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We celebrated the Tenebrae liturgy on March 29 and our choir singers sang a total of 11 works in the program. This includes the hymns which the congregation sang along with us.
Mozart's 'Lacrimosa' from his 'Requiem' is forcing us to improve on every level, - as he is calling us to simultaneously perform a complex set of operations that call on more aspects of the human being than any other activity that they face in school. Mozart is demanding a whole-hearted attention from the participant; that is, a complete absorption in the moment in which all other thoughts and concerns disappear. So having a student make a consistent effort - and to put everything she/he has into the music has the potential for influencing the kind of people our students will eventually become. In our ever more distracted world, with so many stimuli competing for our attention, the ability to concentrate completely on the present moment, seems to be a very useful commodity. This practice of attending to the present moment with all of one's faculties can bring an experience of wholeness, freedom and accomplishment that is vitally different from the stressed, distracted, multi-tasking state that many of us find ourselves in. Teachers often use the common expression 'pay attention' in the classroom. Mozart is actually saying this for us - and, if we want to sing his music, we should take him at his word. Malcolm V. Edwards
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Malcolm EdwardsMalcolm Edwards was born in Halifax, England and emigrated to Canada in 1967. He is a graduate of Sheffield College of Education (UK), Trinity College of Music, London, the University of Lethbridge, the University of Montana and has done further graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado. He taught music in junior and senior high school for twelve years in southern Alberta before joining the University of Calgary as a Professor of Music Education in 1980. He retired from the university after thirty-one years of service in 2011. In the community he was affiliated with the Youth Singers of Calgary for 21 years directing the Act Three and Senior divisions. In his retirement, he is now employed as an Adjunct Professor of Music at St Mary’s University, as the Artistic Director of the Calgary Men’s Chorus and as the Senior Choir Director at St John’s Choir Schola. He has held leadership positions within the Alberta Choral Federation, the Association of Canadian Choral Communities, served on the Board of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is active as a choral adjudicator and workshop leader in schools and churches. He is the recipient of two awards from the Provincial Federation – one in recognition of advocacy in arts education and the second in recognition of exemplary service to choral music within the Province of Alberta. In 2004 he received recognition from the national body (ACCC) for twenty-five years of service to the Canadian choral community. Archives
March 2026
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