Photo courtesy of
Claude Provencher
Tamarack is a choir which uses the voice for the purpose of healing.
Members rehearse to improve as choral singers and also as healers. We learn to sing from the heart through grounding and spiritual connection. We treat our performances as opportunities to share rituals of song and sound for our own enjoyment and healing... and to awaken, balance and inspire the audience.
All singers must audition. Reading music is not required but preferred. (* Those who cannot read music must bring a recorder to tape the practices). We use chanting as a warm-up to build energy. We do improvisation in small groups and the large circle to have fun, share positive energy and build ritual concepts through vocalizing. Each weekly practice includes approximately ten minutes of physical and vocal warm-ups and chanting, one hour and ten minutes devoted to the repertoire and about thirty minutes of small and large group improvisation.
Choir members are invited to bring other artistic expressions of spirit into the performances such as poetry, choreography and performance art. Those who have experience as healing ceremony leaders or ministers have the opportunity to engage the choir in their healing ceremonies. We schedule performances to take into account group development and cohesion. Choir members must join with the intention of attending all performances possible in their schedules.
PRACTICAL GUIDELINES AND SCHEDULING
- In order to create group cohesion, choir members must commit themselves to three sessions (September to December and January to April, and a short spring session finishing at the beginning of June). Members have two weeks at the beginning of a session to decide if they want to withdraw and will be charged only for those evenings.
- Choir members may not miss more than 3 evenings during a session and are responsible or obtaining the music (sheets and tapes) missed.
- Family members and friends are not welcome at practices (to respect group cohesion). They are invited to all gatherings and performances where we share music.
- The spring session lasts approximately 8 weeks and is open to new members. We usually hold an intensive session on a Saturday before performances at an additional cost of $20.
Schedule
Wednesday evenings 7:15pm to 9:15pm | Fall, winter and spring sessions
Rehearsal Space
1533 Van Horne (corner of MacEachran)
Three-minute walk from Outremont Metro (Van Horne exit)
Cost
$168 per session (14 weeks)
New members pay an additional $7 to cover a binder and protective sheet covers for music.
Joan Backus is the administrative director and can help members work out a comfortable payment system (i.e. post-dated cheques, etc.).
There is no refund for those who drop out during the session.
Contact
Director, Trisha Pope
Email