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Shelburne Sings 150 Choir needs YOU!

June 19, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Marni Walsh

 

Shelburne and area residents are invited to mark Canada‘s 150th birthday with a musical memory by joining the “Shelburne Sings 150 Choir.”

Singer-songwriter Noni Thomas, who will direct the mass choir, is gathering 150 voices to raise in commemoration of the event at the opening ceremonies of Shelburne’s Canada Day events on July 1.

Carol Maitland, Economic Development Committee Marketing Coordinator for the Town, was working to bring performing groups together to help promote arts in Shelburne when Noni suggested a 150 voice choir for Canada Day.

Carol and the planning committee welcomed the idea, and now, with support from musicians Bruce Ley and Joe Allingham, the venture is coming together.

“We are looking to gather 150 voices of all ages from Shelburne and surrounding areas to form a mass choir,” says Ms. Thomas.

“No experience is needed,” she says, adding that “everyone is welcome to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday in song.”

“We’re scheduled to sing ‘O Canada’ to close out the opening ceremonies around 4 pm, July 1,” says the choir director. “And we’ve also been given the go-ahead to perform two other songs. I’ve chosen two popular songs by Canadian artists – one classic and one new school.”

As the choir is only learning the three songs, the once in a lifetime opportunity is not a big time commitment.

Noni Thomas is a singer-songwriter who moved to Shelburne in 2015.

She is a graduate of the Humber College Jazz Performance program and alumna of Etobicoke School of the Arts.

After graduating from Humber, Ms. Thomas worked at private music school in Mississauga and then at the Merriam School of Music in Brampton.

Currently, she is an active supporter of music in Shelburne where she was most recently the musical director of LP Stage Productions phenomenally successful Lion King Jr. at Grace Tipling Hall.

Noni was also a featured artist in the 2017 Tourism Campaign “Real Faces of Headwaters.”

Noni can be heard singing at the “No Beer Blues Festival” with Bruce Ley this Friday night, June 16, to help raise funds for new front steps for Trinity United Church.

This summer Noni joins the roster of facilitators for the 2017 Summer Arts Camp offered by Streams Community Hub in Shelburne. She will be running “Sing, Dance, Play” a fun, interactive introduction to the performing arts for children aged 5-10.

As a performing artist, she independently released “Light”, an award-nominated EP of original gospel soul tunes under her maiden name Noni Lindsay in 2011.

She enjoys performing whenever she has the opportunity and is working on a follow up album.

Noni teaches beginner and intermediate piano, as well as voice, and is currently accepting students for her home studio in her Shelburne; visit her website @ nonithomasmusic.ca

Ms. Thomas says her musical philosophy is “to help everyone find their voice.” She says she “looks for the beauty in each voice and helps them to be confident enough to sing their own song.”

The hope is that the “Shelburne Sings 150 Choir” will showcase the diversity of Shelburne with this multi-generational group.”

Rehearsals are scheduled for Tuesdays in June from 7-9 pm at Trinity United Church 200 Owen Sound Street.

It is not too late to join.

“The choir is free and all are welcome to join us – the more the merrier,” she says.

For more information go to Facebook @shelburnesings or email: shelburnesings@gmail.com.

         

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