I've written a lot about the choir I sing in at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, but I don't think I've ever posted any pictures. On Easter I took my camera along with that (and you) in mind.
Here are some of the irrepressible Trebles, in the choir room in the cathedral undercroft before the 10:00 am service. They sing with us on most of the major feast days, and a few other Sundays during the year. The Treble Choir practices weekly and each child gets a remarkable music education in the process.
The music for each service is written on the whiteboard, at the far right. Beyond it, out of the picture, is a whole wall of filing cabinets: the music library, which also extends outside this room.
Before each service we have a lot of music to organize into our folders. On the left is Carole, our fabulous first soprano soloist (she's also a jazz recording artist and, with her partner Alain runs a well-known jazz label.) On her right is Mary, another first soprano, who's been in the choir for two decades and takes care of all our robes and surplices. You can see the wall of music cubbies, one for each singer, in the background. Another choir member, Shayna, is the music librarian. Both of those volunteer jobs are significant contributions of time and skill.
Here's Hilary, the assistant organist, up in the loft at the organ, with Rachel, the organ scholar, looking on. Both are candidates for masters degrees in performance at McGill. The video monitor shows the altar area so the organist/director can coordinate their timing to what is going on downstairs; the loft is at the back of the cathedral. Hilary will be getting married this summer and leaving for a job in England; her fiance, our former assistant organist, has been at St, Paul's Cathedral in London this year. Watching the development of talented young organists is one of the great pleasures of being in the choir. Another is being in the loft and able to watch brilliant organ-playing first-hand. We sing up here about 1/3 of the time, I think, whenever we're doing music that is accompanied.
On Easter, though, there are brass players in the loft and we sing from the back pews. On the left is Choir One: Trebles, and first (high) sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. On the right is Choir Two: second sopranos (that's me), second altos, second tenors, and the lowest-voiced basses. That's Ashley, our first tonor soloist, giving me the nice smile. In front of him is Dr. Elizabeth Rowlinson, faculty member at McGill and honorary assistant priest at the cathedral; she often presides at Evensong; beside her is Simon, our counter-tenor/first alto soloist.
And that's Patrick Wedd, our extraordinary organist and director of music. He's also a gifted composer, and gives concerts throughout Canada.
Here's Choir Two, seen from above. My section, the second sopranos, are in the top row; I went up into the loft during the sermon to take photos.
And here's the whole view. The majority of the time, we sing a capella (unaccompanied) from the front, either in the middle area behind the altar or in the baptistry, a chapel-like area you can't see here, to the right of the altar. This view makes the cathedral look a bit bigger than it really is, but I hope its beauty and airiness comes across. Come and visit, and hear the music too! (Click the image below to hear a sample.)
Oh!! Thank you for this beautiful description of that "unknown territory" of Christ Church Cathedral that is the chorus! I really enjoyed this reading!
Posted by: Magdalena Valdes | May 17, 2011 at 04:28 PM
Lovely, lovely to be able to participate in this way!
Did you also create the issuu "pamphlet"? It is wonderful! And a joy to hear your chorus sing, too. I've just gotten my copy of my chorus' Good Friday Mozart Requiem recording. I'm hopeful it captures the sound so nicely.
Posted by: Deb | May 17, 2011 at 11:30 PM
Fantastic post Beth! What wonderful photos....
Posted by: krish | May 18, 2011 at 09:42 AM
Thank you for a lovely tour and glimpse behind the scenes. A little too far to visit in person (Paris), but thanks to Wonderbweb...!
Posted by: Liz | May 18, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Hi Magda, hi Krish -- It hadn't occurred to me that a look into the opaque world of the choir might be fun for parishioners too! Glad you liked it.
Deb, thank you, yse, we did do the CD booklet, those are Jonathan's photos in it. Lucky you, to hear the Mozart Requiem in performance on Good Friday! I hope the recording is good, too.
Liz, thanks for commenting. There's no need to come to Montreal from Paris to hear music, that's for sure, but how nice that we can communicate these bits of our lives across the distance!
Posted by: Beth | May 18, 2011 at 10:59 AM
Oh, such a lovely tour of your church and choir, a glimpse into an important part of your life, and a beautiful recording and article as well. Thanks for sharing, Beth. If we ever make it to Montreal again, I'd love to see the beautiful interior and hear the choir in person - the acoustics are amazing.
Posted by: Marja-Leena | May 18, 2011 at 12:24 PM
a whole universe! love the note on the irrepressible trebles - what a gift to a child's life
Posted by: Nic Sebastian | May 18, 2011 at 12:48 PM
Very interesting to see the secret world of your choir! Barely back, I was shanghaied (along with my two eldest) into a choir event on Sunday. So went to practice this evening... Really liked the staccato "Let us with a gladsome mind" (John Milton / Alan Rideout.)
Posted by: marly youmans | May 18, 2011 at 11:48 PM
Very good to see and then hear something of what you have written about with such passion. What's the music? Glorious.
Posted by: Dick | May 19, 2011 at 05:15 PM
Thanks for this. I was able to get a sense of a service in this beautiful church from reading Velveteen Rabbi's account of her visit with you.Living in a rural area I am used to small churches.This Easter Sunday I happened to be in Vancouver so partily on a whim went to St Andrews-Wesley United on Burrard,another large beautiful church with windows so captivating they inspire awe,a large enthusiastic choir, and an organ whose tones can easily reach every corner.This is how I imagine your church to be
Posted by: john | May 22, 2011 at 12:44 PM