thanksgiving 2011 - how can i keep from singing?

Thanksgiving 2011
this year has held incredible highs and far reaching lows.
It has been a year of living each day .....being fully awake 
for what that day held
both intense joy
and significant pain
but through it all
I have known again the gift of song
Singing connects me with my soul
through all of life's experiences
songs express - and help me to express
my soul, our soul
stories
so I want to give thanks
thanks for the songs
that have come like gifts
floating from heaven
rising from the earth
these songs that I now am able to share with many others
and these songs heal me
heal us
restore us
and remind us of a deeper truth
of the 'song from beyond'


I also want to give thanks for the 
beautiful community that surrounds me
in love
mirroring back to me
truth
love
friendship 
and 
hope
thank you
thank you
thank you


the words of this classic song express my heart this thanksgiving day:


My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?

Oh though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
Oh though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble in their fear
And hear their death knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
How can I keep from singing?

Lord, how can I keep from singing?
Oh, how can I keep from singing?


I will be performing two Love Shines concerts
with Boris Sichon, Kevin Boese & Jonathan VanDyke


Saturday Oct 15, St. John's Anglican Church  Chilliwack
7:30pm  $15 at door
Saturday Oct 22  House of James Abbotsford(with Rebecca Sichon)
7:30pm $15 at door


would love to see you there


Thursday Oct 27/Friday Oct 28 - at Gospel Music Awards of Canada in Calgary

promo vid

Here a video from the Love Shines Release concert.....enjoy!

featuring Boris Sichon, Kevin Boese, Philip Janz, Peter Davyduck, Brian Thiessen, Jonathan VanDyke & Rebecca Sichon

folk festival in mission

when i moved to mission

10 years ago, 

one of the first events I experienced was the 

Folk Festival of Mission

It really is a 'world music festival'

as there are musicians from all corners of the earth

with their beautiful ethnic sounds

it was a magical experience with people of all ages 

dancing under open skies

celebrating life

every year since I've enjoyed this event 

first as an attendee

then as a volunteer

this year for the first time as a performer

I'll be playing at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon if you are able to come!

I'll be singing songs from the Love Shines album 

and some other tunes as well

Boris Sichon will be performing with me as well as Rebecca Sichon.

come and check out a beautiful community event!

Boris Sichon & me at Songs, Strings Steps - Abby Arts Centre May 2011

being a gypsy woman
this week I was able to enter the joy of being a 'gypsy' woman with the
Songs, Strings & Steps Performance (Calvin Dyck & youth orchestra)
I performed 'Secrets' with Kevin Boese,  'Ordinary Miracle' with Rebecca Sichon
and the 'Gypsy Song Medley' with Boris Sichon.
For each of these songs I was able to don a new costume...
the 'urban music chic girl' for Secrets - the 'classy piano player/singer' for Ordinary Miracle
- and the 'wild gypsy' for our Gypsy tunes.
In the weeks leading up to the show I had fun gathering my gypsy costume which included head scarf, two other scarfs, colorful skirt and loads of jewelry including jingly ankle bracelets, huge rings and necklaces.
There was something liberating about putting that costume on - it was simply FUN.
I have heard that to really know ourselves and what our deepest passions are is to follow our bliss - to follow what brings us 'joy'...to pay attention to those moments that are truly FUN and do more of that in our day to day lives.
Learning these folk gypsy songs with Boris has been extremely fun
when you sing a gypsy song - you cannot be contained
you cannot be shy
you cannot be intimidated - you must....
let it OUT
let it SHINE
let it SPARKLE
These songs are emotional, passionate, and full of energy
To sing them well, you've got to tap into your own emotions, passions and energies
The costume kind of goes with it - you don't wear beige if you are a gypsy.
you don't wear stud earings - you were BIG HOOPS.
You wear COLOUR.
You aren't afraid to stand out and let 'er rip
This is liberating
freeing
to express
to be
to shine

maybe there is a true gypsy in me - whatever the case I may just put on that costume a few more times :-)

photo by Jason Brown of Revival Art Studio rastudio.ca

Rebecca
I've shared a bit about Rebecca before... I love this photo of the two of us just before the Love Shines concert.
This precious girl loves singing and I want to encourage this gift in her.  There is something that she experiences when she sings that I identify with - it is a way to express a part of yourself that doesn't come out any other way.  When Rebecca sings, people pause.  She sings from her heart, from her soul.  she sings with a voice that understands that life is complicated but also that life is beautiful.  She sings with emotion and with passion.  When we sing 'Ordinary Miracle' together, there is a tenderness we share as well as a passion from the heart.  Rebecca has a dream to sing for the rest of her life.  I want to be part of making that dream a reality for her.  In the meantime, I will enjoy inviting her to sing with me and she will continue to step out on her own as well.  This week Rebecca, Boris (her dad) and I will be performing in Abbotsford at the Songs, Strings & Steps performance.
I will enjoy every moment of singing with Rebecca again.

Singing with Rebecca; 

Winter is Over

Song Stories #8 for Love Shines

When I was a young girl, I loved to sing. I would often sing alone on Saturday mornings in the parish church that was on the same property as my home.  It was my job to dust the pews and window ledges but instead of working, I most often swirled my dust cloth around and watched the dust particles dance in the sunlight that streamed through the yellow stained glassed windows.   As I danced with the dust particles I sang. Those are some of the most precious moments of my childhood.   My singing was hidden to most, except for my well-intentioned father, the one who heard me in these moments.  He would ask me to be quiet as he prepared his sermon on the other side of the wall in his office.  A child can so easily be overlooked in the area of their greatest longing.  It has been a long journey back to find this girl inside of me, the girl who loved to sing.  She became buried under a lifetime of not really knowing how to listen to her own heart.  However,  I have found her again and the passion to sing has been reborn in me in a profound way.  When people hear me sing, they assume I've been singing all my life. I have to tell them - no, it has been a long journey to find my voice and to let it out again.

Rebecca Sichon is a 9 year old friend of mine - she's also a student of mine, studying singing and piano.  I love her dearly and I love seeing her passion for music.  I have seen how she feels music deeply and loves to express it through her voice.  She is emotional and expressive.  She has a heart to communicate ideas through music.  I want to encourage her to follow her heart, to listen to the passion she has and to fly with her dreams of singing.  I think you can see why this is important to me!
It was my delight to include Rebecca on the Love Shines recording.  you will hear her voice on a new version of 'Winter is Over'.  It couldn't be a more perfect song for Rebecca to join me on - here is an excerpt of the words:

the winter, long winter
is over
the winter, long winter
is over
sing, sing sing


winter is past, a new day dawns at last
hope for tomorrow
an end of sorrow
beauty for ashes
springtime has come


excerpt from 'Winter is Over' from the Love Shines CD


Rebecca has recorded a few other songs that were written together with her sister Natalie.  To hear some of these songs, go to:  Rebecca & Natalie