I held a Pop-Up Choir to honour the Puntledge River at Puntledge Park in Courtenay on August 16th, 2024. I advertised the event on Facebook and about 35 people, from kids to seniors, turned up for the drop-in event. I taught 3 different river themed songs to the group. Two of those were written by Canadian female singer-songwriters, Coco Love Alcorn and Jenny Lester, and the 3rd was written by American, Moir Smiley. The choruses were taught in 3 part harmony and we sang together for about 75 minutes.
People told me that they really enjoyed the experience and felt more connected to their own voices, to each other, and to nature afterward. Those were my goals, so I feel proud about accomplishing them. The only challenge I’d say I faced was overcoming my personal response to a comment on a public page on Facebook where I’d posted the event. Someone commented that they thought that singing for the river was the “most stupidest thing (they’d) ever heard,” but of course, that was just one person who obviously doesn’t understand how community and connection can be forged. I had to restrain myself from getting involved in a pointless debate on social media, haha.
We were lucky in that the weather was excellent. The park was busy with kids in the playground, swimmers in the water, and people having picnics on the lawn. We attracted some listeners and some passerby singers who hadn’t known about the event previously. The joy was palpable and I had several requests to make it an annual event.
Thank you so much to the Comox Valley Community Foundation and Neighbourhood Small Grants for making this lovely community opportunity accessible and available to all.
