88 Voices on Highway 2
Over the past four years, Shumayela has experienced a great many… interesting things, but nothing could have prepared us for the insanity, frustration, and amazingness that awaited us on our 2010 tour of Alberta.
Evelyn Rollans, a Shumayela member, contributed this article about the recent Shumayela tour.
Over the past four years, Shumayela has experienced a great many… interesting things, but nothing could have prepared us for the insanity, frustration, and amazingness that awaited us on our 2010 tour of Alberta.
We loaded up in Edmonton on Friday afternoon. Around 50 of us crammed into an old charter bus with broken air-conditioning, and we set off for Calgary. There we met up with the three choirs that we would be spending every waking moment with over the next three days. There was the Nota Bene choir from Red Deer and the Mount Royal Youth Choir from Calgary (both under the direction of Shumayela’s own fabulous conductor, Kim Denis) as well as the Arioso choir, also from Calgary (under the direction of the fantastic Angie McGillivray. We had about two hours of rehearsal together, and then our first concert.
After a fantastic show, we headed for bed, some of us billeting with members of the Calgary choir, and some of us staying at hotel.
The next morning we met up at Mount Royal University and spent the morning doing a drama workshop. We were split into groups and given a chance to meet some members of the other choirs. It was a lot of fun. Then, after a brief lunch, we were loaded back onto our bus and off to Red Deer… the most interesting part of the weekend.
Picture 50 odd people (most of them sweaty teenagers) on a bus with broken air-conditioning, driving at a snail’s pace through construction on a sunbaked prairie highway… Sounds like fun, right? NOT! It took us 2 hours to make it to Airdrie, a drive that should have taken 20 minutes. We stumbled off the bus at a gas station and recharged with ice cream before being stuffed back onto the bus for the final 2 hours to Red Deer. Mercifully, Kim allowed us to skip rehearsal after reaching our destination to have a 15-minute dip in a swimming pool before our next concert, despite us being two hours behind schedule already.
After our concert in Red Deer, we settled down for bed… in the very same church where our performance was held. We basically took over the place, with choristers sleeping in the gym, various rooms around the building, and even the sanctuary. But we all managed to get a decent (ish) night’s sleep!
The next day, after a thank you performance at the church’s Sunday service, it was off to Sherwood park, this time on a new, and mercifully air-conditioned bus. We made it to the church with just enough time to rehearse a couple songs before our final concert together. Then, it was time to say a tearful goodbye.
We had a fantastic time on our tour, affectionately named 88 Voices on Highway 2, gaining new friends and experiences, and having the chance to perform fantastic music with choirs that we’d never worked on before. It is an experience we will never forget, and probably the best tour our choir has ever had!
Evelyn Rollans, a Shumayela member, contributed this article about the recent Shumayela tour.
Over the past four years, Shumayela has experienced a great many… interesting things, but nothing could have prepared us for the insanity, frustration, and amazingness that awaited us on our 2010 tour of Alberta.
We loaded up in Edmonton on Friday afternoon. Around 50 of us crammed into an old charter bus with broken air-conditioning, and we set off for Calgary. There we met up with the three choirs that we would be spending every waking moment with over the next three days. There was the Nota Bene choir from Red Deer and the Mount Royal Youth Choir from Calgary (both under the direction of Shumayela’s own fabulous conductor, Kim Denis) as well as the Arioso choir, also from Calgary (under the direction of the fantastic Angie McGillivray. We had about two hours of rehearsal together, and then our first concert.
After a fantastic show, we headed for bed, some of us billeting with members of the Calgary choir, and some of us staying at hotel.
The next morning we met up at Mount Royal University and spent the morning doing a drama workshop. We were split into groups and given a chance to meet some members of the other choirs. It was a lot of fun. Then, after a brief lunch, we were loaded back onto our bus and off to Red Deer… the most interesting part of the weekend.
Picture 50 odd people (most of them sweaty teenagers) on a bus with broken air-conditioning, driving at a snail’s pace through construction on a sunbaked prairie highway… Sounds like fun, right? NOT! It took us 2 hours to make it to Airdrie, a drive that should have taken 20 minutes. We stumbled off the bus at a gas station and recharged with ice cream before being stuffed back onto the bus for the final 2 hours to Red Deer. Mercifully, Kim allowed us to skip rehearsal after reaching our destination to have a 15-minute dip in a swimming pool before our next concert, despite us being two hours behind schedule already.
After our concert in Red Deer, we settled down for bed… in the very same church where our performance was held. We basically took over the place, with choristers sleeping in the gym, various rooms around the building, and even the sanctuary. But we all managed to get a decent (ish) night’s sleep!
The next day, after a thank you performance at the church’s Sunday service, it was off to Sherwood park, this time on a new, and mercifully air-conditioned bus. We made it to the church with just enough time to rehearse a couple songs before our final concert together. Then, it was time to say a tearful goodbye.
We had a fantastic time on our tour, affectionately named 88 Voices on Highway 2, gaining new friends and experiences, and having the chance to perform fantastic music with choirs that we’d never worked on before. It is an experience we will never forget, and probably the best tour our choir has ever had!