As a way to end another song-filled season on a high note, the Cochrane Cool Choir is planning to sing for a good cause at their “Oh, What a Night” Season End Concert on June 23.
The performance will take place at the All-Saints Anglican Church at 7:30 p.m. In lieu of a fee for entry, donations will be accepted at the door, with proceeds from the concert used to help support the Helping Hands Society.
Director of Cool Choir Cochrane, Lee Ann DeCoteau, said the concert will mark the end of their first season that started back in June of last year.
“So, we will be performing all the music that we have learned and have been singing all year long, and it’s not really a recital, it’s a show,” she said.
In addition to being the director of the Cool Choir in Cochrane, DeCoteau also serves as the director of Men of the Mountains, which is Canmore’s all-male choir. She said they will also be performing as special guests at the All-Saints Anglican Church concert.
“We are going to have a good, full concert,” DeCoteau said. “It’s going to be a two-hour evening with a brief intermission in-between.
“Cool Choir has 15 songs, and Men of the Mountain have about seven.”
When DeCoteau moved to Cochrane three years ago, she said she did not have the chance to dig into the community and launch her musical endeavour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But with the pandemic and its restrictions now in the past, she looks forward to seeing Cochrane’s music-lovers come out for the concert, and ensures that they are in for a good show.
“This is our first big concert since starting in Cochrane a year ago, and it feels amazing,” DeCoteau said. “I’d like to feel that people [will] have a good couple of hours, a good evening of entertainment, that it was worth their while to get out of the house and go see out something that is community-minded and locally-based.”
DeCoteau said the all-Cochrane choir ranges from neighbours to doctors, and even a few local RCMP officers who share the same passion for song, and simply want to celebrate it and share it with the community.
“They’re people in the community and I want our entire community of Cochrane to be able to celebrate their own people in their community,” DeCoteau said. “It’s about people getting out, having fun, and singing.”
With Cool Choir always actively performing in the community, DeCoteau said she plans to continue to grow the musical community in Cochrane. From performing at events, and even flash mobs around town, she said it feels amazing to be able to spread the joy of music.
“That’s what’s important to us,” DeCoteau said. “I think everyone needs a little music in their life, and sometimes people don’t know how to go about getting that.”
Although this concert marks the end of their season, DeCoteau promises the community can expect to hear more from Cochrane Cool Choir in the years to come.
“We’re just getting started, you know,” DeCoteau said. “People need to be ready to hear us popping up even more now, and doing more things in the community.”
