Barbara Roden
Free Press
The Eclectica Community Choir is gearing up for its spring season and organizers hope to have new members join their ranks now that rehearsals started on Jan. 13.
“Rehearsals are at 7 p.m. every Wednesday night, but for the first three rehearsals in January, we’re having a registration session at 6:30,” says Barbara Hooper.
It’s an opportunity for anyone interested in joining the choir to come along and try it out, she explains.
“You don’t have to be able to read music,” she says, adding accompanist Donna Forward records all the pieces the choir will be performing.
Members are able to purchase the CD and take it home so they can practice.
The choir is open to people of all ages’ Hooper notes.
“We’ve had members as young as 11 and as old as 80-something. Quite a few of the teenagers we’ve had in the choir have gone on to careers in music and the theatre.”
The fee is $25 for the season, which culminates in a mid-May concert. The choir then breaks for the summer and rehearsals for the Christmas concert starting in September.
“It’s a wonderful way to spend time with other people. And learning something new, like music, is good for our mental health.
“We laugh a lot at rehearsals because we’re having so much fun. You come away feeling energized.”