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Who are we?
The Victoria Soul Gospel Choir is made up of people of all ages who, for probably as many reasons as there are people in the choir, love to sing Soul Gospel Music.
What is Soul Gospel music?
Soul Gospel is high-energy, clap-your-hands, dance and sing music that has its roots in the early 20th-century Black community of the United States, and even further back to the days of slavery.
It's the music that inspired much of the Motown music (Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Night, and the Supremes).
Are we affiliated with church or religion?
Gospel music is undeniably spiritual, and although much of this
music contains lyrics that refer to Jesus or God, you don't need to believe in a Christian
religion, or any other religion to sing with us.
And you don't need to know how to read music!
Who leads the choir?
Checo Tohomaso, our Choir director, comes from Vancouver every other Tuesday to direct our 2-hour rehearsals.
Checo is a professional musician with many years of experience. He's played professionally with the Commodores and Marvin Gaye and his dynamic energy is infectious.
Click to read more about Checo.
How easy is it to join?
We have no pre-requisites to joining and do not audition new
members. We generally have about 60 people at each rehearsal.
Our choir is managed by a team of volunteers. We offer support for new and
existing members by providing recorded material (full songs,
practice parts) and lyrics in the "members' area" of this
site.
When do we meet?
We meet alternate Tuesdays from 5:45 to 8:00.
Checo, our director, is away and will be returning later this year.
Until his return, we are singing every Tuesday under the direction of Gordon Miller from 5:45 - 8:00. The drop-in fee is $5 and all are welcome.
Where do we meet?
We meet to sing at Selkirk Montessori
School gym, 2970 Jutland Rd. Enter on the far left side of the building as you're facing
it.
View Larger Map
Drop-in fees
Your first rehearsal is free. Thereafter we charge a drop-in fee of $10 for adults and $5 for students and unemployed.
This goes towards covering our costs which are practice hall rental, Checo's ferry trip, his gas, his honorarium, and the cost of hosting our
website. Our costs are more than we collect from drop-in fees -- profits from our concerts help cover the rest.
Come on down!
We'd love to have you join us in song. Before you come down to
our rehearsal space however, check our upcoming practice dates (see
just above the map on this page)... remember, we only
meet every other Tuesday.
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