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Don't snub this Boys Choir

A writer's reflection of his choirboy past and present struggles to accept the BC Boys Choir
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Yes, the rumours are true: The Britsh Columbia Boys Choir is performing this weekend.

They'll sing holiday songs y'see. Anyone who has any emotional ties to Christmas will enjoy at least two of the songs they will sing. You know that scene in Home Alone when Kevin McAllistar is fleeing the church while the choir flares up in an exquisite version of "O Holy Night"?

Yeah. It'll be like that because there is no greater tearjerker than four-part harmonies executed in perfect pitch. The crescendos swell and crash as all those voices echo and bounce around the venue.

I know what you're thinking. And to be honest, I wasn't entirely keen on writing the story despite the fact that I happened to have been a choirboy at one time.

In my final two years of high school, I sang as part of the St. Patrick's High School concert and chamber choirs. In 1999, our school was the first Canadian school ever to be invited to the prestigious Festival of Gold choral competition in Washington, D.C.

It was a great source of pride for our small inner city Catholic school and earned us profiles in the major daily newspapers. A documentary, Spirit Alive — named after a song Araujo had written and made us sing over and over — was later made about us.

The film focused on our conductor, Tony Araujo, who later won the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence. As an English teacher, he was instrumental in my early development as a writer. As a musical role model, he offered to me a whole new perspective that was desperately needed at a time when I was drowning in pools of nu-metal sludge.

But ten years later, sitting in an editorial staff meeting, I wasn't thinking about any of this. But when my interview with Ghostface Killah fell through, I was faced with a gaping hole in this here music section. So, with my pride withered and prune-ish, I started on this BC Boys Choir story, wondering how I was going to make it interesting...

...only to discover that Araujo, my former choir director, was the artistic director of the very choir I was writing about. Ah! I've lately been nostalgic for the final fleeting years of my teens and so I spent about 20 minutes staring into the effervescent glow of my computer screen, thinking about all the old choir days. Araujo yelling at us, gesticulating wildly, the flaming pits of passion reflected in his eyes, as he demanded perfection from every single one of us.

We'd spend hours at times, repeating over and over the same four bars of music until we had it just right. It was hell sometimes but once concert day came, we knew we'd done well when half the eyeballs in the room were leaking salty fluids.

Late warning: This is not an objective slice of journalism. I can say, with the utmost authority, that if the BC Boys Choir has experienced even a sliver of what we went through a decade ago, they'll be sounding like the angel's army choir by the time they hit Whistler. As far as choral music goes, this could very well blow you away.

I wanted to find out if this were true, of course, so I called Araujo up. Sadly he didn't call me back in time for deadline.

Look, I know some of you are going to be reading this thinking choral music has no relevance to your life — you who are so devoted to the wobbling noise of some pale-faced dubstep DJ. Or perhaps you're of the heavy metal persuasion, listening to nothing beyond the anarchistic thrashings of some lengthy-haired Satanist. Or, maybe you prefer the hippy-dippy ramblings of a lengthy-haired hedonist.

"Well, I think that every single person out there has a Christmas memory that relates to music," says Margot Holmes, executive director of the choir. And it's true: You can't escape Christmas carols, and people who say they hate them are lying to others, lying to themselves, or truly have no heart.

The BC Boys Choir is an auditioned group and only the best are accepted. The choir has swelled from 35 members to 75 in the last two years, which Holmes says is partly in thanks to the popularity of Glee and televised singing competitions.

"Although we don't necessarily sing that type of music, kids need to learn how to sing so a lot of them join and participate. They might do something like Canadian Idol at school, or they might sing like that somewhere else but they certainly learn how to use their voice in our choir," she says.

The popularity of these shows is helping to abolish the stereotype of the "sissy choir boy" — and believe you me, that stereotype exists. The boys in the BBC also play hockey, theyplay soccer, they pick on each other during the lunch break. They're well-rounded people who happen to have a knack for singing and a want to express themselves artistically.

But it's also a social exercise. Holmes says, "Just like any team, you're building camaraderie. You need other people in order to perform," she says, "just like you need the team members on the field, you need the team members on stage."

So, basically choir is like musical basketball. Or musical softball. Or something.

Look, most of you reading this won't end up going to this concert, but I can promise, from personal experience, that it'll be a rewarding experience. The dynamics, depth and emotion that Tony Araujo will tease out of these very dedicated boys will likely have you leaking at the eyeballs.

What better way to spend a Saturday?