CE News 8 Feb 2026

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Although I wasn't at rehearsal, I'm sure you had a good one. As I don't know what took place, I'll dedicate this blog to sharing information of what the board is working on and plans that are being prepared for the show. Diane has advised that we had a great attendance for the rehearsal so thank you to everyone. It is very appreciated by all that there is improvement in the "no talking" policy.

I'd also like to direct attention to the wellness policy on the website. Please take an opportunity to familiarize yourself with this.

This is also a call for the remaining participation spots on the "volunteer sheets" to be filled. The word volunteer is being changed to participation as we are a group of singers that must work together in all aspects to bring forward a performance: we must all participate to make it work!

Because the theme of the shows will be "all request radio", we (the production team and board) are thinking that we need something to help people recognize us as a group. The idea of t-shirts with the CE logo on them will show us as a group and we can use them for other performances. It will involve extra cost, so some fundraising is not a bad idea. Remember us speaking of sharing your bottle cash with the choir? It might be a good idea to take your empties in and have the money for the t-shirt. I'm researching sources for printing our logo on the shirt (top left chest) and hoping to keep it local as well as cost friendly. More info will be coming soon. Once we have a cost number, if there is financial hardship around the purchase of the shirt, please speak to Jackie.

We are trying something new with new members: each person has a mentor, someone to check in with for questions (not during rehearsal, of course) or to support them as we all learn. I would love some feedback from our new members if this is value-added.

Reminder that the Retreat/Long rehearsal is coming up on 28 February and will be at St Rose of Lima church in Sooke from 9am to 1 pm. This is a good opportunity to work long stretches of music, get more familiar with the music and ask questions. It is a great opportunity to get ahead with your music, so please ensure you mark the date on your calendar. It is on the CE calendar on the website.

We enjoy a break in the middle of the rehearsal where there is tea and coffee and goodies supplied by our members. If you would like to bring a snack for this event, please email me (labtech1963@gmail.com). It takes about 4-5 people bringing goodies.

That's enough info for now. I'm going to go and try to get rid of this lovely cold that a few of us have succumbed to. See you Wednesday in Langford!

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News

CE News 5 April 26

By Sherry Walters • April 6, 2026

We are getting close to the conclusion of all our hard work: it is exciting and a little scary! I know how much work you all have put in to the be the best that you can be, so I know we will have a fabulous show. Thank you all for your commitment to the choir and our music. Andre will be with us on Wednesday in Langford, so we can show him all that we have accomplished. How exciting! On Wednesday, April 15, the choir is hosting the "Bring a Friend to Choir" night at the Langford venue. Please reach out to someone who may be interested in seeing behind the scenes and might want to join us. It is a great opportunity to help someone learn what it is you do every Wednesday. They don't have to stay the entire rehearsal, but we would like to know who might be coming. If you have someone you are bringing, please drop a note to the choralevolution@gmail.com email. The invitation will go out on FB as well, so lets get a houseful of potential new singers! Attendance has been phenomenal now that the cold season is leaving us. The trick is to now stay healthy from now until the show. Washing your hands often is still the best way to prevent spreading those nasty germs. I'd also like to wish a speedy recovery to Paula! We hope you will be back singing with us soon! Know you are missed. The communication about the show shirts is in your email, including the cost. If the cost is insurmountable, please reach out to a board member. If you have a bit extra to give to support someone else, add that on to the amount submitted. Thanks everyone. Reminder that everyone is invited to the next board meeting. Take this as an opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes and perhaps you might want to be a part of it! Everyone in the choir is invited and you don't have to stay the whole time. Come join the fun. Rehearsal is in Langford this Wednesday, and the same for the 15th. See you there! Keep practicing!

CE News 29 March 26

By Sherry Walters • March 30, 2026

Hey everyone. A big shout out to Marj for hosting a dessert meet before the last rehearsal. It was very appreciated and delicious! Thank you to everyone who was able to attend and get to know one another better. The next planned activity is a bowling event, which is I believe on Saturday 12 April. More info will be coming for that once details are nailed down. So....very interesting rehearsal from last week. With us moving all around the room and being next to those we don't normally sing next to. I love it when we shake it up a bit, so I'm hoping that everyone was able to learn something from the action. Good job on the solos for those that sang; it sounded good and can only get better! If you are reading this, you went through the website and may have seen some changes. The board (after a ton of research done by Adriana) has a Square device to be able to take payment on at the door or from choir members before rehearsal/on break for tickets. You might have seen a couple of new tabs: Advertisement and Tickets: The advertisement is for those who want advertise with us, the tickets is self explanatory. There is also a banner telling people that tickets are on sale as of 30 March (that is tomorrow!!!) Adriana has done a lot of work to get these up and running and will allow our patrons to purchase on the website rather than going through Eventbrite...so spread the word. Joscelyn is spearheading the search for advertising for the program. If you know someone who wants to advertise/support us, please let her know (joscelyng@gmail.com). If you know of someone who wants to invest in our choir, please let the board know. We have only a month before our show (4 rehearsals and the long rehearsal on 18 April) so it is time to sharpen our skills as we know the music, and must now perfect it. Read through the notes that you have taken during rehearsal, remember the loud and short bits, get those sectionals in, and keep practicing on your own. As a reminder, Wannabe and Lovely Day (I think!) are off book so please work to memorize them both. We spoke a little about the concert wear for this show, and some decisions were made by the board which will be communicated on Wednesday. We haven't talked about it much, but there will be a general meeting for Choral Evolution where we get to elect a new board. The current board invites you to join us for our next meeting on 13 April to see what is accomplished behind the scenes. We invite everyone in the choir to attend (you don't have to stay the whole time!). If you have interest in being part of the governing body, please attend or speak to one of the board about a position that interests you. A request for nominations for board positions will be shared soon. A big thank you to Sally, who has been joined by Tara, for applying for grants to help support our choir. Without these grants, the fees would be astronomical, so her/their work is instrumental in keeping our choir alive. We also spoke about a bottle drive to help support us, but it might not be able to be done before the show. If you have bottles kept for this purpose, cash them in and support the choir, or keep them aside as we will probably be able to accomplish more after the show is done. It may be that we can have the bottle drive....I just don't know the date. See you on Wednesday in Sooke at 7!

Director Notes

Rehearsal Notes for March 18th, 2026

March 17, 2026

Warm up: 7:00 to 7:10 - 10 min - More Than Words hmmm ... if you wonder why I haven't worked on this song, it's because (I think - subjective I know) there's nothing to it. My hope would be that you sing it once every day with the rehearsal files and then we just sing it together on Wednesday. The more you look at me the tighter we will be. ... I will have it memorized by tomorrow. Let's just enjoy it together. 7:10 to 7:20 - (10 min) Fix the cascading 'Good Nights' in Emotion 7:20 to 7:35 - (15 min) Shine pick up to Bar 52 to Bar 78 7:35 to 7:55 - (10 min) Hotel California . just run bar 89 to the end ... did we remember anything of the work we did last week I wonder? then fix a few things and move on. 7:55 to 8:15 - (20 min) Somebody To Love 8:15 to 8:30 - (15 min) Break and Announcements 8:30 to 8:40 - (10 min) more work on Somebody to Love 8:40 to 9:00 - (20 min) Good Vibrations (bar 9 to 35) (bar 55 to 70) 9:00 to 9:15 - (15 min) Budapest with Soloist (we will work on the whole song) 9:30: Browns Social House Gordon LINK: Gordon Notes LINK: YouTube Playlist

Rehearsal Notes for March 11th, 2026

March 11, 2026

7:00 to 7:10 Rhythm Exercises (16ths 8ths and quarters) 7:10 to 7:30 - 20 min Hotel California - working from the back page and working our way forward. 7:30 to 7:50 - 20 min - Wanabe - by memory to bar 35. then open books work bars 35 to 51 7:50 to 8:10 - 20 min - Emotion - we will work on trying to get some pathos out of this poppy tune 8:10 to 8:25 - BREAK 8:25 to 8:45 - 20 min - Biblical with Soloist 8:45 to 9:05 - 20 min - Somebody to Love 9:05 to 9:15 - 10 min - Lovely Day Gordon LINK: Gordon Notes LINK: YouTube Playlist