The Newmarket Keynotes Seniors’ Choir is practicing for its first concert in more than two years.
The group of about 25 singers, aged 60 into their 90s, will be performing at the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place on May 8 at 2 p.m.
Before the pandemic the shows would attract crowds of about 100 people, said choir president Blair Hammond. While he said he expects a smaller turnout this year he thinks it will still be a good time.
“I think we should get a good crowd out because people are eager for live entertainment,” he said.
Hammond has been singing in the choir for around eight years and has been president for the last couple of years.
The choir’s music ranges from classical, contemporary, and what he called old standards. The concert will also include a “novelty piece” that aims to be more fun than musically challenging and invites an opportunity for some audience participation. The novelty piece at this upcoming show features a unique instrument that’s sure to make people smile.
The Keynotes choir is often very lighthearted and a particularly social bunch. In between directing songs member Keith Profit will often share stories and tell jokes, which one singer said was the highlight of practice.
The concert, which falls on Mother’s Day, will be the first since the pandemic started. While the group was unable to rehearse they found a way to stay together when they could in the past two years.
“Last summer and the fall before we sat around the parking lot socially distanced and we sang the usual stuff,” Hammond said.
Finally they were allowed to move back inside the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place a couple of months ago.
“We started rehearsing here as soon as the centre opened up after the COVID testing program wound up here,” he said.
The concert on May 8 is free but a free-will offering will be collected. The choir will be performing a number of tunes and there will also be a guest musician, Harrison Vandikas. The Newmarket student is a talented violinist and pianist.
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