Choir FAQs
Where and when do you rehearse?
Monday evenings from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
at fully accessible Brechin United Church, 2020 Estevan Road, Nanaimo
Fall term begins August 31, 2026 and continues for 14 weeks including Thanksgiving Monday. See the full term schedule here.
COUNTDOWN TO FIRST REHEARSAL!
Please note- there are two additional mandatory rehearsals and a final Monday rehearsal in Parksville:
Where and when are your concerts? What will you be singing?
See Performances
What is the cost of membership? What does this include?
$275 per term due within the first month of rehearsal
Bursaries are available- to inquire, email askus@islandbelcanto.ca
Singers are responsible for their personal concert attire and a black choral music folder (available to purchase from the Artistic Director).
Membership fees cover a portion of the choir’s expenses: music; rehearsal and concert venue rental; artistic team’s and guest artists’ contracts; graphic design and printing – to name a few. Grants, sponsorships, individual donations and singers’ participation in fundraising projects also ‘keep us singing’.
What is the process to join the choir?
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- Let us know you’re interested by telling us about yourself!
- Attend a rehearsal to try us out: August 31, September 7 or 14
- Meet with our Artistic Director for a 15 minute private audition
The audition is designed to determine your vocal health, timbre and range, and where your voice may fit best within our choir. You will be asked to perform a series of simple vocal exercises to ascertain range and intonation skills, easy sight-singing and harmony recognition exercises, plus, sing O Canada.
You are not obliged to pay your member’s fee until you have been officially registered for our choir. You will be provided with these details after your audition and have been invited to join the choir.
Do I need to read music and/or have experience singing in a choir?
The ability to read music is an asset and there is an expectation that you come to IBC with some choral experience.
Singers are expected to attend rehearsals with their parts reasonably learned. This enables rehearsal time to focus on how the parts come together instead of teaching individual notes and rhythms. To make this independent learning possible, we provide audio practice tracks to aid singers, of all reading abilities, with their learning. These tracks allow you to learn your part in every piece, at home. The rehearsal tracks sound like this:
The Artistic Director also prepares ‘Weekly Notes’ in which she outlines what to concentrate on for the following rehearsal. Singers are expected follow these notes every week.
Is music available digitally for me to use a tablet?
Yes! We provide music in both paper or digital formats to accommodate the preference of all singers.
Tablet users are responsible for their own music reading software; forScore is recommended for iOS and iPadOS while Mobile Sheets is recommended for Android and Windows.
Do I have to memorize the music?
There are a few pieces each term that will be memorized. This enables us to add some movement or percussion – plus, the audience loves to see our faces! The Artistic Director will communicate this well in advance so you have plenty of time to prepare.
If IBCS enters a festival or competition, the music will be memorized. Such plans would be made and communicated months in advance.
I am an experienced singer. Are there solo or small ensemble opportunities?
Yes! There are regular opportunities to explore solo, duet or small ensemble singing within the choir’s repertoire. This fall, there are both spoken and sung solos that will be chosen from within the choir, by audition.
For our 30th season, we are bringing back Island Bel Canto’s Chamber Choir! This group of approximately 12 auditioned singers (3-4 singers per part) will learn repertoire and rehearse in addition to their music with the larger choir, and perform this in IBC Singers concerts. Chamber Choir singers are invited from the main choir by the Artistic Director- if you’re interested, let Fiona know!
Chamber Choir rehearsals this term will be: TBA
What is it like to be in this choir?
We recently asked singers to describe their experience in Island Bel Canto Singers and here is what they said:
I am interested! Remind me how to join?
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- Start by telling us about yourself
- Attend a rehearsal to try us out: August 31, September 7 or 14
- Meet with our Artistic Director for a 15 minute private audition