Harmonizing Community with Lester Be Music
by Dan Mullins
The Lester Be Music community choir begins warming up at 7:30 on Thursdays. It is a welcoming group that brings together Lester B. Pearson employees, retirees, and anyone who enjoys singing, and it perfectly reflects the philosophy of its seasoned choral director, John Le Blanc.
Ken Elliott, former director of the Educational Services Department and Lester Be Music veteran, says, “John, our expert choirmaster, keeps us singing and laughing and hasn’t ever said a negative critical word to us. He makes Thursday evenings pure pleasure for us all.”
For Le Blanc, making live music in and with the community has been a focus and a defining feature of his musical career. “It’s bringing music to people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as musicians,” he explains. “You can watch the NHL, but that doesn’t stop people from playing street hockey.” But sometimes, he continues, “we feel like there’s this stigma around music where you’ve either got to know how you do it or you can’t.”
Offering a repertoire that ranges from classical to jazz, pop, rock and world music, one of the choir’s strengths is its commitment to inclusivity and music education. Le Blanc has created an environment where learning and participation are prized. “It’s as much about the process of learning as it is the performance at the end,” he notes, underscoring the educational and community-building aspects of the choir’s gatherings, continuing:
“It’s not about auditioning. The only thing I need you to come with is your willingness and your voice to sing, and we’ll grow everything else. It’s very gratifying for me every year when I see the faces of people who start singing in harmony for the first time and have never done that before.”
Lester Be Music was founded in 2008 by Le Blanc, who by day is a pedagogical consultant in the Educational Services Department, and then-Director of Community Services Pat Deans (now retired). The group experienced a surge in membership immediately prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, but its arrival brought silence as rehearsals were stopped. “Come March, singing was the most dangerous thing you could do,” observed Le Blanc.
After three years, all concerned felt comfortable getting back together with the appropriate precautions in place. “I was afraid that we would have lost momentum,” said Le Blanc, though that turned out not to be the case at all. “The energy feels just the way it did before the pandemic. We got this huge influx, and now we’re between 50 and 60 members. People missed this type of activity so much.”
“This is a well-oiled machine right now. From January to June, we end up with four or five pieces acapella, usually three-part harmonies, sometimes four parts.” However, as with the education sector in general, there is a high ratio of women to men, so it can be challenging to have both a bass and tenor section.
So, if you’re free on Thursday evenings, why not come and enjoy contributing your voice to the beautiful sound of a four-part harmony? Especially, but certainly not exclusively, if you can contribute to one of the lower two parts!
You’ll be happy you did.
Lester Be Music rehearsals are held from 7:30 to 9:00 in the Dorval Elementary gymnasium from about the third week of January to the first week of June ending in a private concert and social with family and friends.
Contact jleblanc03@lbpsb.qc.ca for information.
One Response
I just love to be part of these special evenings! Nothing but positive impulses: smiles, helpfulness, patience , encouragement and an understanding! All this while learning easily and without any stress with a Maestro…Thanks so much John!