The first Monday morning of Oasis Chorale 2024 started with a comfortable call time of 8:45 at the venue of our previous afternoon’s concert, St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. No, Jacob is not a saint, but St. Jacobs is a quaint Ontario village. According to one local with whom I chatted, the village was originally named “Jacob’s Village” and the “St.” was added simply to sound cooler (I mean, why not?).
Choir members arrived at St. Jacobs with measured energy and excitement for the day. First time choir member and alto two, Aleah Good, remarked that her previous night’s rest had been “relaxing.” However, another choir member who commented on the basis of anonymity said they felt “overwhelmed” upon arrival.
After a brief warmup, we dove straight into a workshop with Brandon Leis, a vocal lecturer, performer, conductor and church musician. We found his humour and energy infectious and his focus on the techniques of healthy singing to be quite insightful for our own singing. He urged us to find “spontaneity in every sound” and encouraged tenor section leader Joseph Miller to “be more vague” when responding to questions.
Following our workshop, we dined sumptuously on pulled pork sandwiches (nothing does it like Sweet Baby Rays). Alisa Nolt, soprano 1, commented that the lunch “did the job,” while Esther Swartzentruber, alto 1, remarked that the ketchup-flavoured potato chips were “tart.” Furthermore, conductor Wendell Nisly said the lunch was “sustaining” while, Levi Swanson, bass 2 remarked that the meal was “delightfully filling.”
After a forty-minute drive to the town of Listowel, we descended upon Impressions Café and Bakery, which served us fry pies and coffees on the house, despite the fact that they generally are closed on Mondays. Thanks, Impressions. After revitalizing the tissues, we started our rehearsal for our evening fundraiser concert in the Village Table, a former church turned events venue/homeless shelter. Our afternoon’s work also included recording the video and audio for Oasis Chorale’s first ever music video (wild applause).
Our evening fundraiser concert was a dream concert. Golden evening light streamed through the stained-glass windows of the church as we sang to a very attentive and supportive audience. Multiple choir members expressed that this felt like their strongest concert yet. Mary Swanson, soprano 2, remarked that the concert was “touching” while Jordan Drudge, bass 1, said that it was “life giving and invigorating.” However, Steven Byler, tenor 1, when asked for comment during the intermission said “Um, man, I’m blank right now. I guess that’s it.”
Thus ended the only Monday of Oasis Chorale 2024. While it was a full day of varied activities that stretched us in many different directions and dimensions, it was a day of rewarding learning experiences, absolutely delectable food and solid connections with people and music.
Cheerio,
Jonathan Miller
Tenor 2