The After Hours Choir from Chateauguay Valley Regional High School (CVR) enjoyed a day filled with song and community service in Montreal on November 7.
The students started their day at Hotel Bonaventure where they performed several sets as part of the Spotlight on the Arts event, which took place during the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT) annual teachers’ convention. The choir has been performing as part of this conference since 2018, and this year’s group did not disappoint.
“Our kids were such great student ambassadors,” said CVR’s music specialist, Lynn Harper, who also serves as an art consultant for the Directors of English Education Network (DEEN), which hosts the spotlight event. “Musically they’re just so strong,” she added of the 42 students who expertly performed a repertoire of 21 songs they have been practicing since September.
Following their performance at the convention, the choir made their way across the city towards the Montreal Children’s Hospital, with a quick stop to marvel at the acoustics during a spontaneous performance at the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.
The choir then took part in a special donation ceremony in the P.K. Subban Atrium at the hospital, where they joined members of the Starfleet International/USS Renaissance to present a cheque for $1,720 to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Harper leads the Star Trek group, which raises funds for the hospital during Montreal’s Comiccon.
The choir, dressed in Star Trek uniforms, then performed a 45-minute set that filled the atrium with beautiful music, before presenting an additional $200 donation to the foundation.
“They were tired by the end, but they did very well. I was so proud of them because they were just so good,” said Harper, while noting how many families in the atrium reacted emotionally to the choir. “It is important for students to understand that when you touch people, you touch them at the heart,” she added.
The After Hours Choir has now turned to its holiday repertoire, with four performances planned between now and the Christmas break.