There will be a new way for Foothills youth to find their voice next year.
Registrations are now open for the Foothills Philharmonic Society’s (FPS) newly-formed Junior Singers, giving choral experience and education to youth, which starts in January 2024, with early-bird pricing until Dec. 21.
“This age group, from six to 12, this is a critical age for that,” said Jeff Hibberd, musical director and founder of the Junior Singers, who worked extensively with the FPS’ chorus and chamber chorus as a singer.
While there was a Foothills Children's Chorus, it disbanded in 2020.
“There is a gap to be filled since about 2020 for that, and this seemed like the right time," Hibberd said.
“The society in general has the tagline ‘Bringing Beautiful Music to the Foothills,’ but one of our major functions is the education aspect as well, like how you read music, how you grow those skills.”
The group will be composed of two age groups: the Prelude Ensemble for ages six and seven and the Cantabile Ensemble for ages eight to 12.
A teacher at Turner Valley School, Hibberd wants to create opportunities beyond the classroom for music.
“There was a gap to be filled and being a music teacher in the Foothills School Division, I know that we have some wonderful music teachers there but not all of them are able to offer choirs, not every school has a singing club and all that,” said Hibberd, adding he’s already got a wide repertoire ready.
“We're looking at a wide variety of stuff, so there's a little bit of classical in there, Bach, Mozart, what have you, but we try to focus on a wide range of stuff to give the kids exposure to all different genres.
“We have folk music in there, we have some gospel, we have modern choral stuff, stuff that's been written in the last 10 to 20 years.”
Naturally, to engage the young minds, there will be some familiar tunes from popular culture.
“I've got some Disney stuff built in there for both age groups this time around,” Hibberd said. “We're also looking every so often branching into more mainstream music, pop music, maybe soundtrack stuff like that.
“I'm really trying to hit as many different bases as I can in order to give them that more well-rounded sense of what's out there for choir singers.”
Creating the program was partially motivated by the example his grandfather set in British Columbia.
“My grandfather was really big in helping build the art scene in the Powell River area of the Sunshine Coast,” Hibberd said. “He was very heavily involved both as a performer but also as an organizer, administrator and he helped build a lot of the infrastructure for the art scene that's out there now.”
Wanting to honour his grandfather and create a legacy of his own, Hibberd hopes to inspire youth and nurture their creative futures.
“I know there’s a lot of kids out there who could use an outlet beyond what their school offers, and I'm hoping this will be the outlet they’re looking for,” he said, adding it has been time and effort well spent.
"I remember even all the days when I was really tired going into those (Foothills Chamber Chorus) rehearsals, I always came away feeling better. There's a lot of joy I found to working on this kind of project.”
More information can be found at www.footphil.com/join.
