The Community Youth Choir's first recital of the season is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 14 at Logie Hall in the Third Avenue United Church.
The choir of young people will be drawing on their imaginations, and their audience's, with music from Disney and Broadway.
The show is entitled Pure Imagination, getting underway at 3 p.m.
The Community Youth Choir is a non-audition group open to school aged children. Some children get involved as young as six years of age. The only prerequisites, says director Lisa Hornung, are that participants really want to sing, they are prepared to learn and they must be respectful.
Hornung, famed mezzo soprano, encourages the children to help one another. Each young singer is assigned a "chorus buddy," someone to help them through their first years. The younger ones are more comfortable and feel welcomed and the older ones learn valuable leadership skills, says Hornung.
Hornung says having all ages gives the choir great sound, especially when they are able to have all four choral voices of soprano, tenor, also and bass.
The cost to join is low, only $125 per year. Most of the funds raised come from their two concerts a year, with the Nov. 14 performance being their first of the season. The proceeds from their concerts are split with the Third Avenue United Church, says Hornung, in appreciation of the church's commitment and contribution to the community's music students.
Many of the children in the choir also attend Hornung's summer school for the solo voice. Next year, Hornung hopes to expand the summer school's accompanist program as well as the speech arts program. Each year, she explained, the program differs according to feedback from the students and what the next year's students are looking for.
Hornung recently sang a concert with pianist Jaya Hoy at Gustin House in Saskatoon, They opened the new season at Gustin House with a joyful evening celebrating the 19th century, a golden era in literature and in music.
Gustin House, a musical-cultural centre and a Provincial Heritage Property, was the home and studio of the distinguished piano teacher, Lyell Gustin (1895-1988). The house is now used for performances and inter-arts events presented by the committee, for occasional meetings of music groups, and for exhibit of materials that document Lyell Gustin's career and his extraordinary contribution to music and the arts over his lifetime.
Hoy is a Gustin graduate.
