In winter of 2023 I started a chorus from scratch. Our focus would be TV show theme songs and movie hits with an intent to build a library of Canadian TV show tunes, most of which had never been arranged for Barbershop/Accapella/Harmony singing. There was just one little problem…well, more than one actually:
 
We had no members, no repertoire of songs to sing, and not even a place to meet and sing.
 
I started by telling everyone I knew about my idea. Anyone that was excited by the idea and told me they might sing with got put on my to-contact list. This included who would become our director.
 
Then I contacted location after location to find a space that would be suitable for singing and that I could afford.  I finally found a community centre that was local, accessible and easy enough to get to, big enough to accommodate a potentially growing chorus and that believed in our vision. I was able to negotiate an affordable deal for the space rental.
 
Then I started to reach out to the people that said they were interested. In January 2024 I started to hold rehearsals that were open to the public. Other than the director and myself, only one person showed up. But we had our first member.
 
Our director had a couple of songs that he had previously cleared the copyright for and so we started with those, with the intent that once I could afford it, I would pay for my own license for those songs to cover the chorus needs. 
 
Over the following weeks, new members trickled in until finally in late February 2024, we had at least 1 person in each voice section to start singing as ensemble. The community centre that hosts us asked if we would sing at their upcoming Flea Market Fundraiser in April. We had about 7 weeks to learn as many songs as we could with a chorus of mostly beginners with little to no experience singing with other people much less in front of an audience. We also still had the challenge of clearing the copyright for some of our repertoire.  We even discussed possibly cancelling our first public performance.
 
Our chorus does not charge any membership fees because we want to make learning accepella music as accessible as possible regardless of members economic status. We try to seek out sponsors whenever possible. My director brought my attention to Sing Canada Harmony and told me that I might be able to get a scholarship grant to help me cover the initial costs of the copyright music sheet clearance and learning tracks.  So I applied, and was awarded an amount to help me get started.
 
The money was used to legally clear and acquire the rights to songs the chorus members wanted to sing. When the Sing Canada Harmony acceptable letter was read to the members, it inspired them with a vigor and commitment. Now, they knew that it was just a matter of time before the members got to sing certain songs that meant something to each of them. With the money in place, and promises fulfilled, the members were exhilarated and showed a new level of excellence.
 
In the 7 weeks prior to our first show, the chorus doubled down with two rehearsals a week, and members actively recruiting more singers, as well as finding arrangers that needed to get experience arranging and who agreed to be part of our group, until finally, we had a full chorus with at least 2 voices in each section and a solidly growing song repertoire that kept the energy high and consistent.
 
Sing Canada Harmony did exactly what their mandate states. They provided scholarships to individuals and ensembles for a cappella harmony education. Sing Canada Harmony gave our chorus the positive boost we needed to get us from a bunch of beginners learning to sing, to singing like a chorus and forming our own little family of directors, arrangers, and performers.
 
Our chorus now has the rights necessary to sing This is it! (The Bugs Bunny theme song), Gilligan’s Island, Laverne and Shirley’s Making Our Dreams Come True, and Welcome to Duloc (from the movie Shrek staring Canadian actor Mike Myers). Finally, Sing Canada Harmony funds went to help our chorus get our Canadian Content collection started by helping us fund the learning tracks and arrangements for TVOntario show theme songs of Cucumber and Math Patrol, as well as the theme song of the Friendly Giant television program that ran for over 20 years on the CBC.
  
Thank you Sing Canada Harmony for helping this chorus get started and giving our chorus hope in a time when more people need to hear and feel the power of harmony music singing.
 
Sincerely Grateful,
 
Frank Kermit
Encore NDG Singing Chorus
https://encoreencoreencore.com/