Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video

Search

Archives

"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

Recent Posts

  • New housing partnership
  • Complexities of Berlin
  • Obligation to criticize
  • Negev Dinner returns
  • Women deserve to be seen
  • Peace is breaking out
  • Summit covers tough issues
  • Jews in trench coats
  • Lives shaped by war
  • The Moaning Yoni returns
  • Caring in times of need
  • Students are learning to cook
  • Many first-time experiences
  • Community milestones … Gordon, Segal, Roadburg foundations & West
  • מקטאר לוונקובר
  • Reading expands experience
  • Controversy welcome
  • Democracy in danger
  • Resilience amid disruptions
  • Local heads CAPE crusaders
  • Engaging in guided autobiography
  • Recollecting Auschwitz
  • Local Houdini connection
  • National library opens soon
  • Regards from Israel …
  • Reluctant kids loved camp
  • An open letter to Camp BB
  • Strong connection to Israel
  • Why we need summer camp
  • Campers share their thoughts
  • Community tree of life
  • Building bridges to inclusion
  • A first step to solutions?
  • Sacre premières here
  • Opening gates of kabbalah
  • Ukraine’s complex past

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie

Tag: choir

Singing adds to health

Singing adds to health

Choir director and singer Earle Peach, seated at centre, with members of Highs and Lows Choir. (photo by Kathleen Yang)

For more than 20 years, Highs and Lows Choir has brought music back into the lives of its members. Established as a four-part choral group in the mid-1990s, its mission is the mutual support of singers, in a way that nurtures mental health and wellness. Auditions are not required for new members; musical activities and instruction are built into their weekly rehearsals. The main thing, according to choir director and singer Earle Peach, is “the desire to participate and the willingness to learn.”

Accompanied by pianist Elaine Joe, the choir of about 20 voices practises a wide repertoire of songs, which it performs at numerous venues around Vancouver. In December, the songs were festive and drew on a range of traditions – songs from Christmas in Victorian England, and a Chanukah song from Spain called “Ocho Kandelikas.” Between the seasonal items, the choir performed the satirical “Parking Lots and Strip Malls,” “Blue Moon” and, a favourite with swing bands, “Jump, Jive and Wail.”

“We’ll sing music from any place or time period, as long as it has beautiful harmony and isn’t too difficult,” said Peach of the set list.

The atmosphere at rehearsals is buoyant, even amid the hard work of managing tricky intervals and rhythms, as in, for example “A La Ru,” a Spanish lullaby. The choir sings in a range of languages, performing works in English, Latin, French, Swahili, Ladino and Haitian Creole. The music is “challenging but manageable,” according to Jewish community member Rachel Mayer, an alto singer who is also a member of the choir’s board.

In the break, members talk about upcoming events in the community. In December, the calendar was full of choral visits around town, including two events at Douglas Park Community Centre and a lunch at Carnegie Community Centre. At the end of January, the choir will be singing for the Suzuki Elders and, in February, they will join other choirs at the Home Ground Festival in Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside.

Bass singer Kevin Elwell has managed or co-managed Highs and Lows Choir since 2003, and has been a peer support worker and English-as-a-second-language instructor with Vancouver Coastal Health since 2006. He has seen firsthand the tremendous difference the choir has made in the lives of its members: a difference recognized by the Mayor’s Arts Award, which was given to Peach in the fall of 2017, for community-engaged art. A conductor for three other choirs in the area, Peach is also a performer, teacher, producer and recording artist.

Alaric Posey (bass) described the choir as “the highlight of my week.” Having sung in children’s choirs, he had been away from music for many years before joining Highs and Lows in 2003. This opened the door to a life full of music, as he is now the choir’s assistant conductor and co-manager. He also teaches music and performs with a number of other groups around Vancouver.

The singers explain that, while singing is good for you, the social element is equally important. “There’s more of an effect the more people you sing with. You’re a community with a common purpose,” said Posey.

Academic research confirms the views of the singers. A 2016 article on the neuroscience of singing reports that social singing evolved to serve the needs of early humans. By singing and dancing together, groups shared important information, forged strong social bonds and fended off enemies. While we may not need to scare away predators, our modern brains still benefit from the endorphins released into our bodies as we sing. These endorphins make us happier, healthier and more able to think creatively. Choir librarian Dale Sweet (tenor) sets a good example with his commitment to singing in seven different choirs around town.

While the choir was founded to nurture the mental health of its members, the lows are left at home during rehearsal. The choir is a place to be task-oriented while making music and laughing at the endless stream of bad puns emanating from the conductors. Still, the members always know that others have their backs. True to the choir’s name, soprano, chair of the choir board and Jewish community member Penny Goldsmith observed, “People look out for each other. If someone doesn’t show up, we call them.” Aptly named, the choir helps the spirits of its singers take flight.

The choir sings weekly every Tuesday from noon to 1:45 p.m. at the Unitarian Church at Oak and 49th in Vancouver. New members are always welcome. More information about the choir can be found at highsandlowschoir.ca.

Shula Klinger is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver. Find out more at shulaklinger.com.

Format ImagePosted on January 26, 2018January 24, 2018Author Shula KlingerCategories MusicTags choir, Earle Peach, health, Highs and Lows
New hand chime choir

New hand chime choir

Chabad of Richmond’s new Chabad Hand Chime Choir is looking for additional members. (photo from Chabad of Richmond)

“We wanted to have more creative activities for seniors, something music-oriented,” said Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman about Chabad of Richmond’s new Chabad Hand Chime Choir. “Music helps with focus, builds concentration. Many of our seniors always wanted to have music in their lives, acquire musical skills, but they never learned to play, for various reasons. Now, with this choir, they can play wonderful music, be part of a team.”

The choir was formed after the federal government approved Chabad of Richmond’s application for a New Horizons for Seniors grant. The choir officially started in May and the first intake for members took place soon after; the second intake starts this month, and the third will begin in January.

The rabbi said that the first concert of the group was a big success. “They played at our annual summer barbeque,” he said. “The music included some Jewish tunes, popular songs. They are recording a CD now.”

Hand chimes were chosen, said Baitelman, “because most of our participants can’t read music notations. With hand chimes, each musician only plays one note on his chime, a part of a chord.”

Many music educators consider hand chimes the best instrument for beginners. Essentially, a hand chime is a percussion instrument, an aluminum tuning fork with a small mallet permanently attached to the handle. The length of the tines of the fork is responsible for the sound, which is one clear note. When a musician moves his hand holding the chime in a certain way, the mallet strikes the fork, and the chime resonates. The sounds produced are melodic and breathtakingly beautiful, and they last until the musician “damps” the chime by holding it to his hand or shoulder, thus stopping the vibrations.

Hand chimes are fun to play and easy to learn, which contributes to the self-esteem of the player, which is why they are often used in music therapy.

Hand chimes are cousins to hand bells and an ensemble of hand bells or hand chimes is called a choir, even though the musicians don’t sing. Like hand bells, hand chimes have a long history, dating back to China thousands of years ago. Those ancient chimes were made of bamboo, and the sound was created not by a mallet but by hitting the chime against a stationary object. Later, a musician would play his chime by striking it with a stick.

Since then, numerous inventors and manufacturers have strived to discover the best material for the chimes’ split fork and the mechanisms attaching the mallets. Amid these endeavors, between the two world wars, several radio stations used hand chime tunes – a few notes – as their audio signatures. By the early 1980s, hand chimes finally arrived at the design the Chabad Hand Chime Choir – and many other groups – are using today.

The Chabad choir includes seniors in their mid-60s to seniors 90-plus, and each rehearsal session usually counts 10 to 14 people. “Not everyone can come every week, for health reasons,” the rabbi said, “but all the members of the group are very enthusiastic about their music.”

Ron Philips, chosen to lead the new group, has years of experience in a variety of musical fields. “We wanted someone who knew not only music but also musical therapy and working with seniors, and Ron Philips answered all our needs,” Baitelman said.

“I wear many hats,” Philips told the Independent. “I’m a composer and a musician, an arranger and a voice teacher. I play several instruments – piano, guitar, bass, drums, flute – and I write music for films and various music projects.”

Having loved music in all its forms since childhood, Philips graduated from Douglas College with a music degree. He was the composer behind a number of locally produced films, including the award-winning Complexity (2011). He was involved with the Richmond Community Orchestra and Chorus and has worked on many other projects where music and community interests intersected. At the moment, he runs the Steveston Music Centre.

“When I was asked to conduct the Hand Chime Choir for Chabad of Richmond, I was glad to take on this new experience,” he said. “I believe this Hand Chime Choir gives the seniors participating in it a new connection to music.”

No prior music experience is required to be part of the choir. “We accept anyone who comes, as long as they have the love of music, the desire to learn and the willingness to participate in a team,” said Philips.

Anyone interested in trying out for the Chabad Hand Chime Choir should call Chabad of Richmond at 604-277-6427.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Format ImagePosted on September 2, 2016August 31, 2016Author Olga LivshinCategories MusicTags Baitelman, Chabad, choir, hand chime, Ron Philips, seniors
Proudly powered by WordPress