West Coast Choir Festival

22 April 2018Sarah R, Mackenzie ‘20; Photo by Mike Minckler

All of Brentwood’s musical groups are immersed in a busy festival season, travelling to Victoria, Ladysmith, Langley, and even Toronto to participate in music festivals. For the second year in a row, Brentwood hosted its own gathering of Vancouver Island choirs: the West Coast Choir Festival. On Friday April 20th, we were thrilled to welcome choirs from around the Island, and esteemed adjudicators, to offer their professional suggestions and workshops for the attending groups. The school choirs that participated this year were Discovery Elementary, Glanford Middle School, Ballenas Secondary, Kwalikum Secondary, Lambrick Park Secondary, Shawnigan Lake School, and, of course, our own vocal ensemble. The Brentwood choir is, like the other music groups, engrossed in a very busy festival season. This was our second of the year, having attended the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival just last week. Despite being a developmental group this year, the vocal ensemble is pleased with its phenomenal progress over the months that we have been together, growing and adapting. Throughout the day on Friday, the choirs warmed up, performed, and received expert feedback, as student volunteers worked tirelessly running the registration table, and acting as festival assistants, choir hosts, security, and masters of ceremony. At 2:00, we took our turn under the spotlight. Our three pieces this year include a beautiful gospel song titled “Down to the River to Pray”, the flowing “Quiet Sea”, and “The Old Mill”, a mysterious song threaded with incredible harmonies. After a focused, satisfying performance that left us feeling proud, we received a valuable clinic from our adjudicator. Following the busy festival day, even more choral music filled the Killy Theater in the evening. The West Coast April Choirs concert featured a different group of choirs from around the area, including the Vox Humana Chamber Choir, Soundings Vocal Ensemble, Acafellas, and South Island Harmony, in addition to our Brentwood College Vocal Ensemble. The admission fee was a $10 donation to the local food bank, and the concert was a great success, with students and members of the public attending. I know that I speak for the whole choir when I say that both our clinic that day, as well as watching these other choirs perform in the evening, was a valuable learning experience. I would like to extend a huge thank you to Mr Newns and Mr Clausen for all of the hard work they put into organizing this festival! Thank you also to all the other schools who participated, and to all of the students from throughout our music program who volunteered their time to make the day run smoothly ! Sarah R, Mackenzie ‘20

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