All welcome to sing: How a new choir has been 'life-changing'

Earlier this month,a children'sensemble sangtwo songs and then hopped, jiggled, skippedand danced their way off the Arts and Culture Centre stage. The audience lept to its feet, knowing ithad just witnessed something powerful.

It was the emotional debut ofLauda, the newest ensemble working with the acclaimed Shallaway Youth Choir, and one that marks a profound way of bringing performers to the stage who have never before had the chance to sing with others.

"Over the last few years, there have been kids auditioning forShallawaywho were phenomenal musicians," saidKellieWalsh, the artistic director of theShallawaychoirs, "but it was obvious they would have a really difficult time in what we would call a normal choir setting two or three hours of rehearsal without too many breaks and being able to stand up perfectlystraight."

The Laudaensemble is about neurodiversity;it includes seasoned Shallaway singers as well as other young performers who may be on the autism spectrum or may struggle with standing still, or arehypersensitive to sounds, orfind communication challenging.

The inspiration for Lauda the word is a Renaissance term, describing the sound of one voice singing came to Walsh through one particular boywho auditioned and was accepted to Shallaway, but who could not handle the structured environment of rehearsals.

Taking a chance

Walsh, who sought funding from the Bruneau Centre for Choral Excellence to start Lauda, said a team came together over a 10-week period for what turned out to be a powerful experience.

I hadthe most amazing experience of my lifeI can't even explain how happy I am to be part of this experience.- Student Amanda Davis

"We have an incredible team of people working towards this," she said, adding that no one knew at the start whether the new singers would be ready or want to perform on stage.

"There's myself, three music therapists, a developmentalpediatrician, teachers and a music researcher who are working with these kids, and a lot of families who know their kids really well," she said.

"We just took it a week at a time and said, 'If you want to sing in the concert you can.' And they said, 'Absolutely we want to sing in our concert.'"

Amanda Davis, a Grade 10 student and Shallaway singer who aspires to be a pediatrician, volunteered to sing in Lauda and hopes other choirs will be inspired by the concept.

"I had the most amazing experience of my life," she said.

"I hope that different provinces will recognize this and do the same thing. I think every one changed and felt so much better," she said."I can't even explain how happy I am to be part of this experience."

A chance to share the stage together

Charlotte Pinhorn lives for music and wants to be a pop star. Until now, she's had to sit in the audience and watch her big sister Sophie sing with Shallaway.

Their mom, Lisa, is thrilled thatthey can share the stage inLauda.

"It's going to be life-changing for her. And she is proud of herself, she's in her element," she said.

Jen Adams, whose son Jimmy is an enthusiasticLaudasinger, calls the choir "a collective sense-makingexercise."

"I realized that every word that Ihad had a judgment attached to it, and so our hopes with the existingShallawaychoristers and with some of theneuroatypicalkids is that together they would learn from each other," Adams said.

"That reciprocal learning was our biggest hope for the whole endeavour."

'More successful than anyone could've imagined'

Adams said the parents of neurotypicalkids need Lauda as much as their children do.

These kids have been undervalued in their schools and their communities.- Parent Jen Adams

"These kids have been undervalued in their schools and their communities. They're loved by their families and friends, but it's hard for them to make and keep friends and there's sometimes a strangeness about them that kids don't understand," she said.

"The parents need to see kids who think our kids are as important and equal as we think they are."

The 10-week experiment is officially overbutparents, singers and Kellie Walsh all hope Laudawill becomea full time ensemble.

"It was more successful than anyone could've imagined," Walsh said.

"It's exceptional what these kids can do when we give them a chance. I can't imagine it being a more positive experience. It's opened my mind to looking at every child as differently abled and the idea of teaching kids to their strengths."