‘It’s the most fun I’ve had, in ever’
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- Published on Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Photos by Tony Eu. The 2016 Westman Youth Choir performing at their final concert in the Central United Church, in Brandon. This year’s 54 voice choir included seven from Neepawa.
By Tony Eu
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the 2016 Westman Youth Choir (WMYC) held their final performance in the Central United Church, in Brandon. On stage, amongst the 54 singers in this year’s choir, were seven from Neepawa: Graeme Chapman, Logan Enns, Christopher Eu, Ray Andi Marcel Ignacio, Jayden Lowe and Jamie and Jody Pottinger were all members of the 2016 WMYC.
The WMYC draws voices from all over the Westman area, from Grade 10 through 12. Hundreds of talented young students audition and from that, a board selects the members of the year’s choir. Of the members selected from the Neepawa area, all three girls are in Grade 12, along with Ignacio, while the other three boys are in Grade 11. For most of the students, this was their first year in the program, however, for Jamie and Jody Pottinger, 2016 was their third year and for Chapman this year marked his second.
The choir performed a total of 19 songs, with one song being performed solely by the guys and one by just the girls. A number of these songs featured solos by individuals or small groups, showing off the incredible amount of talent gathered.
Two of the soloists came from Neepawa. Both Ignacio and Chapman had a chance to show off their talents, Ignacio in a song titled Mata Del Anima Sola and Chapman as one of four soloists in the guy’s song, Sarah.
When asked what they thought of the WMYC program, the consensus was, “Amazing.” According to Logan Enns, WMYC was, “a life changing experience”. He continued talking about the program, saying, “When you get on stage and you’re singing with everybody, it’s like something you’ve never really felt before.” Jayden Lowe remarked, “It is an amazing experience. I learned a lot from it.” The others echoed these sentiments, including Chapman, who said, “It is the most fun I’ve had, in ever. You just get to meet so many awesome people and you’ll be friends with these people all your life.”
As for what they thought of the camps, the conductors and the music, the positive sentiments continued.
“With the first camp, you’re meeting everybody, it’s kind of awkward and you’re trying to make friends,” Enns recounted. “The first camp was kind of a starter, then you get to your second camp and you know everyone a bit more. You get to know the conductors and you’re more familiar with the songs so you begin to like the songs more. Then, during the tour, it’s amazing.”
Chapman expressed his thoughts of the camps as well, saying, “I loved it. Just as a whole, there was never a moment where I felt upset, unless I was thinking about it being over. It was always a positive feeling.”
The seven high school students from Neepawa who were a part of the 2016 Westman Youth Choir. Left to right: Logan Enns, Graeme Chapman, Jody Pottinger, Jayden Lowe, Jamie Pottinger, Ray Andi Marcel Ignacio, Christopher Eu.
As for the ‘seniors’ of the group, the Pottingers both felt that this year was different than the others and a little easier. Jamie remarked, “It was my third year, so it was just different. I knew what was happening, I had more of an idea what was going on.” Regardless of how many years they had been there, the students all shared an extremely positive feeling towards their time at WMYC. But what were their favourite parts?
“Meeting all the people, infinitely,” answered Christopher Eu. Sharing in that same sentiment, Lowe replied, “The tour and the friendships I made. It’s a different kind of friendship, because when you sing with people you form a different kind of bond than [with] people you’ve just met.” Chapman narrowed in his answer and shared a story of some of the hijinks that happen when you gather 54 teens in one place. “My favourite part was running around with the guys in t-shirt made ninja masks at [midnight] pulling pranks on the girls. That was the bomb,” he shared.
For Ignacio, the best part of the camps was performing live. He remarked that, “Seeing smiles on people while we sing, while we perform, is a very, very nice feeling for me, because I was able to brighten up their day.”
While the students shared opinions on many of the different facets of camp, what song was their favourite depended completely on who you asked.
“There was a song called Love. It was very emotional for me… I cried a couple times while I was singing it,” answered Lowe. For Enns, the more upbeat songs tickled his fancy. “I really liked Dubula; the actions that go with it and the beginning of the song, when it’s just the guys going at it,” he expressed.
Eu’s favourite song is another more meaningful song, called Unclouded Day. Talking about it, he said, “Unclouded Day was my personal favourite. It tells of the paradise that everybody wants. There’s this place and you never see it, but you’re constantly hearing about it. [For me], that’s Westman.”
As a final question, the students were asked if they had anything else they wanted to share about WMYC. Across the board, they had one thing to say. If you can, audition for it. “If you have the opportunity to try it, you definitely should,” stressed Enns. “I wasn’t sure if I should do it at first, but then after I auditioned and went into it, I’m really glad I did do it,” he added.
Lowe shared the opinion, saying, “When I auditioned, I didn’t think I would get in, I was just doing it for the experience of auditioning. Getting in, it was a life changing experience.” Finally, Chapman gave this piece of advice to anyone who’s interested, “Try out and if you don’t make it, try, try, try again, because it’s definitely worth it.”
