Dunno About This Toronto Mass Choir for Field Trip on Dec. 20

I know many of you were interested in going back to the Roy Thomson Hall for their next free concert, with the Toronto Mass Choir.

So I thought we'd better preview their singing:



Take a look and let me know if you're still keen on going there. We do have alternatives for winter destinations. These include:

- Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre (I've taken a LINC class there before)

- Honest Ed's shopping centre and Koreatown



I believe our school may be planning a trip to the Ontario Science Centre on top of these.

And please click the Comment option to give me your feedback! Thanks!

All over the shop today

Today we started with marshmallows (a fake Marshmallow Test, haha), and then progressed to our weekly theme of Online Shopping with a look at Toys 'R' Us and Amazon.com calling it quits over Toysrus.com, where we got bogged down with the article till lunch.

Now, after lunch, having enjoyed Andreea's wonderful snow pictures, we're listening to a podcast on online shopping, getting hooked up on Google's Collaborative Calendar (what a pain!!), and trying to get ourselves on Facebook, which is quite the Canadian thing to do!

And Rafia gets her special lesson on resume creation, and Azad and Rafia get their own blogs--hey, send me the links quick, willya?

Good to see Nadia, too.

Class Collaborative Calendar

Here's YOUR Calendar on Google:



To get there, here's the LINK.

Feel free to fill in the blanks!

Field Trip to Downtown & Roy Thomson Hall

Six of us, Steven, Janet, Jenny, Hossein, Tao, and I started off from Sheppard and Yonge and got off at King, marching our way west through Toronto's PATH Underground City to the Roy Thomson Hall, where we were joined by Amir.

We got there early and were among the first 50 in line. While waiting to go in, we were chatted up very nicely by a retired nurse and her friend. Too bad, we didn't exchange particulars, but it was a very warm and hospitable touch from a Canadian Canadian!

We finally got our seats, and what a treat awaited. The first item on the program was this:



For those Baroquesquely challenged, it was Alessandro Scarlatti's Exultate Deo--at least that's what the program says, anyway.

And the treat just went on and on:

By Buxtehude, Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, BuxWV62; Toccata in D Minor, BuxWV 155; Befiehl dem Engel dass er komm, BuxWV 10. The Ottawa Bach Choir, conducted by Dr Lisette Canton, made it look easy to produce the voices of angels. Jennifer Loveless on the organ impressed with what hands and feet can do with the largest musical instrument of all, soloing on Buxtehude's Toccata and, later, Bach's Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, BWV 544.

More goodies followed: Jacobus Gallus's Duo Seraphim; Saint-saens' Calme des nuits, Opus 68, No. 1; Eric Whitacre's Lux aurumque; Knut Nystedt's Immortal Bach; and then J.S. Bach himself: his O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118; Prelude and Fugue already mentioned; and Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV 226.

The last one (one youtube version here) was particularly startling, for you'd never guess from its joyful tones that it was composed for the funeral of Bach's pastor in 1729. I guess it simply reflects his theology, that through knowing Christ one has conquered death and can do brilliant work in the most bitter of settings.

I was grateful for the patience of my class, who put up with my hoarse growling and irritating hisses and tsks as I'd lost my voice. Hmm, we'll see about tomorrow's lesson--maybe a movie! :D

Going Places Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's our field trip downtown to the free concert of the Ottawa Bach Choir at the Roy Thomson Hall.

Sure hope they have livelier pieces than this:



According to the program, they're going to sing pieces by "Scarlatti, Buxtehude, Bach, Saint-Saëns, Villette, Whitacre, Nystedt and more."

If you're coming by TTC, be sure to meet us at the Sheppard-Yonge station at 10 a.m. on the southbound platform! Seeya later!

Thanks, Dave!

TESL practicum student David Kloosterman successfully fulfilled his teaching hours today, and we'd like to thank him for teaching us, over these three past Wednesdays, about past modals, letter writing, and Downtown Toronto.

Dave has a couple more weeks to got before graduating from his course at Seneca, and we wish him the very best of success!

A parade I didn't attend

Except via Youtube:


Yeah, right. Merry early Christmas!