Autumn Musings

It is the day of the Autumnal equinox, and since I'm not busy trying to balance an egg in these perfect conditions, it felt like a good day to blog. (OK, so one year, I fell for this urban myth, and my sister and I balanced an egg on the spring equinox, only to discover later that with enough patience, it can actually be done any day of the year - we still felt pretty proud of ourselves).

It doesn't feel much like spring here in Edmonton. Normally frost would be setting in, and leaves would be blowing around, however we are experiencing abnormally warm temperatures, and with a promised high of +30 (85F) tomorrow, I will be enjoying the last of summer golf in the morning. Fall weather is expected to arrive by next week.

The past weekend was a busy one, spent in the northern Alberta city of Grande Prairie, my first visit to this city since I moved to Edmonton some twelve years ago. The purpose of the visit was to be part of a mentoring program for a vibrant male choir program in that city. The Grande Prairie Boys' Choir, an organization of five choirs, from the youngest singer through to first year college students, invited the men of Pro Coro Canada to spend the weekend rehearsing and performing with their high school and higher aged boys whose voices have changed, or are changing. A great opportunity for the young men to see where their future might take them - but also a fantastic opportunity for the men of Pro Coro Canada to see this incredible program - which currently has no equal in Alberta, in my opinion. I've written about the benefits of gender segregation in the high school and middle school aged choirs before, both in this forum, and in my Master's and Doctoral papers - and this program proves once again to me that it WORKS! In fact, the high school aged boys' choir, known as "The Men of Note" started because, as the webpage says, "the boys just kept coming back year after year!" (follow the tag "Boys Choirs" in my blog if you want to read more thoughts on the subject of choir segregation and voice changing).

To learn more about the Grande Prairie Boys' Choir - please do visit their webpage and browse around!

In another Public Service Announcement, don't forget to start buying your supplies to celebrate Michaelmas next week!