After being shut down for two years due to the pandemic, the Medicine Hat College Girls' Choir is excited to be singing together gain.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat College Girls’ Choir is back after a more than two-year hiatus as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We kind of got things put together and got it off the ground a couple of weeks ago … So, it was almost exactly two years since the choir had gathered,” choir director, Bradley van Middlekoop, told the News.
van Middlekoop, who has served as the director for more than three years intermittently, is happy to be back, as are choir members.
“We have a group of 20, and six of them are returning,” van Middlekoop said. “I know for a fact those six returnees are thrilled (and) over the moon excited, they’ve been waiting every day for choir to return.”
Katrina Leahy, who has been involved in the Girls’ Choir for five years, was a vocal advocate for its resumption.
“Choir is what makes me like music,” Leahy told the News. “It was gone for so long (but) since it’s back … it’s given me motivation for everything else going on in my life … If I’m at school and I’m stressed about a test (I think) I’m so glad I get to go to choir tonight.”
While some members, like Leahy, have previously taken part in the choir, many are new. Usually an audition process is held through which members are selected, however this year’s choir was assembled through an open call.
“(We did an open call) partially to rebuild, but also to welcome with open arms, anyone who wants to get involved and with the idea the choir would return in full force in September,” said van Middlekoop.
van Middlekoop is looking forward to the upcoming season, despite a somewhat late start.
“The college Girls’ Choir has been a kind of a staple in Medicine Hat for 35 or more years and, I think, its absence was definitely felt by the choristers themselves (and) lots of people out in the community,” he said.
The choir is putting together a concert set to take place on June 15.
“We’re going to have a concert, just to celebrate a couple months of rehearsals and that choir is back, woken up and we’re ready to rock and roll,” van Middlekoop said.
Details about the concert, called the Spring Awakening Concert, will be released at a later date.
