McMaster choirs present year-end concert

Tracy Wong calls herself a “lifelong choir nerd.”

The assistant professor in McMaster’s School of the Arts is almost finished her first season conducting the McMaster University Choir and the McMaster Women’s Choir – a busy year that has included getting to know the 100 or so singers who participate in the choirs either for fun or for credit.

“We’re the only choirs on campus where students can get a credit for singing,” she explains. “That means we have singers from a wide range of programs across the university – everything from music cognition to health sciences to engineering and everything in between. I encourage them to wear their unique ‘hats’ while they’re here.”

The choirs’ season has included concerts, workshops and, most recently, an appearance by the Women’s Choir with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, singing Debussy’s Nocturnes and Holst’s The Planets.

“That performance was intense, but in a good way,” says Wong, who holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Toronto. “Once the choir stepped out of this experience, they were different singers – they drank it up. It was magical and inspirational.”

Both choirs will be performing their last concert of the season on Saturday, April 6, a concert that, along with other “adventurous music,” includes pieces by living Canadian composers.

To give the singers a glimpse into the world of choral composing, Wong invited composer Matthew Emery to a recent rehearsal, where he was able to share feedback directly with the singers.

“Music making shouldn’t be separated from singers,” Wong explains. “Having the composer come in and let the students know what they need was really educational.”

Along with the McMaster choirs, the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir, which Wong also conducts, will also be performing at Saturday’s concert, which takes place at Ryerson United Church, just east of downtown Hamilton. It’s a chance, says Wong, for a younger generation of singers to sing with more experienced musicians.

It will be a busy night – but in the end, the effort is all worth it.

“Singing in a choir is a lot of hard work, and some rehearsals are harder than others,” Wong says. “But our singers come to choir for a chance to sing, emote and find space to express themselves. We’re definitely a community.”

For more information about Saturday’s concert, go to the School of the Arts website.