A Personal Letter to My School Choir As I Leave High School

May 21, 2019

Dear People of the Western Canada High School Concert Choir of 2019,

Here we are. May 29, 2019. Our last concert together. Many of us are about to leave onto bigger things as we graduate this summer. This takes me back to a moment from when I was in grade eleven last year. We were about to perform our year-end concert in 2018. Do you know how the grade 12s wear a rose on their chest to signify their graduation from high school and their departure from the choir? I remember the moment when one of the teachers was pinning these roses on the grade 12s and asked if I was also graduating and I said: “Oh I wish!” Now, as we will be having those same roses pinned to our chests very soon, I stand to feel very different from that night.

You see, I’m starting to feel the sadness of losing you people, how we’re not going to be in this same musical community that a lot of us had been a part of for the entirety of our time in high school. A lot of us grade 12s are to leave each other behind, and all of us leave behind the grade elevens, whom I have grown to adore this year. You guys have made me feel in tune with my sixteen-year-old self as I as I’m mostly outnumbered by the 17 and 18-year-olds I’m graduating with this year. Thank you for making me feel young again, as I should!

As for the people I leave high school with, well, ya’ll have really done a number on me. A lot of us have been singing together for all three years of high school and I gotta say, I don’t know about you guys, but I like the progress of our friendship over these years. As sopranos and altos, besides ending up flat on a pitch (one section more than the other; go ahead and guess which one), we’ve bonded over our shared experiences within and outside of this choral community. We’ve learned how much we have in common, how we are passionate and stand for much of the same things. A lot of you have moved and inspired in ways I didn’t know was possible. It’s taught me that sometimes the most inspirational person can just be standing next to you rehearsing music twice a week. I’m really glad you people were able to move past my awkwardness which still hasn’t left me after all this time and come to see who I really am, and I hope I have done my best to make you feel as included and welcome as I have in this space where we rehearse every week.

 To the basses and the tenors, thank you for being the laughing stock of the choir this year. I’m just kidding, but also, kind of not? I and all the altos and sopranos would agree that you have added to the fun of being in this choir by being incredibly goofy and thus somehow charming. Thank you for coming to be part of this community despite the fact that choir is typically never really the first thing on a guy’s mind when it comes to joining extra-curricular activities. You have done an excellent job as performers, despite the fact that some of you joined for the first time this year! Even though I didn’t get to know some of you, being a part of this community automatically entitles you to a special place in my heart. The same goes for anyone I did not get to connect with this year.

To the basses and tenors that I do know well, I am beyond glad that we got to connect a little more as this year progressed. Regardless, all of you people are talented and really funny in your own little ways.

One of the moments that always stuck to me was performing a song by Sleeping At Last called “North”, a song about taking the time to create a home of love and belonging after a damaging storm. Grade eleven was a rough time for a lot of us. Hence this song really spoke to us. After performing that piece, I witnessed through my own tears, tears shed by so many people in the front audience, our teachers attending, my fellow sopranos standing beside me, and even our school principal. Tears were shed by so many people. I cried, some of my fellow sopranos cried, our choral director, the audience at the front and even the principal cried! It was one of those moments that we knew that this choir really was a safe space.

We made people cry. We touched people’s hearts. We did that!

That moment has stuck even more after watching the Vancouver Youth Choir perform it this year in March at a church in Vancouver. It brought back the memory swiftly, I peeked to look at my friends sitting by my side in the pews who performed it with me last year and saw them crying. I cried a little bit too. It was like it drew our choir experience into a full, beautiful circle.

I could keep on rambling forever in all the ways you people have touched me. But I promised to myself that I gotta keep it short and sweet, and it turns out I’ve already failed at that attempt. I’d like to end by thanking most of all our choral director Ms. Reinhardt. Ms. Reinhardt, thank you for keeping this choral community afloat, but making a safe space for everyone that steps foot in our choir room. This community would not have succeeded without all the dedication you have put into this community that goes beyond just doing what’s required in your job. You are not just an excellent teacher, but you are a kind and understanding person. Everyone in the choir can attest to this. Above all, how could any of us forget the foundation of this choir that is our piano player, Bethany? None of us would be much of anything without your talent.

Once again, thank you all for being a part of this musical roller coaster, and good luck to us at our Year-end concert on the 29^th of May at Knox United Church. It’s gonna be great!

Your forever- grateful Choir Buddy,

Fatima.

Come witness what the Western Canada High School Choral Program is all about by watching our performance at Knox United Church downtown on the 29^th of May, 2019. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

The featured photo of the Choir is taken by Western Canada High School teacher Mr.Cale during the Choir tour in Vancouver in March 2019.