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Their voices were many, the song was the same. It echoed through the common room and down the corridor of a Donald Street high rise.
I travelled a day,
I travelled a year,
I travelled a lifetime,
to find my way home …
It’s Wednesday night and the members of One World Choir are practising. Since it was founded in 2016 by Ottawa musician Alicia Borisonik, the choir has offered a place where Canadians, old and new, can gather for friendship and support and to share their love of singing.
Borisonik, who came to Canada in 1994 from Argentina, had already founded a group called World Folk Music of Ottawa, using ukuleles, drums and other music-makers as a way of bridging cultural divides, especially for the underprivileged. She thought a choir might be a way to reach out to new Canadians and to introduce them to their new country.
“At some point we thought, ‘Instruments are a little difficult to buy. Even just a ukulele. But what is an instrument that we all have and it’s free?’ Our voice.
“Everyone everywhere likes to sing. Even people who say they don’t like to sing, like to sing. It’s an amazing way of expressing yourself. And I know it’s a little bit of a cliché, but music is a universal language.”
Originally the choir ran as an eight-week pilot project. When that was well-received, Borisonik decided to make the choir a weekly event. It officially launched in September 2016, funded with a small grant from Ontario’s Trillium Foundation.
The first year, the choir met at the Bronson Centre, but in the fall they it to the Donald Street high rise that had become home to many of Ottawa’s newest refugee arrivals.
“The main idea was to go where the immigrants are,” she said.
A core group of about 20 singers usually shows up for Wednesday choir night, but Borisonik says attendance can fluctuate.
“When we moved to Donald, it got a little bit more difficult to get people out. People are busy. They don’t know that there is something good going on in the basement,” she said. “I’ll be honest. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ and other times it’s, ‘Oh my god, this is exactly what I need to be doing!'”
Chris MacLean directs the One World Choir. It’s made up of refugees and new Canadians who gather every week for singing and companionship.
It’s a full house on this Wednesday night when nearly 30 people crowd into the common room, fragrant with the smell of Middle Eastern food being cooked in a communal kitchen next door. Martharlen Gaye is there, a Liberian woman whose story appeared in the Citizen last month.
Related
So is Abdulkadir Huseyin, who is celebrating his 16th birthday this night. Huseyin, a new arrival from Syria who attends nearby Ottawa Technical Secondary School, sometimes struggles in his new language, but rarely misses a choir night. The group sings him a rousing version of Happy Birthday, in English, Arabic and, for good measure, French.
Standing behind him is 18-year-old Rebecca Kahindo. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kahindo grew up in Uganda and came to Canada as a refugee in 2013. She joined the choir the next year after meeting Borisonik at a March Break music camp.
“I love to sing,” Kahindo said. “I sing ever since I was a little girl. I sing in school. I sing in church.
“I love the community (of the choir) and seeing everyone from different cultures and different religions.”
Chris MacLean, One World’s energetic musical director, said the job brings her “joy.”
“It’s a feeling of doing something to give back to the community and to these people who are faced with a great challenges,” she said.
Originally, MacLean chose music from around the world to perform, but soon realized that one of the main reasons her singers came was to learn and practise English. She narrowed her choices, but the repertoire remains varied. They sing Xavier Rudd’s Follow the Sun, then a medieval nun’s song of spiritual devotion. Next is a Turkish love song, learned phonetically and sung in rounds.
During the rehearsal for One World Choir Abdulkadir Huseyin (L) is presented with pizza to celebrate his 16th birthday by Mohd Jamal Alsharif a fellow singer in the choir. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
This year, the group has made field trips to perform in neighbouring towns like Almonte, Manotick and Smiths Falls as a way of showing New Canadians what life is like outside the city. The choir doesn’t cost much, but there are some expenses and Borisonik says the original grant money has run out. One World Choir’s future remains a bit uncertain, she concedes.
“It’s a little bit of a mystery what is going to happen, but we really need help to keep this going,” she says.
For more information, to get involved or to help the choir financially, visit the choir website at worldfolkmusicottawa.com
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Chris MacLean, Musical director of One World Choir. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
查看原文...
I travelled a day,
I travelled a year,
I travelled a lifetime,
to find my way home …
It’s Wednesday night and the members of One World Choir are practising. Since it was founded in 2016 by Ottawa musician Alicia Borisonik, the choir has offered a place where Canadians, old and new, can gather for friendship and support and to share their love of singing.
Borisonik, who came to Canada in 1994 from Argentina, had already founded a group called World Folk Music of Ottawa, using ukuleles, drums and other music-makers as a way of bridging cultural divides, especially for the underprivileged. She thought a choir might be a way to reach out to new Canadians and to introduce them to their new country.
“At some point we thought, ‘Instruments are a little difficult to buy. Even just a ukulele. But what is an instrument that we all have and it’s free?’ Our voice.
“Everyone everywhere likes to sing. Even people who say they don’t like to sing, like to sing. It’s an amazing way of expressing yourself. And I know it’s a little bit of a cliché, but music is a universal language.”
Originally the choir ran as an eight-week pilot project. When that was well-received, Borisonik decided to make the choir a weekly event. It officially launched in September 2016, funded with a small grant from Ontario’s Trillium Foundation.
The first year, the choir met at the Bronson Centre, but in the fall they it to the Donald Street high rise that had become home to many of Ottawa’s newest refugee arrivals.
“The main idea was to go where the immigrants are,” she said.
A core group of about 20 singers usually shows up for Wednesday choir night, but Borisonik says attendance can fluctuate.
“When we moved to Donald, it got a little bit more difficult to get people out. People are busy. They don’t know that there is something good going on in the basement,” she said. “I’ll be honest. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ and other times it’s, ‘Oh my god, this is exactly what I need to be doing!'”
Chris MacLean directs the One World Choir. It’s made up of refugees and new Canadians who gather every week for singing and companionship.
It’s a full house on this Wednesday night when nearly 30 people crowd into the common room, fragrant with the smell of Middle Eastern food being cooked in a communal kitchen next door. Martharlen Gaye is there, a Liberian woman whose story appeared in the Citizen last month.
Related
So is Abdulkadir Huseyin, who is celebrating his 16th birthday this night. Huseyin, a new arrival from Syria who attends nearby Ottawa Technical Secondary School, sometimes struggles in his new language, but rarely misses a choir night. The group sings him a rousing version of Happy Birthday, in English, Arabic and, for good measure, French.
Standing behind him is 18-year-old Rebecca Kahindo. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kahindo grew up in Uganda and came to Canada as a refugee in 2013. She joined the choir the next year after meeting Borisonik at a March Break music camp.
“I love to sing,” Kahindo said. “I sing ever since I was a little girl. I sing in school. I sing in church.
“I love the community (of the choir) and seeing everyone from different cultures and different religions.”
Chris MacLean, One World’s energetic musical director, said the job brings her “joy.”
“It’s a feeling of doing something to give back to the community and to these people who are faced with a great challenges,” she said.
Originally, MacLean chose music from around the world to perform, but soon realized that one of the main reasons her singers came was to learn and practise English. She narrowed her choices, but the repertoire remains varied. They sing Xavier Rudd’s Follow the Sun, then a medieval nun’s song of spiritual devotion. Next is a Turkish love song, learned phonetically and sung in rounds.
During the rehearsal for One World Choir Abdulkadir Huseyin (L) is presented with pizza to celebrate his 16th birthday by Mohd Jamal Alsharif a fellow singer in the choir. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
This year, the group has made field trips to perform in neighbouring towns like Almonte, Manotick and Smiths Falls as a way of showing New Canadians what life is like outside the city. The choir doesn’t cost much, but there are some expenses and Borisonik says the original grant money has run out. One World Choir’s future remains a bit uncertain, she concedes.
“It’s a little bit of a mystery what is going to happen, but we really need help to keep this going,” she says.
For more information, to get involved or to help the choir financially, visit the choir website at worldfolkmusicottawa.com
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Chris MacLean, Musical director of One World Choir. Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia
查看原文...
