Kamloops Power Choir rehearsing.
Image Credit: Danielle Faulkner Klaponski via Facebook
December 22, 2016 - 7:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - Some shoppers in downtown Kamloops got a song filled surprise last night.
The recently revived Kamloops Power Choir took their performance to the street, Dec. 21, carolling from their base in the Lansdowne Village shopping area down Victoria and then back again, with customers-turned-audience members sharing the experience on social media.
The group’s organizer, Kathy Sinclair, says it was the first time the group had gone done a winter stroll-by performance after one of the groups directors, who’s also an opera singer, suggested it.
“We started off at Save-on-Foods and went to places like Red Collar,” she says. “We sang Feliz Navidad at Quillas.”
The response from crowds and businesses was positive.
“We got some people grinning and singing along,” she says. “PDK gave us two dozen donuts on the way out.”
While they won’t have another carolling night this year, she says the experience was positive and they’ll likely try again sometime. Some participants even suggested a weekly event, though Sinclair says the novelty might wear thin after a while.
“To be performing people for people instead of in your rehearsal was neat,” she says.
Founded in September 2014, the group was on hiatus for a while due to uncertain rehearsal space. Sinclair says they have a regular spot worked out now, as Lansdowne Village has offered the Kamloops Arts Council, which Sinclair works for, some space.
“We’re trying to be more like Choir! Choir! Choir out of Toronto,” she says.
The first night back the group pulled in more than 40 people. Last night’s travelling performers numbered around 20. While the group usually has a drop in fee of $5, it was waived for the night in order to raise funds for the Kamloops Food Bank.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she says. “In a busy kinda crazy season it’s nice to doing something that connects people and brings a smile to peoples faces.”
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News from © iNFOnews, 2016