 Have you ever been to a German beer garden? Have you ever watched the pub scene in Beauty and the Beast and so desperately wanted to join in? If you said yes to either of these questions, we may just have something for you. And if you said no, why not cross both off the bucket list at once?
Prairie Soundscape will be hosting a pub choir at Finer Spirit in Morden on October 18th at 7pm. We expect it to be a joyous evening and would love to have you there! We plan to rehearse one song that we'll perform near the end of the night to satisfy our thirst for music between seasons, and to keep the energy going for our usual spring season. Ultimately, we want this to be a fun event to share with former and future choir members, or anyone who just wants to spend an October evening singing and mingling with folks who love music. If this sounds like your cup of tea (or another stronger beverage of choice), please don't hesitate to join us! To purchase tickets, click here.
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We are thrilled to present our theme for this year's Spring Concert - First Light. The repertoire this season features songs of hope, light, and new beginnings. We hope to see you there!  We are so thrilled to be looking ahead to our spring season! Registration is officially open, so keep reading to find out the details for our spring season (and a few other notes!)
WHEN & WHERE: We are excited to be rehearsing on Wednesdays at NPC (Northlands Parkway Collegiate) from 6:45 - 8:00 pm. Rehearsals are set to start on April 24th, and our concert(s) will be on the afternoon/evening of Sunday, June 9th! COST: As an organization, we believe that a truly inclusive choral community prioritizes access for all people, regardless of financial resources. In line with our organizational values, we follow a "Pay What You Can" model with a suggested donation amount based on our costs for the season. This year, our suggested donation amount is $40. BUT we want to emphasize: we truly mean it when we say that you are a full and valued member of our choir community whether you pay $0, $40, or enough to cover the fees for another singer. We are a community that takes care of each other, and there are many ways in which to do this - not just financial. REGISTRATION: You can find the registration forms by scrolling further down on this page!! MIDDLE YEARS CHOIR: We are pleased to announce that we will once again be running our Middle Years Choir this spring! They'll rehearse for 6 weeks and then perform at the concert with us. They typically do 3 songs of their own, and then join the adult choir for a mass number. Registrations will open later this week, and there is NO cost for middle years singers to join. All grade 5-8 students willing to make the drive to Winkler are welcome! Visit our website to learn more. Thanks for being part of our Prairie Soundscape community! We hope to see many singers return, and we look forward to the new faces who will be joining us! As always, please reach out if you have any questions! We can't wait to make music again soon! the Prairie Soundscape Board P.S. We're always keen to welcome new board members! Reach out if you're interested in discussing roles or opportunities! Returning MembersPlease fill out this application! https://forms.gle/iam5c7t6kR7AnmXN9 New MembersPlease fill out this application! https://forms.gle/wk9ZHi8pD7Xr563UA Stay tuned for more details coming VERY SOON!
 We are so thrilled to be looking ahead to our spring season! Registration is officially open, so keep reading to find out the details for our spring season (and a few other notes!)
WHEN & WHERE: We are excited to be rehearsing on Wednesdays at NPC (Northlands Parkway Collegiate) from 7-8:30 pm. Rehearsals are set to start on April 12th, and our concert will tentatively be on the evening of Sunday June 11th! COST: Suggested donation is once again $25, but we continue to follow our "Pay What You Can" model - all are welcome, and finances should not be a barrier. You are a full and valued member of our choir community whether you pay $0 or a zillion dollars. REGISTRATION: If you haven't already registered, you can find the registration forms here. You can also get there by visiting our website http://www.prairiesoundscape.ca/join-us.html RETURNING MEMBERS https://forms.gle/qXn7srATwseA9ZWBA NEW MEMBERS https://forms.gle/5KUEctdvrjnJydCM9 FEEDBACK FROM WINTER SEASON: IF you are able ,we would love to hear your feedback from our previous season! We have never done a December concert before, and we only had a couple of seasons before COVID hit the pause button for us. Here is a google form for you folks to give us feedback from last season. All questions (except for one) are optional, so feel free to offer opinions on whatever you would like, and skip whatever you don't want to answer. https://forms.gle/bNS2jAbgbz8PhRg57 MIDDLE YEARS CHOIR: You may be aware that in past years we also ran a grades 5-8 choir! We are pleased to announce that we will be bringing back our Middle Years Choir this spring! They'll rehearse for 4 weeks and then perform at the concert with us. They typically do 3 songs of their own, and then we end with a mass number. Registrations will open the week of April 17th, and there is NO cost for middle years singers to join. All grade 5-8 students willing to make the drive to Winkler/Morden are welcome! More details to come soon! Thanks for being part of our Prairie Soundscape community! We hope to see many of you back, and we look forward to the new faces who will be joining us! As always, please reach out if you have any questions! Given the current situation with COVID-19, we will obviously not be meeting for rehearsal this week. Logistically speaking, all school rentals have been cancelled, and of course the government has asked us to do our part and stay home in order to help keep our communities safe. Not only do we as an organization respect this, we really appreciate this mandate and believe in the importance of self-isolating at this time.
With that being said, we have not given up hope for the possibilities of Soundscape in 2020. Our board has met and outlined a few possible scenarios, which I'll outline for you below. Big Dream: In an ideal world, things will calm down and we will be able to return to "life as we know it" soon! If this happens, we will plan to run a short season with less repertoire to learn. In this scenario we would still do a concert, but the details may be a bit different than we had originally envisioned. Medium Dream: If things resolve later than we hope and it becomes impossible to do a shortened season BUT life still returns to normal before summer, we will hope to do some sort of retreat or workshop style day of singing. We're envisioning something similar to Choir!Choir!Choir! or the Central Manitoba Choral Association workshops you might have attended if you went to high school in this area. Basically: we'd hang out for a day learning music, eat some good food, and then maybe do a sharing time in the evening. Small (but Mighty) Dream: If things do NOT return to normal before Summer, we will aim to do something in the fall. Maybe a workshop day similar to the Medium Dream. Maybe a couple of quick rehearsals and then caroling or a Christmas performance. There are more details in our social media stories (and our highlights), but please know that we want you all to stay safe and healthy, and we look forward to singing together again soon. 💙💛 Please reach out if you have any questions, and take care of yourselves and each other!  We were thrilled to be asked to sing the anthem at the 2019 National Under 18 Women’s Championships!
Thanks to all singers who came out to rehearse and perform with us! It was a great privilege, and we look forward to more opportunities in the future.
If you were unable to attend Karen's Celebration of Life, either in person or by watching the stream live, please find the service in full in the link below.
It can also be found directly on our facebook page. ?  It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved co-director Karen Giesbrecht.
Karen was an inspiring, innovative, and hard-working woman. She was creative, exuberant, and cared deeply for her singers in all of her choirs. Karen believed that everyone should have the opportunity to sing. After years of building an incredible legacy at WES, Karen built a choral program from scratch at NPC, founded our Middle Years Choir, and founded Prairie Soundscape. Over the last several years, Karen served as President of the Central Manitoba Choral Association, Marketing/Communications Chair of Manitoba Choral Association, and editor of the MCA Noteworthy Newsletter. Never one to settle, Karen embraced challenges and was bursting with energy and enthusiasm for her work. Karen was a shining example of collaboration, and she loved working with her cross-town counterpart and Soundscape co-director Melanie at GVC. Whether sharing rep choices or designing new engaging assignments, Karen was truly perfecting her craft and thriving right to the very end. Karen was immensely driven and focused, always working toward something big. She's left behind footprints that we can all tread in, each on the way to our own peak. With broken but grateful hearts, we love and miss you deeply, Karen. We know that you're singing with your whole soul in paradise. ❤️🎵💙 Founded in 2018, Prairie Soundscape is the brainchild of Karen Giesbrecht and Melanie Urichuk. As high school Choir teachers, Karen and Melanie have long believed that opportunities for people to make music should exist at every stage in our lives. While there are many incredible things happening in our communities, Karen and Melanie did feel there were two places in particular that offered room to grow.
The first area that Karen and Melanie sought to improve was the middle years choir scene. Some schools in our area offer wonderful programming, but this is not consistent across our region. While some students had little to no access to group music making at the middle years level, it was clear that many musicians with great school music would love to have further opportunities to make new friends while creating wonderful music. So in 2017, the GVSD Divisional Middle Years Choir was born. With approximately 46 kids participating in 2017, and approximately 58 singers in 2018, it's clear that this new ensemble has been welcomed warmly in our community. The second area that Karen and Melanie wanted to address was the lack of opportunity for music making after graduation from high school. While some people continue on with singing in Church, jamming with friends, or other endeavours, it was clear that our community was missing an important piece of the puzzle. Karen and Melanie had been talking about their mutual dream of creating a community choir for young adults since meeting in 2014, and after seeing the success of their Middle Years choir, they decided it was time to make it happen. So here we are in 2019. About to enter the 3rd season of Middle Years Choir and the 2nd season of Prairie Soundscape. Our dreams are bigger than ever, and we're full of the energy and ambition to make this year unforgettable. Will you join us? |
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