The Summer leading up to an International competition is always a busy one, and this year was no exception for us here at Lions Gate Chorus.  In addition to regular rehearsals, we travelled to Bellingham, Washington for a coaching retreat with our very own Sandy Marron.  While our Assistant Director Elaine Cotton took the reins, Sandy donned her coaching hat and worked her magic on us.  After all, no one knows our strengths and challenges more intimately than she does.  It was an incredible weekend that changed all of us for the better.

Sandy wasn’t our only coach, of course. We’ve also had the pleasure of working with Justin Miller (legendary director of the Westminster Chorus); Ryan Heller (director of the fabulous Alamo Metro Chorus, who brought his lovely mum along with him); and SA’s beloved Marcia Pinvidic (she coached us TWICE!).

We’re all looking forward to October, when our favourite choreographer, Janne Alexandersson, will be coming all the way from Sweden to fine-tune our performance just in time for our Sneak Preview. If you’ve never had the pleasure of being taught by Janne, his talent, kindness and humour make him a remarkable human being and we love working with him. If you happen to find yourself in the neighbourhood on October 14th, join us at the Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby to see what we’ll be putting on stage in Louisville. We’re also thrilled to share the stage with our very own Bewitched quartet and current Regional champs Thumbs Up!  Quartet. Tickets are available here.

Though our contest prep takes up most of our chorus lives, in August a group of Lionesses was honoured to be invited back to Amica retirement village in White Rock, where they delighted the residents and staff.  One of our members was thrilled to participate in this performance because her aunt and uncle are residents and got to hear her sing.  Nicely done, Pat Larre!

In August we sang-in a non-human member, whom we were all ecstatic to meet - our new risers!  They line up perfectly with no gaps or height differences between sections, don’t squeak and they’re so clean and shiny.  We love them very much and are very grateful to our members who went above and beyond to acquire them.

Happy September and we hope to see you in Burnaby and Louisville!

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