…is my favorite part of Handel’s Messiah. I’m singing this weekend with Vox Humana and Victoria Symphony in two concerts. The photo is from one of the rehearsals with orchestra at UVic. Our first show was last night but you can still get tix for tomorrow (Sunday) at 2:30PM.

Click here for tickets

Come and sit in one of these seats!

What a rush. For a composer, nothing can equal the adrenaline caused by hearing his own work performed in public. On Saturday evening, Viva’s Boys and Girls Choirs sang my piece, Rat Milk, as part of their year-end concert. Having my own work played has always been exciting, but this time I was serving as both accompanist and composer. I had written myself a few tricky piano bits, but we stayed in time and in character, and the kids performed beautifully. Our conductor, Marnie Setka-Mooney, did an admirable job of leading the choir in concert, and preparing them in rehearsal. “Do it for Dave!”, she would say, as we hammered out harmonies and practiced our entries. They came through in the end, and delivered a great performance, which is the greatest gift they could have given me. So thank you, choir, and thank you, Marnie!

Why Rat Milk? It’s an odd title for a piece of music, but it is the name of an excellent poem by Victoria’s Poet Laureate, Linda Rogers. The poem tells a dramatic tale of survival, describing vividly the struggle of a mother rat foraging at night to feed her children. After a treacherous journey, she returns home safely. I chose to set this poem for the choir because of its message of love and hope, and also because it seemed like great material for the kids to sing. I think it sparked their imaginations and piqued their curiosity. In the end, the kids’ enthusiasm made all the work worthwhile. Our performance was a memorable end to a fun year.

Viva Choirs has recorded a complete CD of our concert that will be available soon. If you’d like to order one, just message me or visit the Viva website.

Every year, Viva Youth Choirs sends its Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs out for a day-long tour of Victoria’s elementary schools. This year marked my second as accompanist for VIVA, and last week we performed for three different school assemblies. To the children, the tour meant a fun day away from classes, and we had a blast.

The kids have alot of energy, and when you combine more than twenty of them in a room for any length of time, almost anything can happen. A spontaneous marimba performance at lunchtime, for example. (We were eating in the school’s music room. Can you blame them?) The kids also took part in the fine schoolyard tradition of altering the lyrics to their favorite songs when they thought the teachers weren’t listening. I can tell you from personal experience that choir kids do this with more gusto than any other group on earth.

For some children, the tours gave them their first taste of fame. After a performance at Oaklands Elementary School, a brave kindergarten student approached our snare drummer for an autograph. Don’t let it go to your head! It is these little events that stay in my mind as fond memories after all the music is sung and the hard work is done. With Viva, the job title ‘accompanist’ is often expanded to include tasks such as cleaning up spilled soup, crowd control, and chaperoning choristers to various venues. This just makes the job more interesting as the kids can be so spontaneous, and this is one of the reasons I enjoy working with Viva. There are more pictures up on our Facebook page. Also, Viva’s season winds up with a final performance at St. Aidan’s Church on Saturday, April 17, that will feature a performance of my piece written for the Boys’ and Girls’ Choir called Rat Milk! Message me if you would like more information.