Richmond Sings! - sadly, another musical casualty of COVID-19!
Richmond Sings! has become a spring tradition — bringing singers from community, school and church together to offer their voices in support of a local charity. This year would have seen the thirteenth iteration of the event, which we usually schedule as close to the CMEA (Canadian Music Educators Association) Music Monday as possible. We have usually offered it on a Tuesday, which is our own rehearsal night, scheduled it early to allow for young participants, and kept it short!
Typically the format has called for the singing of the National Anthem together, and then choral ensembles rotate onto the stage, make their musical offerings, and make their way off to be replaced by the next ensemble. The event ends with a song from Richmond Chorus, as host choir, and then the singing of John Rutter’s arrangement of “Down By the Riverside”, with the opportunity for different sections to sing different verses while we all join in the refrain.
Participating choirs in previous years have included
from the community: Richmond Singers, Richmond Youth Honour Choir, Canada Melody Choir, Trinity Community Choir, Fuson Latina
from the schools: Westwind Elementary, General Currie Elementary, Steveston-London Secondary, Richmond Christian School, A.R MacNeill Secondary, Richmond Music School
from the churches: Gilmore Park United Choir, Our Saviour Lutheran Choir, South Arm United Choir, Brighouse United Chancel Choir
In the early days we set Richmond Sings up to benefit the Dream Auction sponsored by Gilmore Park United, and its goal of combating child poverty in Richmond. In subsequent years our support has gone to other local charities, such as Richmond Hospice and Nova House. The project has been made possible through the generosity of Fraserview Church, which has offered its facilities freely for the occasion.
We will miss lifting our voices in concert with other singers in the city for this fourteenth Richmond Sings! event, and look forward to a future in which we can sing together without fear for our health, and to benefit our community.
Brigid Coult
28 April, 2020
