FAMILIAR FACE.
Leanne Edwards, music teacher at Gravenhurst High School, is returning to the helm of the Elderberries Choir as choir director after a 13-year hiatus.
Photo by Allyson Snelling
GRAVENHURST - A familiar face is returning to the Elderberries Choir.
Starting this month, the Gravenhurst-based choir will welcome back Leanne Edwards as its director.
She is assuming the position vacated by Robert Lawson and will work with pianist Dan McCoy and the 50-member choir.
Edwards was raised by a family of singers, and harmonies and melodies come naturally to her. She teaches music at Gravenhurst High School.
She has a way with getting people to sing.
“It’s the subtle things you can do with your hands,” she said. “It’s also very personality based. You have to be friendly and relaxed, yet professional to make people feel comfortable to sing for you. You have to have a way about yourself that invites people to feel comfortable.”
Edwards has a performance degree in flute from Queen’s University and is no stranger to choral ensembles, which she joined in both high school and university.
Today she continues to build her repertoire as an alto singer with the King Edward Choir in Barrie where her mother and daughter are also choir members.
“It’s good to be in a choir when you’re leading a choir,” she said. “It’s a different experience and it’s great to work with different conductors.”
When she moved to Muskoka from Alliston about 13 years ago, Edwards directed the Elderberries Choir for about four years.
“With choral conducting, I love how the brain is always busy,” said Edwards. “There’s a choir in front of you and you have to keep a steady beat and cue the entries of the singers all at once.”
She is looking forward to returning to the helm and has some big ideas for the future.
“I would love to have a guest choir come in for performances, or travel to sing with another choir,” she said.
Through her connections with GHS, Edwards is hoping to draw more youth to the group.
The Elderberries Choir plans to present some short performances in the upcoming year, as well as the annual Cabaret in early June titled Listen to the Radio - Music from the ’40s and ’50s.
The show will feature well-known pieces including such favourites as Bill Bailey, I’ve Got the World on a String, Blue Skies, Standing on the Corner, Sisters and What I’ll Do, for example.