Social Media Column: Choir blogger unites the choral community

Published in the October 30, 2012 issue of The Edmonton Sun.

Linda’s social media column can be found every Tuesday in the Edmonton Sun.

Choir blogger unites the choral community

You often hear of food bloggers, fashion bloggers, tech bloggers and the like, but there are more obscure blogging genres out there, including one I recently discovered and wanted to share with you: the choir blogger.

Edmonton is home to a particularly popular one: Sable Chan, known as ‘The Choir Girl’ at www.thechoirgirl.ca, who has been documenting her experiences as a choral performer in the city since 2009.

“A lot of my posts are about my experience and learning process in choir, what I’m feeling and what I’m thinking in rehearsal and what I feel and think when I work with different conductors or different artists,” Chan says.

Chan, 25, has been singing with a number of local choirs since she was a child, including Schola Cantorum, Cantilon Choirs, and the University of Alberta’s Madrigal Singers. Now she’s with Pro Coro Canada.

Chan says blogs and social media are tools that can unite and enhance the choral music community.

“It’s staggering to me that I actually have likes and followers and people reading my content and commenting and telling me they might try a choir at a higher level than they’re used to because I was trying it at the same time and they thought they would take a chance,” she says.

When she attended Podium 2012, a choral conference in Ottawa, earlier this year, she says social media played a big role in the experience.

Chan had people from around the world tweeting and asking her for updates because they couldn’t attend. She received tweets from people in the audience, waiting to see her perform. She met some of her readers in person and even met another choir blogger, something she says has never happened before.

Her goal of using social media during the conference was to show how effective those tools can be in connecting the choral music community, no matter where they live or sing.

“For something that isn’t as widely used (in the choral community), there were some specific users showing how it could be done. It was quite amazing.”

Chan says the opportunities for choral singers in Edmonton are endless, which has helped drive the success of her blog.

“There are lots of opportunities to get involved, which is why I’ve been able to have so many great opportunities come my way and provide artistic fodder for creative blog posts.”

You can check out some of the city’s fine choral singers at these upcoming performances:

Cantilon Choirs: Music & Masterpieces on Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. at All Saints Anglican Cathedral.

Pro Coro Canada: Laudate – Jubilate – Cantate on Nov. 4, at 2:30 p.m. at All Saints Anglican Cathedral.

Chan will be performing at the Nov. 4 Pro Coro show.

Some Tweets of the Week

@SimonYeMoney: Can’t believe the bus cost $3 for a ticket nowadays. I remember when it used to be $1.50. I don’t think the ETS can go any higher. #yeg

@BDF413: I apologize neighbours, I’m in a singing mood and this whistle necklace is only going to enhance that. #yeg

@alsouqi8: There’s something peaceful about looking outside and seeing white skies, white trees & white ground. #snowfall #yeg

@mcmanus17: The roads in #yeg aren’t bad… people just seriously lack proper driving skills… Winter is also known as #runaredlight season here

@AnthonyFalls: New perspective on a few cm of the white stuff in #yeg after watching the coverage of #HurricaneSandy

Click here to read the column on the Edmonton Sun website!

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