Batlefords Blend Chorus has kept the momentum going. After a busy fall and winter, we continued our rehearsals with added inspiration following our many successes.

Early in February, Carolyne Oehlerking, our Regional Education Faculty for 2024, joined us for a workshop and honed the skills we had been working on all season. She helped prepare us for “Mission Possible” in Edmonton.

We got an unexpected boost thanks to Magic City, Saskatoon, when they invited our director, Jo Carter to join them for a workshop with Erin Howden. Jo came back from that workshop with even more enthusiasm and ideas to help us improve.

All the work proved to be worthwhile!

At “Mission Possible” Battlefords Blend Chorus earned the coveted “Most Improved Chorus” award, increasing our score by 49 points!! This made us a solid B minus chorus – a huge improvement from the C chorus we always thought we were. 

The sheer joy of attaining this level of improvement has urged us to continue to grow and learn.

After returning from Edmonton many of us came down with Covid, but now all are well and looking forward to a well earned summer break.

Before our break we held two guest nights, giving people in the Battlefords area an opportunity to learn about our craft. In total, four people came to check us out, including one man who happened to be visiting from France and willing joined in the fun.

The final event of the year was our annual windup party which included a pot luck supper and a talent show. As always the food was fabulous and there was more than enough for everyone.

The talent competition held a few surprises for all of us. In addition to singing with or without a karaoke machine, we had beautiful photography, eye twitching, poetry and a treatise on poetry. 

Prizes were awarded in various categories, including most memorizing, most original, most persistent and other fun categories. It was a wonderful windup to a successful season.

Already we have plans in the works for the fall. We’ll start out with a summer workshop in late August, then an evening event to encourage people in our community to learn more about a capella. Then we have a list of performances including two at Third Avenue United Church, a mini show at Frontier Mall, visiting a number of care facilities or retirement homes and our highlight – joint shows with Magic City Chorus in Saskatoon and North Battleford.

Now that we know how much we can improve, we’re aiming to top a 500 score the next time we attend contest! Happy summer everyone.