If you can't even carry a tune in a bucket but still want to add your tone to a community of voices Just Let Us Sing might be the ideal event.
Taking place Saturday at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church at 3590 Dufferin Ave., at 7 p.m.,Grandmothers to Grandmothers Prince George (G2G PG) is hosting the by-donation fundraising event.
G2G PG is part of an initiative from the Steven Lewis Foundation that supports African grandmothers who are raising a whole generation of grandchildren whose parents have virtually been wiped out by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Singing is a universal way to cultivate community and the chorister event sees song leader Tina Filippino from Vancouver Island take on the call and response kind of event where she'll sing a line and the audience-turned-choir repeats it.
Filippino is a member of the Ubuntu Choirs Network that believes the joy of singing is a universal birthright and that together, regardless of musical background, the world can be helped by joining voices in song. Filipino leads choirs for all who wish to sing called Letz Sing in the Comox area.
During this year's Just Let Us Sing, the School District 57 Tapestry Singers and the Forever Young Chorus will perform to get things warmed up and then Filippino, who is also a member of her local G2G group on the Island, will take over.
"It's a really nice event," Maggie Spicer, G2G PG member, said. "It's for people who don't think they can sing, who haven't been part of a choir before - those people who have been told to mouth the words, you know, that kind of thing? Because so many of us have that background where we don't think we have a voice and this is such a supportive event."
Everyone is welcome to attend, Spicer said.
"And your voice is supported by every other voice at the event and this is completely inclusive," she added.
Last year was the first year this event was held in Prince George and Spicer said Filippino was very impressed with the audience's enthusiasm.
"Tina said Prince George was really fabulous," Spicer said. "Sometimes it takes a while for an audience to warm up a bit but not this group, Tina said. Everyone was singing right away. So she sings, we sing, she sings we sing and within minutes we know the song."
It ends up being quite a treat for the ears as the choirs who perform earlier then join the audience and lift up all voices as everyone participates, Spicer said.
Being grandmothers, the organizing committee knew that bringing the little ones out in the evening might not be ideal, so G2G PG has decided to offer a daytime event featuring TIna Filippino's song leadership. The Singing in a Circle event is also by donation and is deemed a family sing to be held Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Prince George Conservatory of Music, 3555 Fifth Ave.
"This event will promote singing with your kids, because singing is known to be good for language development and promotes a love of language and kids love music," Spicer said. "We're just going to gather everybody on the floor and sing together."
All proceeds for both events will go to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign through the Steven Lewis Foundation to help those grandmothers in Africa.
