Hello fellow Choristers!
Our first choral session went swimmingly, in my humble opinion, with a wonderful workshop by our co-choral directors, Piper and Emma.
In this week’s session, we will be continuing with our repertoire from last week, and engaging in even more music theory, and we will dive deeper into vocal anatomy, putting some of what we learned last week into practice as well as learning exercises to release tongue and jaw tension and begin bringing awareness to where we resonate sound in the body.
The songs we are currently working on can be found in the members’ section of the website (see below for login details). Looking forward to this Saturday’s choral session, which, as usual, will commence at 10 am.
Don’t Forget to Register!!
If you have not already done so, PLEASE REGISTER for the Fall 2021 session, if you would like to participate and receive our weekly updates. Just hit this link for the registration page: hamiltonsings.ca/join/
As always, we ask that you contribute $150 (or pay what you can) to fund our operations upon registration. We are happy to confirm that a tax receipt is available for a portion of that amount.
These funds allow for professional level music instruction and associated choir expenses. Like all community choirs, the pandemic has imposed serious limitations on our financial health and your contribution is needed. If the fees seem beyond you, you can alternatively contribute on an on-going basis — say $25 every couple of weeks throughout the term? Additionally, you could throw your considerable power into a fundraising effort by joining the fundraising committee.
Each week’s songs will appear in the members section for your perusal/enjoyment/practice, and Emma and Piper will also be providing some voice/somatic workshop materials as and when they are available.
Fundraising and Membership Activities
Blueberry fundraiser: Drop a line to hamiltonsings@gmail.com if you would like out help out with deliveries – or let Denise, Andrea or Bill know on Saturday (you can put it in chat, and we will also ask our lovely choir directors to announce it). Thanks all!
Feel free to send us your blueberry recipes and we will include them in coming updates.
Here are a couple of recipes to start things off:
Blueberry Syrup (great as a holiday gift, or use it as a drizzle on desserts… and see the recipe below for blueberry-syrup-infused ribs!)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds blueberries (5 cups)
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
Six 1-inch strips of lemon zest removed with a vegetable peeler
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
- In a pot, combine the blueberries with 1 cup of the water. Crush the berries with a potato masher and bring to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Strain the juice into a heatproof measuring cup, pressing hard on the solids. Discard the solids.
- Rinse out the pot. Add the sugar, lemon zest and the remaining 3 cups of water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil the syrup over moderate heat for about 20 minutes (or if you want to be precise, until it registers 225° on a candy thermometer). Add the blueberry juice and lemon juice and boil over high heat for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool, then discard the lemon zest. Pour the syrup into just-cleaned bottles. Seal and refrigerate for up to 6 months.
Blueberry-Glazed Ribs
Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons each of garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper
Kosher salt
4 meaty racks of baby back ribs (about 2 1/2 pounds each), membranes removed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 sage sprigs
8 thyme sprigs
1 medium onion, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups Blueberry Syrup (see recipe above)
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375° and position shelves in the upper and lower thirds. In a bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt. Set the ribs on 2 rimmed baking sheets and rub with the spices. Cover with foil and roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until tender, switching the pans halfway through. Pour off the liquid in the pans.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter. Tie the sage and thyme sprigs together with kitchen string. Add the onion, garlic and herb bundle to the saucepan and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened, 8 minutes. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Add the Blueberry Syrup and hot sauce and simmer over moderately low heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 10 minutes. Discard the herb bundle.
- Preheat the broiler. Working with one sheet of ribs at a time, brush the underside of each rack with some glaze and broil until browned. Flip the ribs and repeat on the other side. Transfer the baking sheet to the bottom shelf of the oven. Repeat with the remaining ribs. Transfer the ribs to a work surface and slice between the bones. Mound the ribs on a platter. Pass the remaining glaze at the table.
Our Newfoundland cookie fundraiser will also be going ahead in November/December, thanks to the generous donation of time, energy and more from chorister Bill Nesbitt. We will have sign up launching soon, more details to follow.
We are looking for volunteers to join in and help guide the growth of the choir. If you have some time (it doesn’t take much, I promise) drop us a line at hamiltonsings@gmail.com and join a committee (e.g. fundraising, membership, communications, etc). Or just volunteer to help out with our activities. We’d love to have you!
More of our fundraising and membership-building plans and choir activities will follow in coming newsletters. If you have suggestions, please share! Send us an email: hamiltonsings@gmail.com
Also, don’t forget to register at hamiltonsings.ca/join/ !!
See you all Saturday,
Denise Bedell
Co-chorister
