A Choir Is Built One Season at a Time

Music Doesn't Grow in Isolation

If you've ever planted a garden, you know that healthy plants need more than sunlight.

A garden depends on good soil, regular care, changing seasons, and patience. No one walks outside after a week and expects a towering tree or a bed full of flowers. Growth happens gradually, often so quietly that you don't notice it until one day everything has changed. A choir grows in much the same way.

Every rehearsal adds something. A singer becomes a little more confident. A difficult harmony starts to settle into place. New friendships form almost without anyone realizing it. By the end of the season, those small moments have accumulated into something that couldn't have existed any other way.

If you visit Lyrico Youth Choirs in November, you'll hear music taking shape. Visit in March and you'll notice a choir that sounds noticeably different than it did in the fall. By May, you'll be listening to singers who have spent months learning not only the repertoire, but how to breathe together, listen to one another, and trust the people standing beside them. That's why every Lyrico season is intentionally designed to create the right conditions for growth.

Following the Music Wherever It Leads

Most weeks begin the same way. Singers arrive at rehearsal after school, catch up with friends, warm up their voices, and get to work. From there, every week unfolds a little differently.

Sometimes the focus is learning challenging new repertoire. Sometimes a guest clinician visits and offers a completely different way of approaching the music. Occasionally, rehearsals shift from preparing for a concert to preparing for something happening out in the community.

Music has a way of opening unexpected doors, and we believe our singers should be ready to walk through them. Last season, our choirs participated in Strathcona County's Celebration of Lights and joined musicians from The King's University for A King's Family Christmas. This year is already shaping up to include exciting new collaborations, and we're hopeful we'll soon be able to share details about another special project currently in development.

No two seasons are ever quite the same, and that's part of what keeps them exciting.

Learning From the People Around Us

Choirs have always been communities that learn from one another. Throughout the year, we invite guest artists and clinicians to work with our singers, giving them the opportunity to experience different musical perspectives and teaching styles. These musicians bring fresh ideas into the rehearsal room while showing our choristers that there are many paths through the musical world.

Our Imagine Concert has become one of the best examples of what those collaborations can look like. Alongside our choirs, audiences have enjoyed performances by guest artists such as Edmonton's E-Town Extended, and our 40th Anniversary season featured acclaimed conductor Jordan Van Biert as guest conductor.

Not every lesson comes from someone standing on the podium. Last year, students in Bev Facey's Culinary Arts program partnered with us by preparing an incredible selection of baked goods for concert guests. It was a wonderful reminder that creativity doesn't exist in separate boxes. Whether someone expresses themselves through music, baking, theatre, or visual art, they're contributing to the same creative community.

Staying Connected to Our Community

Lyrico has always believed that a youth choir should be part of the community that supports it. That relationship goes both ways.

Local businesses choose to sponsor our concerts and programs. Granting organizations invest in arts education because they recognize its value. Families volunteer countless hours throughout the season. Audiences fill Festival Place three times each year, creating an atmosphere that encourages every young performer who walks onto the stage.

Whenever possible, we look for opportunities to give something back. Our annual winter concert includes a clothing drive in support of County Clothes-Line, helping local families during the colder months. Our Junior Choir visits local schools, introducing younger students to the joy of singing together, while our Senior Choir heads to Camp Nakamun for a retreat that blends intensive musical work with the friendships that naturally grow when people spend time together.

These experiences may look very different on the surface, but they're connected by the same idea. Music becomes more meaningful when it's shared.

Growing With Every Generation

Lyrico's story began more than forty years ago as part of the Elk Island school system. As the organization evolved, so did the community it served. Singers began coming from well beyond the original boundaries, and the choir itself became something larger than its original name could describe. That's why we became Lyrico Youth Choirs.

The name changed, but the purpose remained remarkably consistent. Generation after generation, young people have come together to challenge themselves, discover great music, and become part of a tradition that continues to evolve.

Every September brings new faces into the rehearsal room. Some children have never sung in a choir before. Others arrive with years of musical experience. By the end of the season, they have become one ensemble with a shared story that couldn't have existed without every person in it.

That's the wonderful thing about a choir season. It doesn't simply repeat itself from one year to the next. It grows.