Be Our Guest !
May 21, 2025
On a cool spring evening, the South Shore Saints hosted a Guest Night at Saint-Paul's Church in Greenfield Park, Quebec. We welcomed three enthusiastic visitors, Jonah, from Kingston, and two visitors each named Michel from the greater Montreal area. We had a great time creating 4-part harmony with them, and look forward to their return !
Dear reader:
Have you ever dreamed of singing a cappella ? Come visit us any (or every) Wednesday evening to hear the ringing overtones we create in the main hall !
Concerned about not being able to read music ? No worries, most of us learn using learning tracks !
Wondering what happens during our rehearsals ?
Most sessions run from 7:30 to 10 PM, with a 10-minute break around 9 PM. When preparing for contests (May and October) or our annual fall show (November), our directors invite coaches with expertise in song interpretation to help members elevate their level of singing and emote more naturally. These sessions involve setting up risers (foldable staircases) to emulate the actual performance environment and allow members to get used to performing on stage.
More typical rehearsal sessions involve our directors introducing new songs and reviewing and making corrections or adjustments for songs already learned, as well as having a junior member teach the chorus a tag (the final few measures of a song that climaxes in the final chord). We do this without setting up risers because the focus is on learning and relearning.
On this Guest Night, our visitors got a taste of both types of rehearsal. After a brief warm-up, director Alan Briand started by teaching a one-word tag called simply, "Love". Then Jay-Lee, our youngest member, taught us a longer tag called "My Romance".
Jay-Lee teaching "My Romance"
Next, our assistant director Steve Wheaton guided us through "My Wild Irish Rose", a classic "Polecat" (one of the basic set of songs that every novice barbershop singer starts with), demonstrating to our visitors how we learn songs by going over each of the four parts.
Then, just before the mid-session break, three of the chapter quartets performed two songs each from their respective repertories; two clips are shown below.
Following a coffee break, the second half of the evening began with the entire chorus getting on the risers to perform some of our established repertoire, including "Sentimental Gentleman", a French song titled "Ça va", and "My Girl", among others.
We then welcomed our visitors to join us and perform "Song and Dance Man" on the risers, and finished the evening with the signature closing song of all barbershop choruses : "Keep the Whole World Singing".
Personally, this Guest Night brought back memories of the first time attended an a cappella chorus rehearsal in Virginia, more than 9 years ago, and how thrilling it was to be on the risers singing together with the members. I have never looked back since.
Are you ready to give it a try ? We will always welcome you. Be our guest !
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