Hear the Choir!
Thanks to Len LaRue, the choir was recorded tonight at rehearsal. The choir sounds great for 3 takes! We recorded a track for a Winnipeg sports team, can’t say which one though!
Who are you looking for?
What an exciting week. Holy week never changes for me, even if it is really early…The choir sang beautifully at our Good Friday service, and Nicki Kirton and Mary Ann Taylor brought tears to my eyes.
Nicki sang the solo line from our Anthem “Were you There”-I had planned on asking the basses to just sing the line, but when Nicki sang it for me, it was perfect. Raw and emotional.
Mary Ann sang “O Divine Redeemer” by Charles Gounod- a solo asking for God’s mercy at the time of judgement. I had placed this solo right after we heard Pontius Pilate sentence Jesus to death. I can only hope that a man like Pilate would feel some sort of guilt for the role he played in the passion.
Don Menzies chose “O Sacred Head Sore Wounded” to close our service, hearing it on the carillon was very haunting, and a good way to end our service.
This Sunday the junior choir is joining the senior choir in a beautiful anthem about the resurrection, and trumpeter Murray Wichert is playing his trumpet. We will even have handbells played by some of our younger musicians in the making: Haley Soulatzkoff, Shawn Jackson, and Alex Olsen. Of course the choir is still singing “The Tomb Stands Open Wide”, and we are finishing the service with the Hallelujah Chorus which is always a good “yell”.
He is Risen!
Congrats Jan!
Jan Nato, Tenor
Jan Nato has won the MRMTA senior vocal class. Congrats! Last year Jan won the Tudor bowl…Who knows what will happen this year at festival??
Westminster’s Mighty Fortress
Martin Luther
The choir this week is singing A Mighty Fortress is our God, to help usher in the season of Lent. We aren’t just singing the usual setting of the hymn, but will be singing the original tune as well. The contrast between the tune we normally sing and the original rhythmic version makes the verses really stand out, and the addition of a tambourine should transform the whole thing. Lots of interesting rhythms, and a challenge to sing up to speed. Martin Luther wrote the tune and the hymn, and it is a hallmark of the Reformation.
Mary Ann Taylor
After gushing so much about the tenor section a few weeks ago, I thought maybe this week I could gush about the altos…a section that rarely gets a lot of love. Most of the music they sing just blends into the overall sound of the choir, their notes hovering around a few pitches. With the Lenten season however, the altos get their moment every week at the end of the service, with the Violet Amen-composed by Michael McKay, the same person that wrote our Remembrance day anthem(12 parts!!). The altos get a line that is so passionate, and so moving- the rich and mellow sound they create as a section is quite powerful. The altos are led by Mary Ann Taylor, a fantastic soloist with a great passion for music. The altos section is the largest in the choir, by one or two voices, depending on whether Nicki Kirton is pulling double duty(which she usually is).
Also on Sunday is the second of the Westminster Concert Organ Series, featuring Dong-ill Shin. Our organ has recently been re-tuned, just in time for our service- and this excellent organist.
Starting next week we will be welcoming Amy Carlson to our ranks, a soprano from Kelvin High School. Amy is our first Junior Musician scholar, and we hope she is just as excited as we are to have her.
The next few weeks will have the choir singing anthems by Jean Berger, Richard Farrant, Vivaldi, Moses Hogan, and Craig Courtney. We are also in the midst of planning our Good Friday service, watch this page for announcements regarding the music!
O God, Beyond all Praising
This coming Sunday the choir is presenting Richard Proulx’s setting of Thaxted, which features Westminster’s awesome organ. The second verse is often missing from most hymnbooks, I wonder why?
The flow’r of earthly splendor in time must surely die,
Its fragile bloom surrender to you, the Lord most high;
But hidden from all nature the eternal seed is sown –
Though small in mortal stature to heaven’s garden grown:
For Christ the man from heaven from death has set us free,
And we through him are given the final victory.
Of course we’re also singing Thomas Attwood, Teach me, O Lord, Mary Ann Taylor is Soloing, and Don’s organ/piano will be roaring the whole time. Busy Sunday…
Westminster is Blessed
It’s hard to come by a church choir here in Winnipeg that has a strong tenor section. Westminster’s tenors are an awesome bunch, led by the terrific Jan Nato. They aren’t afraid to make their mistakes loud and clear for me, and the rest of the choir. Only when a section is just as committed to their mistakes as they are their successes can we really start to make some music!
The tenor section consists of four people, Jan Nato, David Koetke, Len Larue, and Robert Campbell. Robert actually has double duty on Sundays, he’s also the minister of Westminster United. When the choir sings the anthem, Robert simply moves back to join the tenors in the choir loft. He can get a bit busy for obvious reasons on a Sunday morning, and I have watched in amazement as he juggles all of his responsibilities during a service.
The choir prepared César Franck’s Panis Angelicus for today’s communion service; and during our warm-up today the choir sounded great! I was feeling a little nervous about the logistics of the service though, and told Don Menzies that I thought something might go wrong today.
Routine is a funny thing, we shower the same way every morning, cook our eggs the same way, even brush our teeth in the same order(or at least I do?). Communion is the same way I guess, except for when things like anthems are moved around. I was ready and waiting with my hands in the air to lead Don in on his organ part for Panis Angelicus, and was waiting for Robert to come and join the choir…when Robert went on to the next part of the service instead!
“Okay, Nathan, you have no idea what’s happening, so good luck with that!” I thought to myself.
In the end, who really cares if we didn’t get to sing the anthem? Westminster still has the best tenor section in the city!
Hockey at Westminster
Or rather, Westminster at Hockey…
Len Larue is the Hockey player, my fragile wrists would probably shatter
The choir sang the national anthem for the Manitoba Moose game on January 2nd. We sounded awesome, but the announcer called us the Westminster School Choir. Next year they’ll get it right, and we’ll sing in harmony.
I couldn't think of a clever number to go along with my clever heat pressing.
Post-Christmas at Westminster
The choir loft, and organ console. Thanks to John Mort for the picture!
Christmas Eve at my previous church was a pageant(which came complete with children dressed as sheep and camels running to parents and bathrooms) and very little participation from the choir…anybody that has seen a Westminster Christmas knows that the choir has all of the work. It was great fun, and I was on a total high afterward..there’s nothing like seven hundred people singing a carol they love with the reeds on the organ honking away and a descant floating around on top.
Now that everything is over, my job goes back to normal…or so I think? There are so many things coming up, Easter is only 12 rehearsals away…yikes. This is our Easter anthem, lots of fun. Of course the old standards will be there, some form of brass, and maybe an Alleluia or two.
There is also a new junior musician project in the works, in the hopes that we can attract some kids that want to gain more musical experience through working at a church. I know the choir and congregation are looking for more leadership from youth in our community, I hope this project can help jump start that.
Anthem for this Sunday is “And the Glory of the Lord” from Messiah…can anybody tell me why I’m insane?