The first month of rehearsals at BCC included old and new exciting faces, eager to get rehearsals started, social activities, and retreats!
Jason Holmes, Director of Educational Programming, shared this magical moment from a recent rehearsal:
Near the beginning of each rehearsal, we ask the children to gather in small groups of 3-5 and pose a question of the day. The teaching fellow Sam DeSoto asked, “If you wrote an opera, what would it be about?” A lively discussion ensued.
When it was time to share with the whole group, we heard the expected middle school answers: “Food!” “A very important person: ME!” And then, one singer answered with, "The various struggles of the LGBTQ community.'"Other singers indicated their agreement.”
Another singer raised their hand and asked, “What does the ‘Q’ mean? I just realized I never knew what it means.” Several other singers answered that it stands for queer. The singer who asked said, “Okay. What is queer?” Wanting to be certain the LGBTQ people in the room felt safe and welcomed, I was ready to respond. No sooner than I took a breath to speak, there were 3-4 singers offering valid and affirming responses. “Queer is an umbrella term.” “Some people say queer or questioning.” “It can mean gay, bi, transsexual, asexual, aromantic...” My only necessary contribution was to gesture to the next singer with their hand raised to answer and to tell the group I love them at the end of the conversation. The questions at hand were answered, and just as quickly as the topic came up, we moved on to the next thing.
Upper Choirs Retreat
On Friday, September 21, Premier Choir, Young Men’s Ensemble, and Concert Choir headed to Ron Burton Training Village for their annual overnight retreat. The next morning, Saturday, September 22, Choral Union and Junior Men’s Ensemble also traveled to Ron Burton Training Village to join the rest of the Upper Choirs for the overnight retreat.
Retreat provides singers an opportunity to get to know one another better. The social connection between singers is key to BCC’s work and is a significant part of making music together successful. The retreat included rehearsals, sectionals, and other fun workshops together - like an acting workshop with Michael Ofori, a teaching artist from BCC Summer.
In another activity, Premier Choir, and Young Men’s Ensemble took part in a privilege walk. A privilege walk is an experiential activity to highlight how people benefit or are marginalized by systems in our society. By doing this privilege walk, it fostered a rich conversation for singers surrounding their observations
On Saturday night, as a relaxing activity, singers had a movie showing and an ice cream social.
Thank you choirs, conductors, and BCC Staff for a weekend full of singing, fun, and friendship!
