Memories

I have many fond memories of Grand River Chorus early concerts. When many of us auditioned for Rob Phillips 10 years ago, he was kind, affable and encouraging. He explained that we would be preparing for a concert in a few months of Mozart's Requiem. I know that I wasn't the only one who thought, "Ok, I'm familiar with Mozart, but what is a requiem????" We were soon to find out! Carol Ann Feldstein was particularly wonderful with working with the altos. She had a jazzy way of teaching us the rhythm for "Quam olim Abrahae", that I will never forget! The concert at the Sanderson Centre was such a thrill. The altos were very close to the timpanis and when we sang the Coronation anthems, we could feel the drums right inside our chests! The first time we performed Handel's Messiah was a big personal thrill. I had listened to recorded performances of Messiah as a child, on my parents' hi-fi on Sunday afternoons. I had never before been in a choir large or strong enough to tackle the whole thing. It felt like a real accomplishment to learn and perform all of those beautiful pieces. Our choir has certainly grown and improved over the years, and with Richard's direction, but I have very fond memories of those early days and feel great appreciation to Rob who had the vision to start the GRC. Belonging in this choir has meant a great deal to me over the past ten years and enriched my life greatly. It's given me the inspiration and courage to expand my music teaching as a classroom teacher too. Teaching kids to love singing is quite rewarding.