“My grandmother used to say: ‘When you sing, you can’t be sad. »
This is the first time that Brigitte has taken part in Chœur d’un soir. Unlike me, she doesn’t seem nervous. Even she is in a hurry: “Singing in a group is therapeutic! »
I don’t know. If I love screaming in the car or in the shower, I doubt that anyone will be able to find my false therapeutic notes. I find myself in spite of everything in the La Casona performance hall, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, ready to start…
Hundreds of people also answered the call. In the next two hours, we’ll sing in harmony My blues could pass in the door of Offenbach and Modern Love by David Bowie. No need to know how to read music or be on the note. Everyone is welcome.
It’s the 14e edition of the almost monthly event organized by Chœur de loups, the choir founded by Marie-Josée Forest and Jean-François Fortier.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Marie-Josée Forest, co-founder of the choir Chœur de loups
Marie-Josée had been a graphic designer for 25 years and wanted to reinvent herself. When her acupuncturist advised her to sing to promote lung health, she joined a choir. She quickly realized that what she really wanted to do was lead one…
“I wondered how my choir could be different from the others, Marie-Josée explains to me, while Jean-François tunes his guitar. As my great pleasure is to sing in harmony, we invited some friends to do so with songs from the 1980s. Hence the name Chœur de loups. »
In two hours, Marie-Josée Forest was able to teach her guests how to sing two songs, using simple hand gestures. Proud of this success, in September 2018, she began to lead her own choir.
Since then, a hundred people aged 20 to 70 meet every week without auditions, scores or end-of-session shows.
Who am I to tell you if you sing well or not? Everyone has the right to sing and see what it feels like!
Marie-Josée Forest, co-founder of the choir Chœur de loups
Exactly, what does it do? It requires the present moment, according to her. When you concentrate to learn a harmony, you don’t have time to think about anything else. Then, once the concepts are integrated, we relax.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Participants in the Choeur d’un soir event
So that everyone can experience this feeling, the duo launched the Chœur d’un soir events, open to the general public: “We’re not perfect, but it gives very good results,” says Marie-Josée.
I am the one who will come to destroy everything. Jean-François Fortier joins us just in time to reassure me: “What is singing badly? We are often harsh on ourselves. »
I insist: I am false.
“Maybe you’re doing a harmony and you don’t know it!” », tempts Marie-Josée with a lot of generosity.
I let them go before I seem too pitiful and I take this opportunity to survey the participants gathered around the bar. (Here, we sing with a drink in hand, if we wish.)
I discover that the choir has generated several friendships. Marie-Christine Létourneau, a regular, gave me the title of this column: “What is beautiful, beyond the music, is the human side. It’s more than a choir. »
A woman named Annie Quintin offers me some comfort: “When you sing with other people, you seem to sing better. You will notice that there is a lack of men, for example. Especially singles. With a beard. »
As I try to assess the male-to-female ratio among the participants, I spot a cartoonist. Michel Rabagliati has 19 years of experience in choral singing and he admires the technique used by Marie-Josée Forest: “It’s easy to follow her and you can see the cake rising from minute to minute… It’s disgusting! »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The choir has spawned many friendships.
According to him, Chœur d’un soir is the kind of event that can reconcile us with music.
There are so many people who have been kicked out of the choir, at school, and who no longer want to sing! It’s terrible, doing that to a child. The voice is personal. It comes from the heart. You can come here for healing…
Michel Rabagliati, cartoonist
Marie-Josée and Jean-François now invite us to approach the stage. Annie Quintin spots me as I hide behind the crowd. If I want to report the experience rigorously, I have to post myself in the center of the group, frankly! At the same time, a man guessing my embarrassment says to me: “If you are here, you have to sing. You don’t whisper, YOU SING! »
I walk forward, promising myself not to slip away.
After a few breathing exercises, we instinctively intone My blues could pass in the door. Marie-Josée invites people comfortable with the melody to stay in front of her. They will be the violas. It then offers us a first harmony. If you prefer to sing like that, you can go to his left and be part of the bass. Then, she makes us discover a second of it and summons the singers who wish to move to her right to be sopranos.
I choose the bass.
Verse by verse, Marie-Josée shows us how to deliver the melody and the different harmonies. When singing along, she uses her hands to guide each clan.
I notice that I mutter, for fear of ruining the work of the group. I immediately think of the man I met earlier and I SING.
When I stop listening to myself to immerse myself in the sounds emitted in chorus, I am blown away by the beauty of what I hear. We lean on each other, we put modesty aside to make our voices heard. Whoever she is.
I’m not in the car or in the shower, but I smile, shouting at myself. A freedom that I wish you to taste.