Welcome


Welcome to Renate's Baton. This blog is mostly for and about my choir, The York Region Community Choir.

But, While I'm holding the baton, I'm in charge. So, if I want to talk about other parts of my life, I will. :)

The choir itself is a community and I'm discovering that we have a lot in common with one another besides our love of music and singing.

When I go off on a tangent, there is always a crowd coming along. Join us!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

The Newmarket Jazz+ Festival: Next Weekend!

Next weekend you'll hear lots of jazz "plus" lots of other great music at the Newmarket Jazz + Festival: the + means there's something for everyone, not just jazz enthusiasts (some jazz fans will be disappointed). Last year I saw quite a few excellent performances, lots of different kinds of jazz, and there was rock, pop, big band, folk, and fusions of genres too. For only $5/day you will hear and see amazing live music of all kinds. You can come and go all day with a wrist band, so you can go up to Main Street too. There will be events happening there too all weekend. You could go home for meals, but there will also be food and drinks for sale at the Jazz Festival and on Main Street of course. The whole event is licensed so you can buy beer and wine to sip on while you listen. Cool. There are things going on indoors too: kids' stuff mainly, and free workshops. Soraya and I will be volunteering there this year, so maybe you'll see us working, and you'll see us in the audience too. There are a few bands we saw last year that we'd really like to see again.


Saturday, July 5, 2014

Missing Choir over the Summer?

If you're missing choir over the summer, like me, you can:

  1. go to our website and look at some photos of us on Concert Night, May 3rd, and some old ones too;
    Do you miss this face?
  2. while you're at the website, visit the Forum section under Members-Only to join a discussion or to start one; 
  3. also on the website, under Members-Only, you can look up friends from choir using the the Membership Directory and send them emails or phone them up to chat or invite them out for a coffee, or a martini;
  4. watch the YouTube videos of the concert. Like and Comment.Share your favourites with friends and family, and send them to your best choir friend with a joke about your/her/his face while singing;
  5. visit our Facebook page. Post something, or comment on a post that's there;
  6. sing in the shower;
  7. sing in the car;
  8. sing in the kitchen;
  9. sing around a campfire;
  10. sing on a lake;
  11. think of more places to sing, and go and sing there.