Carolling-for-hire: U of S choir spreads holiday cheer – Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
Greystone Singers student president Molly Nystuen said it’s a great way to celebrate the holidays in a way they are uniquely qualified for.
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A choir in Saskatoon is adding to the holiday festivities by offering singing services around the city as a way to raise money.
Every year, the University of Saskatchewan’s Greystone Singers offer a unique service to people who want to add a touch of music to their holiday events: carolling-for-hire.
In exchange for a donation, small groups from the student-only ensemble will sing Christmas carols at business events, shopping malls and private parties.
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Greystone Singers student president Molly Nystuen said it’s a great way for the choir to get more involved in the community and celebrate the holidays.
“I really love how happy it makes the community,” Nystuen said. “Christmas carolling has always been something I loved doing, and doing it in a four-part harmony setting is a lot of fun.”
Carolling-for-hire during the holiday season has been one of the choir’s most consistent fundraisers for several years. It’s a great example of the dedication the singers show to the community and to each other, choir conductor Jennifer Lang said.
Lang took over the Greystone Singers when she started as an assistant professor of music education at the University of Saskatchewan. She was always impressed by the number of students who found time while studying for finals and preparing for holiday vacation to go out and sing on behalf of the choir, she said.
“They’re not just wonderful singers … they really are advocates for bringing the joy of music to the community. It’s very heartwarming, especially at this time of year.”
Carolling has taken the Greystone Singers to some fairly odd places. Nystuen said the strangest place she’d ever been asked to carol with the choir was a small, private Christmas party in someone’s home with only a handful of people present.
But regardless of where the singers have ended up, Nystuen said the response they get is almost universally positive.
“It’s really cool to connect with different parts of the community in Saskatoon, and we kind of get to connect with each other as a choir in a different way.”
Nystuen said anyone who wants to book the Greystone singers can make the request by email, greystone.singers@gmail.com. From there, Nystuen and the rest of the executive committee find out if they have enough available performers to go carolling, and send them along.
They aren’t always large groups — a team of just three students sang a few carols during an event at the new Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra main office on Wednesday evening — but the goal is to have multi-part harmonies for all of the beloved holiday music.
“Singing takes place in all contexts … and they give 100 per cent to everything they’re involved in,” Lang said.
maolson@postmedia.com
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