"This is a much bigger undertaking," said Kokko in reference to the Christmas concert.
"The Christmas concert only had two pieces that we were working on that were a total of about five minutes in length, and now we're working on something that's 40 minutes in length. There's going to be a lot more moving parts to it and it's going to require a little bit more input."
Joining the choir is an opportunity to have fun, challenge yourself and learn something new, she said.
"The main choir members are returning and we're recruiting members who are able to commit for as many rehearsals on Thursdays as possible," said Kokko.
No skill is required.
"We have singers who are quite talented and have been singing for years and there's a lot to learn from them, so it's a really good opportunity if you've never sang before or you just sing in the shower and want to learn a little bit more about improving your voice and working with other voices.
"We're getting to a point where you're actually learning quite a bit about music and the mechanics of singing."
She's aiming to have a public performance in May, with some other performances along the way at places like the hospital's long-term care facility.
Joining is open to any interested adults. Practices are Thursday nights. Anyone interested should contact Kokko at anne.k.kokko@gmail.com.
"It's my first time doing anything like this, on the directing side," said Kokko.
"I'm nervous but I'm excited. Hopefully people just come with a good attitude and want to learn and we'll have fun together."
