First Friday returns at St. John's Church

The First Friday Soul Singers, a local, non-ecumenical choir of 13 voices who have been practicing and performing together in various iterations for the past few years, have decided it is time to raise their profile and voices in their own community during three upcoming “Soul Revivals” to take place on the first Fridays of October, November and December at St. John’s United Church.

The group, which includes Lisa Watson, Juliette Reynolds, Laura Wark, Alta Wilber, Julie Mae Nemeth, Amy Ouchterlony, Laura Walton, Joanna Mackie, Norm Login, Robert Lang, Graham Corbett and Russell Jones under the guidance of Rev. Candice Bist and her musician husband Bruce Ley, had their debut in 2008 during the original First Friday celebration at Knox Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. Due to popular demand, for both their music and for the reflective tone of the First Friday evening, designed as a “joyful celebration of the many gifts we have in life, regardless of our particular circumstances,” the choir is finally heeding the call for another local performance.

“We’ve been involved in two major concerts in Orangeville in the past few years, and many times people have asked me when we were going to sing in Creemore,” said Laura Walton. “As one individual put it, ‘we know you have a great time singing together, but it’s time to share that energy with the rest of us.’ And that person is right – we need to share what we have with the larger community.”

For each of the three concerts, the choir will be sharing popular soul and rhythm and blues tunes and original songs written by the choir’s directors, as well as a little taste of the personal satisfaction they get from their time gathering for practice on Monday nights.

“My hope is that the First Friday concerts will replicate our Monday night experience on a larger scale, as we all come together for music, food and community,” said Walton.