The YRCC Spring Concert in 2014 was called "Take Me Home". The York Region Community Choir prepared songs about Canada, by Canadians and other songs that take us home, so, Canada and Home were our themes. It was one of our very best themes. The concert on May 3rd was powerful, with excellent music playing with our emotions, ours and the audience's, and inspiring passionate performances.
After the concert, we had tons of positive feedback from members of the audience, mostly friends and family, saying it was our very best concert ever! It was, truly. I wrote about it here.
Now, in the months after the concert, the YRCC goes on tour. Every Monday, our rehearsal night, we visit a seniors' home or nursing home in the area. We perform for them and lead some sing-alongs. It's the most rewarding part of our season, the best thing about the choir. It's always a special experience to sing with seniors, and this time, we're getting even more satisfaction with this powerful theme.
Whenever we sing with seniors, there are powerful moments when people who are listless, in pain, sad, or just bored, come to life singing. Bodies sit taller and sway and wiggle with the music and faces light up with joy and laughter. Sometimes there are tears, but it's always good.
This season, we took people home, and they stopped us after to thank us. At one performance, a woman over 90 years old, told us that the music brought her back to when she was 15 and first came to Canada. She was beaming with happiness. Yesterday, another older woman was smiling from ear-to-ear as she told us that our songs about Nova Scotia reminded her of her time growing up there and the work she did in Nova Scotia during WWII as a code breaker. She talked for a while about Nova Scotia and Cape Breton and code breaking. She couldn't stand straight and her eyes were blind, but she was feeling great. I wrote about yesterday's performance here.
What a wonderful thing we do! We have fun, doing what we love to do, and we bring fun and happiness to people who need it and deserve it. Music is powerful; music is love.
