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23 · Wednesday, July 21, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Choir enchanted by 2,000-year-old history By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After spending nearly two weeks on tour in Greece, the members of the Oakville Children's Choir (OCC) are excited after having come home with some iron. The choir's senior and chamber groups attended the 28th International Choir Festival of Preveza and the 16th International Competition of Sacred Music in Greece. They returned home on July 10 with three silver medals after having come in second place in all three categories they competed in. Despite the high international achievement, if you ask any of the 30 or so performers they will tell you about the sights and wonders of Greece. "The competition was wonderful too, but the kids are talking more about the memories of Greece, the land, the culture, the food. It was a lot of fun," said Sarah Morrison, artistic director, who travelled with the youths. "It was a wonderful trip, with just the right amount of time and we performed 10 times in our 10-day tour, which was super." The Senior Choir competed in two categories at the festival: the Children's Choir and the Youth Choir categories. The local singers came in second place in both. The Chamber Choir competed in the Chamber Choir category and this group also came in second place. For each category, choirs were required to prepare four sacred a cappella songs and one SUBMITTED PHOTO ADVENTURE RIVALED THE MEDALS: Members of the Oakville Children's Choir (OCC) went sightseeing when not on stage in Greece during a two-week tour in which the choir earned three silver medals. song from their country of origin. The OCC was the only choir to compete in three categories, which meant that some of the choristers prepared up to 15 a cappella pieces for competition. "We took a lot of Canadian music because when you're performing internationally, you're representing your country," Morrison said. "So to sing those folk songs in 2,000year-old fortresses in Greece is very emotional. And to see other choirs at this festival was really great as well." She added that international competition is an eye opener for younger performers. "One of the international judges was saying to us, there's really nothing like international competition to really push your choir to go beyond where they think they can go," Morrison said. "We perform at a very high standard in concerts, but there's something about the electricity of competition. It's the closest to the Olympics choirs can get. It's just so exciting to be a part of it." The tour consisted of performances to audiences in places such as Tolo and Athens. There was also a one-day cruise of the Mediterranean islands of Hydra, Poros and Aegina. The festival included youth and adult chamber choirs from 20 countries such as China, Russia, Romania, Poland, Ukraine and Argentina and was judged by an international jury panel. The OCC had the only North American choirs to compete in the festival of Preveza. A highlight performance was held at the Ancient Nicopolis in Preveza, built in 31 B.C., to celebrate Octavian's victory over the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The OCC was invited to participate in this performance due to its silver medal standings. Now the OCC is gearing up for next season. Though some of the youths that participated in the Greek tour are graduating and new members will be joining the senior and chamber choirs, Morrison said those who stay on will have an experience they can build on. "It creates a nice momentum going into next season and they've seen how well they can sing because they've pushed themselves, I think they're going to be more motivated and more excited about singing all styles of world music," Morrison said. "Nothing but positive, in my mind, comes from a tour." The OCC is a choral music education organization with multiple choirs. The next season, its 17th, begins in September. Auditions continue throughout August and September. Visit www.oakvillechildrenschoir.org. Kane wants a TIMA award By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Bad Dog on stage at Moonshine The Oakville Bad Dog Improv Theatre Company hosts its comedy jam Sunday, July 25 at Moonshine Café at 137 Kerr St. The event will feature Lisa Merchant, a three time Canadian Comedy Award winner who was a regular on the radio shows Go and The Chumps. Performing with Merchant will be David Healey, also from The Chumps. They will perform in the adults-only show at 8:30 p.m. A 7 p.m. teens permitted show will feature Toronto's Cougar Town and a mostly Oakville group called Moist. Tickets cost $5 per show. Call 905-844-2655 or visit www.baddogtheatre.com. For up and coming musicians any recognition is a welcome thing. The same holds true for Oakville's Alexandra Kane. The 2009 winner of the Performing Arts award at the Oakville Stars Among Us event is hoping to add another accolade to her resume to help jump-start her career. The musician was nominated for the best urban category at the Toronto Independent Music Awards (TIMA). The awards show and presentations take place Friday, July 23 in Toronto. "I think all news is good news," she said of being nominated. "I think this would definitely get me closer to where I want to be. Even not winning it, it's just an honour Alexandra Kane to be nominated and to be recognized for what I do." Kane released a four-track EP, earlier this month, titled Insane. The CD features pop/Top 40-style music for which she received her nomination. She also recently released a Christian music two-track CD, one of the songs of which is also featured on the Insane CD. "I'm submitting it to radio stations," she said of her most recent release, "and I hope that the programmers there, they can listen to it and play it on the radio, and people can call in and request it. I'm trying to get myself out there." She said she was surprised to get the nomination and hopes that it will help her get the recognition she needs to get some airplay. "I've been using it so far in my marketing, that I have been nominated, to push them that `Hey, it's not just my parents that like my music'." The musician is also a music teacher and producer. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/alexandrakanemusic. The awards ceremony takes place at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. For more information, visit www.torontoima.com.