Trinity Newmarket Singers

 New poster: Get Comfortable With Singing

I saw this post on Facebook and thought about it quite a bit.  It says "Singing is a miracle. It has been called the most complex coordinative act that a human being is ever called upon to perform" , and it's signed Dan Marek.   At first, it felt good, but then it didn't. Singing is a miracle. Yes! But, singing maybe should be no big deal. Everyone can sing. Babies sing before they can talk, and little ones can even sing a melody perfectly when you sing it in a different key and when you change keys. There are lots of examples of singing being something like walking, a thing that we can all do. It's a miracle like walking is a miracle then.  Check out the Wikipedia page on Singing.  There's so much information about formal singing and pedagogy. This is something that irks me, the idea that singing is something that requires instruction, and the focus is on the singer as a professional, performing for the enjoyment of spectators. (The article is also Eurocentr...

I'm planning to go to the first of the summer concerts at Riverwalk Commons in Newmarket on Thursday nights. There is a tribute band doing Elton John and Billy Joel songs. Lots of songs I can sing along with ;-) I hope to find some of my singing friends there.  There's also a concert in Aurora tomorrow, Wednesday evening. It's a good one: The Beresfords. They did an amazing Taylor Swift concert a couple years ago that had all the little girls believing the singer was TS herself. I'm not planning to go, but I could probably be talked into it... I've listed all the Aurora and Newmarket free concerts in my York Region Community Choir Calendar. Here's a link: YRCC Calendar Link I just saw on Facebook that there are concerts on Tuesday nights in East Gwillimbury and they have a market too, from 4-9. The Civic Centre is on Leslie at Mt. Albert Road (and south of Mt. Albert/Farr if you're coming from the west). The band tonight looks really good. I'm having a s...

There will be music; there will be dancing, and joy, and excitement, and pride.  Saturday, June 13th is the York Pride Festival, and the highlight is the Pride Parade which passes by our church on Main Street.  Sunday, June 14th will be our Affirming Anniversary Service, led by the Affirming and Inclusivity Team, of which I am Chair.  Trinity’s Pride Parade Participation 2026          The parade is scheduled to start at 4:00pm and end around 5:30pm. Marchers assemble starting at 3:00. Hospitality table is to be set up around 2:00, and tear-down is at 6:00. Thousands of people (25,000 estimated) will be in Newmarket for the Pride Festival, and they will pass by our church on Main Street. Every year we have been a welcoming presence on our lawn. I'm so proud of my church! Let’s show them that we are a welcoming Affirming church! And, it’s a prime location for watching the parade. Come join us! Please come and see me (Renate) a...

 

A lovely afternoon in lovely company ending a lovely season of singing together! It was so nice that the air conditioning was good and strong. I had prepared a no-bake treat, date brownies. They're made of dates blended with peanut butter and cocoa, a little flour and cinnamon and then pressed into a muffin cup, then topped with melted dark chocolate with a little butter. Frozen briefly and kept cold in the refrigerator. Yum! Little clementine oranges, nice and cool were also perfect for a hot afternoon.  Summer is coming and it's already hot outside, time for pools and cottages and slow afternoons on the porch or deck. Summer activities often feel like an escape, a vacation even for a few hours. Love was a good theme for our last time together for the season. One of the themes of love songs that we encountered in the past and noticed again today was that the world sometimes disappears when you're with your lover. Just being together can be an escape. Love can take you away...

My second week on a Sailing and Flying theme was a little different from last week, but a few of the songs were the same (since it was a different group) and some of the themes we explored were the same.  We talked about the feeling of freedom that flying and sailing, and even swimming give us. There's something special about being surrounded by air or water instead of being on land, and even when there are other people there, it feels more private or personal. You can be introspective when you're in a ship or an "airship". It's a vacation, when you're not at home on the ground. The theme of flying and sailing as an escape came up, and that home and love were to be found on the ground. Also, dreams and fantasy live "up there" or "out there" and not here on the ground. We also reminisced about dancing, and wished that we had more opportunities to dance.   We had an interesting cake experience. I bought a cake at Dollarama to try (really!) an...

It was a lovely afternoon in lovely company! With only 2 of us there, we did a lot of talking, and even looked at my vacation photos on the big screen. We nibbled on carrot and cucumber sticks, and left the banana muffins for my family to enjoy. We noted that veggies are so much more delicious when somebody else peels and cuts them, something I'm happy to do. Fruit is kind of the same. Sections of oranges, slices of apples, balls of cantelope to pop in your mouth, all better because they come with care.  Our theme was Flying and Sailing , and we both had good memories to share, and reminisced about all kinds of things that the songs inspired, including slow dancing.  There is a feeling of freedom, of being carefree, when you're moving over a body of water with wind and waves and lots of sky above. It's a weird and wonderful privilege to be on a sailboat, or a tour boat like I was on recently. Flying in an airplane too is really extraordinary and astonishing when you think a...

Here are some of the photos I took on Thursday, Moose Hide Campaign Day. I especially wanted to include the image of the diagram presented by the speaker in the Cultivating Safe Spaces workshop. It was a very interesting and useful talk. It reminded me of the saying "Be the change you wish to see in the world". At the centre of, the core of a safe space is your understanding of your self. Your emotional regulation and understanding of your perspective and of other people's emotional states and their different perspectives will help to keep spaces safe- and, you need to be aware that safety is not without discomfort.     I also wanted to add the photo of the Indigenous singer from Thunder Bay. Her name is Natasha Fisher and I think she's excellent and will be listening to more of her music. Here is a bit of her performance on Facebook .  And here is my shot of her on Thursday  Natasha Fisher    

Our regular Sing-along Café was incoporated into the Moose Hide Campaign Day event today.  From 2-3 we had a sing-along time. It wasn't easy to find songs that people could sing along with, songs that we might know. There is a lot of music being made, but we don't get to hear it much. I found a few things that we knew, and included a couple songs from my diversity/equality and resistance/revolution- themed playlists. I'll list them below with comments. The Moose Hide Campaign Day of Ceremony was an all-day remote-live-streamed and in-person event all across Canada. Many events like ours were held and included walking, fasting, demonstrating, and also just watching. This was the first time it was centred in Toronto. It started with a sunrise ceremony and ended with a sunset fast-breaking ceremony. Those were in Atlantic time, so, very early for us: 4 am for the start and 6/7:00 end in Eastern time.  Although I registered for the whole day, I only started my participation at ...

Please come and join me in the Fellowship Room on Thursday, May 14th from 11:30 to 5:30.  If you didn't get your moose hide pin on Sunday, I have lots left. I think we might do this again next year, so I'll save the leftovers.  The event goes from 4 am to 6:30 pm, but we're only doing part of it together. The rest is optional and up to you. Registration is free, and I recommend you register yourself so you can access the other parts from home. Here's a link to the MHC website.  There's a Register Now button on the home page. Agenda for May 14 th Moose Hide Campaign Day 11:30 Gather in Trinity’s Fellowship Room 12:00 Toronto Rally Live Stream 1:30-2:00 relax, debrief Conversation 2:00 Sing-along café: Indigenous Theme (Singing Includes  café  regulars) 2:55-3:55  Dialogue Workshop with handouts 4:00 Safe Spaces Workshop Livestream 5:30 end: Go home in time to end fast at 6:00 with national ceremony 

 

The Moose Hide Campaign is an Indigenous-led grassroots movement that invites all Canadians to take a stand against gender-based violence by honouring, protecting, and supporting women, children, and all those along the gender continuum. Rooted in ceremony, respect, and accountability, the Campaign centres the moose hide pin as a symbol of personal commitment and a catalyst for meaningful conversations. Join Renate and members of Trinity’s Affirming & Inclusivity Team on Thursday, May 14 th   from 12:00 noon to 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Room.     We will watch the Rally in Toronto from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm.  At 2:00, there will be singing.  Renate is registered in a workshop called Cultivating Safe Spaces at 4:00 so that's what we'll be watching until 5:30.  Then we can go home to catch the breaking of the fast ceremony at 6:30. Some of us will be fasting, but light snacks will be available. Events happen throughout the day, starting at 4:00 am a...

We celebrated two birthdays and talked about age a little bit before we started our theme of Dreams and Wishes. Sometimes we feel like a big number is scary, shocking, or even embarrassing. The extra attention is uncomfortable. But, it’s such a good thing for your friends and family to celebrate you, your existence, your presence as you ‘level up’.  Last week we were talking about how people ‘our age’ are getting sick and dying. My wish for the birthday girls is that you continue to enjoy relatively good health and the loving attention of your family and friends for many years, looking forward to the next big milestone birthday celebration, and hopefully lots off little celebrations in-between. Just like our other themes, this one is represented in songs that focus on a moment with one person, a lover or spouse, and songs that include the world, and eternity. A dream for peace and a dream for the return of a lover can both be impassioned and moving. We were moved.  We nibbled...

Earth Day was yesterday but we had another special Earth Day today singing songs on my Earth and Peace playlist. We added a few new ones, as we often do, following our hearts and inspirations in the moment. I love how we are all generous and flexible and willing to step off a path like that.  I’m glad we all love John Denver’s music. So many of his songs are tributes to nature! Listening to Annie’s Song, one can’t miss the fact that he’s measuring romantic love against the wonder and beauty of nature. We discovered a couple of his songs we hadn’t heard before, and they’re so good that they quickly became singable (sing-alongable?). Ian missed last week, so we had to do Calypso again, and we were happy to oblige. I especially love those la-las (yodels?).  We didn't want to feel despair with our Earth and Peace theme. It's easy to fall into despair on this theme. I had hoped some protest songs might help us to feel powerful and hopeful. But, I couldn't introduce my Songs of R...

Boy, did we go off theme today! We were talking about all kinds of things, including Canadian things like Mark Carney, Heated Rivalry, Wab Kinew, hockey, diversity, and painted ponies. We talked about people our ages (not old) dying, and how that makes us feel. We need to live well while we can, make a difference where we can. We worried about how it’s sometimes hard to separate art from the artist. We don’t want to support horrible people, but flawed people can create wonderful things.  We saw pieces of our conversations in all of  the songs, and it was, as always surprising and interesting. It was a lovely afternoon, spent in lovely company. My recipe for apple cake converted to muffins very nicely. As is often the case lately, we talked and sang so much that we didn't have time to do a lot of nibbling. My family will benefit from the leftover apple muffins.   Our Earth and Peace theme developed into a life cycle theme, so I guess we were more focused on the peopl...

Sunday, April 19th, 2026 at 3:00pm in the Sanctuary of Trinity United Church, Newmarket. Child prodigy Angel Heung, our music director's daughter will delight us with her extraordinary piano virtuosity. And, this time, she's got a guest from Boston, another young pianist, also a winner of several international piano competitions. Here's the poster for next week's fundraising concert. It's not easy to read in this format.  Tickets are $25 (kids under 12 free). All proceeds will go to Trinity. Tickets can be found online at Eventbrite (enter Trinity in the search bar, and you'll find it) but you can also pay at the door.  You will be amazed at the talent, the skills, the stunning virtuosity of these young pianists!   There will be special moments when 8 hands will play on our piano together. (I'm curious to see who the other two people will be. Maybe Kevin and Joanna?) There will be a reception following the concert, and I'm baking something (apple Streus...

Spring is wild and wonderful. It was one of those days yesterday when rain was forecast, and it was cold in the morning, cold and grey. I had my umbrella but left it in the car. I regretted it, saying that it would for sure rain now, my fault! The rain didn’t come, but the sun came out strong instead! We laughed on arrival and laughed as we left. Spring weather here is something about "our home town" that we can bond over; it builds community, like a quirky aunt. When I got home, I had the most amazing afternoon sitting on my deck in the sun, listening to more music and just luxuriating in the feel of the sun on my skin. I took my socks off and pulled my leggings up to my knees. I had a mini vacation. It was only 18 degrees Celsius but it felt like summer. It was a very easy transition from a theme of Home and Family to Earth and Peace. Spring awakens us to the beauty of the Earth, the home we share with everyone everywhere. I’ve been following the news from the astronauts of...

Our spring thoughts went swiftly to thoughts of home, gathering at home for the holidays, and going home. But, we went pretty deep into what home is and where home is. Family, and more specifically for most of us, mother makes home. The Beatles had us thinking about how family isn't always a warm embrace for everyone. People can feel lonely at home when they they don't meet expectations, their authentic selves are not acceptable. This is a big theme in my work on inclusivity in the church. And, we also talked about the landscape of Ontario feeling like home, or how some specific "country roads" will take you home. We marvelled at how songs can mean different things at different times, how we hear different things, and how talking about them makes them so much more meaningful. This is something I remember discussing at my old Book Club, about reading. I wonder if you've had that experience too, a book club. Singing together and then puzzling over the messages and t...