Yule Duel 2018……Now with even more Choirs!

With Yule Duel fast approaching, much like the mercurial spirit of Christmas, it’s time to get know some of our effervescent choirs as they ready themselves to kick some serious musical butt in the biggest, and only outdoor carolling competition in BC.

This December 6th from 6pm-9pm, most of Gastown will be car free as the streets fill with musical performances by over 15 awesome choirs (every choir brings their own unique holiday repertoire to the comp), Emmy award winning Dutch Robinson, The Marcus Mosely Chorale and the always eccentric Carnival Band. Yule Duel is fun, free and perfect for the whole family to enjoy.

It’s Carolling for a Cause, so come on down and celebrate Christmas in Gastown while helping to support May’s Place, a worthwhile local charity.

Shane Raman – Sarabande (Vancouver Bach Choir)

 

What got you into choral singing?

I’ve been singing my whole life.  It started with singing in my local church choir and then grew into a career path when I started my music degree at Douglas College and then UBC.

How did the group come up with the name?

I believe it used to be a group for treble voices called Anna Magdalena and they wanted to add tenor and bass voices, and renamed it Sarabande.

 What brought you into Yule Duel?

We’ve had so many colleagues participate over the last few years and we thought it could be a great way to sing, hear other choirs, and to raise some money for charity.

What is the musical style of the repertoire?

We sing mostly classical music, but we love branching out into pop and jazz.

What do you think are your odds are of winning?

It’s not about winning necessarily.  Its about sharing music and raising money.

Are you going to have a unique spin this year to give you an edge?

We will be singing a few of my arrangements of well-known Christmas songs. I’m pretty sure no one else will be singing the same arrangements.

Who’s your biggest competition?

I’m not sure.

What are you listening to right now?

J.S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio and Amy Grant’s Home for Christmas.

So how can people see The Vancouver Bach Choir perform outside of Yule Duel?

We are singing at the Orpheum with all of the other choirs under the umbrella of the Vancouver Bach Choirs on December 2nd at 2pm at our event called Christmas with the Bach Choir.

Marizza Mislang – Little Flower Academy Choir

How did you get into choral singing?

I was lucky to go to a high school with a dynamic choir program here in Vancouver with director Simon Isherwood at Notre Dame Regional Secondary.  Being part of the music program was a highlight of my high school career and some of my most memorable moments were when we performed and shared our music at festivals, tours and events like this one. After graduating high school, I decided to study music at the University of British Columbia and fell in love with choral music. I love having the opportunity to continue to have choral music play a role in my day to day life and I’m so excited to be participating in Yuel Duel with my students, but also with the choirs from Notre Dame where I first got my start.

What brought you into Yule Duel?

When Yule Duel first began, I received a call from the organizers asking us to consider entering the competition. Despite being quite interested, we always had a conflict with the event date. I’ve heard so many things about the success of Yule Duel, that in June I wanted to make sure that we could make it this year. I checked the website repeatedly for the date so I could fit it in to our performance schedule this year. We are so excited that we finally get be part of it!

What is the musical style of the repertoire?

We will be singing some traditional carols and familiar Christmas songs so people can sing along with us. Before Yule Duel, we are will spending the day of the 6th December carolling at The Ronald McDonald House and the Yaletown House. It will be a great opportunity to run through our carols before the competition and get ourselves in the holiday spirit.

What do you think your odds are of winning?

There are so many amazing choirs this year that it’s hard to predict a winner. We have such a talented choral scene here in Vancouver and the caliber of children’s choirs, school choirs, adult choirs, and community choirs will be definitely hard to beat. Since it’s our first year participating in Yule Duel, our goal is to have fun and spread a bit of Christmas cheer. I also love the idea of “Carolling for a Cause”. So often, we are focused on the performance but with Yule Duel our focus will be to increase awareness of the fundraising efforts made for the benefit of May’s Place Hospice. We are crossing our fingers that we can be one of the top fundraising choirs.

Are you going to have a unique spin this year to give you an edge?

I think what’s special about our choir is that we hope to move people with our music.  I’m lucky to have such amazing students and singers at Little Flower Academy and oftentimes when I work with them, I forget that we are a high school choir. These ladies have so much maturity, depth and understanding that sometimes I feel like I’m working with professional singers.

How can people see The Little Flower Academy perform outside of Yule Duel?

Our choirs will be participating in a number of local choir festivals and workshops throughout the year including the West Coast Choir Festival, Kiwanis Festival and the Kiwanis Fraser Valley Festival. Additionally in the spring, our chamber choir will be traveling to New York to sing at the National Youth Choir Festival at Carnegie Hall in April. The girls are very excited about this performance. All are welcome to check us out on youtube or even come along to our final concert of the year at the Canadian Memorial Church on Friday, May 10th at 7pm with Guest Conductor, Dr. Adam Con.