Swift Current choral director conducts provincial youth choir
Swift Current choral director Marcia McLean has been working with singers from across the province in her role as conductor of the Saskatchewan Youth Choir (SYC).
The board of the Saskatchewan Choral Federation (SCF) selected her to conduct the provincial youth choir for a period of two years.
The choir recently held two concerts to conclude the first season under her guidance. The first concert took place at St. Paul’s United Church in Estevan on Feb. 8 and the season finale was a concert at Christ Lutheran Church in Regina, Feb. 9.
For McLean it was an honour to be asked to conduct the choir, because she supported the idea of a provincial youth choir when she served on the SCF board, including four years as president.
“At the long-term planning session that we had, I said I would like to see the formation of a choir that just doesn't practice one weekend, but met several weekends and then went on a tour of the province, and so they moved forward on that,” she mentioned. “I'm no longer on the board and I really didn’t' ever think I'd be asked to conduct it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got the call. I will be doing it next year as well. We go for two years.”
She is an experienced music teacher and conductor. She taught music and choir at Esterhazy School for 12 years and for 18 years she was the director of choral music at Swift Current Comprehensive High School.
She has remained musically active after her retirement in 2010 and she is currently the artistic director of the Swift Current Oratorio Choir and the auditioned chamber choir, Prairie Spirit. She still teaches private voice lessons, presents choral workshops and adjudicates at music festivals.
The SYC is an auditioned choir and 27 singers between the ages of 15 and 21 from 13 communities across the province participated in the 2018-19 season.
“It's the largest choir they've had so far and it was just an awesome bunch of students,” she said. “They were very impressive, a great work ethic, which made my life very simple.”
Singers had to commit to three weekends of rehearsals between September and January, as well as a four-day tour with rehearsals, workshops and concerts in February.
There are various benefits for singers selected to participate in this choir and it is a great opportunity for them to develop.
“There are a lot of students who don't actually have a choir to sing in in their home school or they may be graduated and working, and they don't have a choir to sing in, and this choir actually sings pretty high level repertoire,” she said. “So even if they are in a choir program, probably they aren't singing this level of music. I say probably, because there are exceptions and there are hot pockets of choirs that are excellent, but those students always want more.”
The provincial youth choir can serve as a stepping stone to participate in other vocal ensembles in Canada, and SYC members are eligible to be selected for the National Youth Choir.
A number of singers from southwest Saskatchewan participated in the SYC during the 2018-19 season. Swift Current’s Chloé Golden, who is a fourth-year music education student at the University of Regina, was selected as the SYC’s first ever apprentice conductor. In 2017 she was the assistant choral conductor at the University of Regina and in 2016 she was a member of the National Youth Choir of Canada.
“She was given this opportunity by the choral federation because she was going to be a music educator and was studying conducting, and she worked out beautifully,” McLean said. “We had good communication and she was just a joy to work with.”
There were two other choir members from Swift Current. Anthony Merkel is currently a first-year music education student at the University of Regina, and Noah Israelson is in his first year at the Horizon College and Seminary in Saskatoon. Other choir members with southwest connections are Mandy Friesen from a ranch in the Pambrun area and Sarah Elezaby, a former Gull Lake resident who has moved to Saskatoon.
The choir performed a wide-ranging repertoire during the two concerts. The program was called “Choral Kaleidoscope” and music varied from more traditional works by classical composers to a rousing spiritual and a song based on aboriginal vocables.
“We called the program ‘Choral Kaleidoscope' because I really hadn't gone on a theme,” McLean said. “I just picked some pieces that were my favourites and ones that I felt would connect to the students.”
She hoped this choir experience served as an inspiration for all participants to continue their musical activities in the future.
“I think some realized how much they enjoy singing and they will probably never be far away from a choir,” she said. “I firmly believe that everybody could sing in a choir. ... I think first of all music is great for the brain, and there's lots of scientific information available on that and it's the most accessible. You don't have to own an instrument. You certainly can get out of shape if you don't sing, but you can get back into shape very quickly and you cart your voice around with you. It's right there. So I would really hope they would continue singing for the rest of their lives.”
She also would like to see singers from southwest Saskatchewan audition for the SYC’s 2019-20 season. Anyone who wants more information about the SYC and upcoming auditions can contact her by sending an e-mail to marciajmclean@gmail.com