Friday, March 14, 2014
I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled upon them, but for the last few months, I've been following the Toronto group Choir! Choir! Choir! on Youtube and Soundcloud. The concept is pretty simple: people get together and sing indie-friendly songs together. The group has covered songs by Haim (above), Erasure, Robyn, Big Star, Daft Punk and many, many more and it looks like they have a heck of a time doing it.
In fact, Toronto's Globe and Mail ran a guest column today about the joys of choir singing that included a reference to Choir! Choir! Choir!:
My friend Lenni Jabour, an accomplished songwriter herself, sings every Tuesday in a choir gloriously named Choir! Choir! Choir! It’s in the west end of Toronto, and they rehearse in a bar where choristers drink mojitos and sing genius choral arrangements of pop songs like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. Organizers video each rehearsal and post it on YouTube so participants can share it with friends. According to Lenni, it’s a bit like participating in an impromptu concert every week. More importantly, it makes her deliriously happy. “We’re always encouraged to sing as children, and then you grow up and, unless you go to church, when do you sing?” she says.Singing in a choir is a transcendent experience — and there aren’t many of those in life. It instills gratitude and bliss without the contortions of yoga or hangovers of alcohol. Singing doesn’t just make us feel better — it makes us better people. By singing in a group, we choose to recede for a moment from selfish concerns and pursue harmony with those around us.
While I probably should not be invited to sing publicly under any context, there is something really beautiful and communal about singing with other people and the way a multitude of voices come together. As the author above alludes to, it just doesn't happen too often for adults, which seems sort of sad.
So, why doesn't Tucson have this sort of thing? Seems like a nice bit of interpersonal connection in our generally disconnected world. Someone make this happen, people!
Tags: tucson choir , choir choir choir , tucson sing-a-long , tucson singers , someone start a drunken choir , Video