The Tapestry Singers program is celebrating its fourth year of providing a mature choral experience to elementary school students.
The initiative's director, Carolyn Duerksen, also a teacher at Quinson elementary school, said she created the program to be a real step up for the students.
"I wanted a more challenging repertoire," said Duerksen. "I wanted the choir to travel to festivals and I wanted the travel to really emphasize the opportunity for the choir to hear their peers sing so that they could move beyond the pond."
The group is open to any student within the public school system or the home school community from Grade 7 through 12 with no audition process.
"What I am looking for is young people who really want to make singing and singing well a priority," said Duerksen. "Often parents will ask 'What kind of commitment are you looking for?' I say, well what does your all-star soccer coach want? I always make sports analogies because then they get it."
The Tapestry Singers has grown since they first began, as has the level of achievement the kids attain.
"The repertoire we were singing the first year is a far cry from what these kids took to Banff last year," said Duerksen. "It's far more complex and they love it."
Duerksen believes there is great value in stepping outside the community to hear other choirs.
"Because we are such a small community the children hear the same choirs every year, which is great, but for example, last April we went to the Rocky Mountain festival in Banff and they heard high school jazz choirs from all across Canada, they heard concert choirs, professional bands, a men's choir called Cantis from the United States. We're talking a world-renown choir. So when we travel they also get an idea of how they're doing. It's like a sports team. How do we stack up against, right?"
And they stack up really well, she added.
"We're really proud of where we started and where we are right now."
Next April the choir hopes to travel to the Con Brio Music Festival in Whistler.
Most of the Tapestry Singers performances are free like their appearance at the Prince George Chateau and Simon Fraser Lodge, seniors' facilities.
Last year the choir went to St. Vincent De Paul's on a Friday night to perform a concert and host a sing along during dinner time.
"When I ask the kids to recollect their favourite performing moments, no matter what accolades they get at the festivals they attend, they always say 'We want to go back to St. Vincent's.' It's always a reminder to me about what's most important."
In order to make the magic work, first and foremost, the students and the director have to get along, Duerksen said.
"If I don't have a really good relationship with the kids, it doesn't matter how well you sing technically -- you can have the notes in the right place but nothing happens. So certainly repertoire has to be chosen carefully and there has to be a connection. We do all kinds of things physically and artistically and intellectually to make the repertoire come alive but equally important is making sure that there is a community of people there and that we care about each other and we work on that a lot."
Because it's a non-auditioned choir it doesn't matter if things aren't always perfect because the music comes through, she added.
Duerksen quotes from a book she's reading right now about choral charisma -- 75 per cent of what you hear is what you see.
"So when you go to a live performance it's what you see that counts," she said. "This is a real passion for me. I love it and I love the kids, and it just brings me so much joy to work with them."
Tapestry Singers representatives will be at the Active Living Mart at the Pine Centre Mall Saturday and Sunday and last day to register is Tuesday.
The registration fee is $100 for the year, plus $20 for the T-shirt.
For information contact Duerksen at cduerksen@sd57.bc.ca or 250-964-8184.
