Near North Voices launches ninth season

Near North Voices, North Bay’s University-Community Choir, is pleased to announce their ninth season of choral innovation in North Bay.Established in 2007 as an advanced choir on the Nipissing University campus, the choir’s broad repertoire is focused on art and cultural music from the 13th through 21st centuries, and has included a number of Canadian and Northern Ontario premieres.
Membership is open to students, faculty and staff at Nipissing University and Canadore College, and to adults and high school students from North Bay and area. Weekly rehearsals begin in September and run until early April. No audition is required, although some choral experience and music reading ability are helpful.
Near North Voices will continue their Student Choral Scholarship program for qualified high school students who, over the course of a season, demonstrate substantial musical growth and an exemplary contribution to the ensemble. Recent recipients include Widdifield Secondary School students Nicholas Boegel (2015) and Devon Bisaillon (2014).
“We’ve had great success with high school singers participating, and want to continue to encourage youth engagement in choral singing,” said Dr. Adam Adler, artistic director of Near North Voices and assistant professor of Music Education at Nipissing University. “One of the benefits of the apprenticeship model of a diverse, multi-generational, university-community choir like Near North Voices is that singers learn from each other. Our adult and university student members really enjoy singing with high school musicians, and mentoring them in the discipline of choral singing. Students have the opportunity to develop leadership skills, sight-reading and ear training skills, and healthy vocal skills, while learning challenging, culturally significant repertoire. These key components of students’ music education are particularly important for students seeking admission to university and college music programs.”
Near North Voices’ first rehearsal is on Wednesday September 9, in F210 ;at Nipissing University. Meet-and-greet begins at 6 p.m. and the rehearsal starts at 7. A brief pitching and voice placement check will be available for people who are new to choral singing. New this year, returning members can pre-register online, and new members will be able to register following the rehearsal. Everyone is invited to bring a pencil and a sense of humour.
For further information, go towww.nearnorthvoices.com, or follow them on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/nnvoices or Twitter @NNVoices.