Testimonials

Here's what our singers have to say about being a member of the SFU Choir:

The decision to join the SFU Choir was the best thing I could have done for my first semester at SFU! I have made such great friends and had such an amazing time working on super cool pieces of music. If you like Awesome people and Awesome music then the SFU Choir is the place for you! PS. Mel, our Choir Director, is totally WIN!

--Kieren Grant, Alto

I've never been in a choir before, but enjoy singing, so I figured I'd try the SFU Choir out after seeing their table at Club Days. They seemed insane. They seemed geeky. Turns out they are what they seemed! And it's awesome. The choir has been the best experience I've had at SFU so far.

Melissa, the choir director, directs with a whole lot of humour - come to sing, or come for your comedy fix. Come for the Monty Python shirts and Doctor Who in-jokes. But also come for the genuinely beautiful music. Whether a 'silly' piece like Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, or a serious piece like John Rutter's Requiem, you are amazed at how amazing you can sound! No auditions are required, hallelujah, but nonetheless, dang do we end up sounding great.

Exciting music, ridiculously funny occurrences, learning how to sing, and a fantastic group of people. SFU Choir has become one of my absolute favourite things, and something I am so, so glad I've become part of.

-- Sarah Stanley, Soprano

I first heard about the SFU Choir from a friend who was in the Spring 2010 concert, where Doctor Horrible was the main piece. Immediately after the concert, I knew, as a geek myself, that I had to join this geeky choir! I joined the following semester, and have never had this much fun singing before.

The choir members are friendly and funny, but serious when it comes to making good music. The choir is also not afraid to pick challenging but beautiful pieces to sing. I look forward to every Thursday night rehearsal and hope to sing with this choir for many years!

-- Kristen Soo, Alto

To join the SFU Choir you have to: A. love music, and B. be prepared to be part of a diverse group of dedicated, life-loving and sometimes nerdy people. They don’t say “serious singing, socially…awkward…” I mean…”awesome,” for nothing.

I joined the SFU choir in the fall of 2011. I could never have imagined myself joining a university choir. I mean sure, I sang, in my room with the speakers blasting some of my favourite artists, or at karaoke or on a road trip with friends, but not serious singing. In part this could have been due to my limited experience in a choir whose members would consider taking themselves seriously. My previous choir experiences consisted of elementary school choirs which weren’t demanding on kids, and my two years of high school choir which I was serious about, but which was full of kids who took it as an easy A and treated it like a “bird” course, rendering my efforts fruitless. On the other extreme were the auditioned community choirs with stuffy conductors who rarely smiled, and who couldn’t possibly understand how students could have any other commitments in life but their choir. Definitely not the choir for me. Before joining the SFU choir I was indifferent towards choirs, preferring to dedicate myself to playing flute and piano. So what would ever prompt me to join a university choir?

Fall 2011 was my first semester at SFU, but I already had a degree under my belt so this wasn’t my first university experience. It was, however, my first time away from my established group of friends on Vancouver Island. I knew that the best way to meet new people was to become involved in something musical, which for me meant a campus or community band. Since I didn’t know the area well I preferred to remain on campus, but couldn’t find anything about a campus band in my search. In my second week on campus I met someone who was in the SFU choir and spoke highly of it. It was full of young people, which is unusual for most community based groups. Not only that, but the choir was non-auditioned (apart from your placement test to determine where you fit vocally), and the majority of people weren’t pursuing music as a major, instead singing as a hobby, which is how I saw myself. Seeing potential for making some new friends, I took the risk and joined, which exceeded all my expectations. Over 80% of my friends since coming to Burnaby I made as a result of being part of the SFU choir. In fall 2011 the choir performed a large classical work mainly in Latin, which I thought was only reserved for auditioned choirs, and was something I thought I could never do. The choir doesn’t only sing classical works. Previous semesters have included interpretations of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, a selection from Harry Potter, and inclusion of songs from the wildly creative Jonathan Coulton. With Director Melissa Ratcliff waving the magic wand, you never know what musical journey you will be on next.

Being a part of the SFU choir has not only been the highlight of my week, but I have started to really enjoy singing and have become a stronger instrumentalist as well.

If you love music, want to meet new friends and have some fun, then the SFU choir is for you!

-- Patricia Elgersma, Alto