Choir gives the gift of song for Valentine’s Day

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For those who may have waited until the last minute to get their loved one something for Valentine’s Day — yes, that’s today — members of a local high school choir will serenade your sweetheart and leave him or her with a chocolate rose and a lasting impression.

It’s École secondaire Neelin High School’s Send-a-Serenade initiative, now in its 22nd year. The cost is $40 to book the nine-member choir, who will travel to any Brandon location and surprise someone with a love song, said Marla Fontaine, the school’s choir director.

“It’s a chance for young people to connect with the community, and a chance to bring the beauty of our music to a wider audience,” said Fontaine, who is also Neelin’s drama, and musical theatre teacher.

Fontaine selected the nine students to be this year’s Valentine serenaders. They’re also members of the school’s chamber choir and vocal jazz group and have been practising the song, “When I Fall in Love,” for the last several weeks.

“It’s a classic, and it suited the choir’s voices really well,” Fontaine said, “and it’s a blast from the past, because I sang it in my high school vocal jazz choir a long time ago.”

Last year, the serenaders made about 30 stops and were booked almost every 20 minutes said Adriana Hoskin, Grade 12 student who sings soprano, and has a solo during the song.

“It was just so much fun last year,” Hoskin said. “We went all over the city and sang to a whole bunch of people. We even went out for lunch together and sang to the workers at McDonald’s,” she said as she laughed, adding, “we just spent the whole day sharing music.”

The expected bookings, said Hoskin, are schools and businesses, with most people being surprised that they are the centre of a song.

“They have no idea what’s coming,” she said. “We form a semi-circle around them and just sing. If they start out embarrassed, by the end they’re grateful.”

This will be Arlo Connery-Dwyer’s first time as a Valentine serenader. He’s a Grade 10 student who sings tenor. Connery-Dwyer said he didn’t hesitate when he was asked if he wanted to join, adding it means a lot to be spreading love “by song,” on Valentine’s Day.

“I think the world needs more love. It would be a better place if we all just saw it from a more loving perspective,” he said.

“And we may only be singing one song, but we’ve been practising it again and again because it’s important that we get it perfect,” said Connery-Dwyer, “We focussed — and we got it to perfection.”

As per tradition, the group will be in outfits that will be hard to miss. When asked about the long red gowns for the young ladies and red jackets for the guys, both students and their teacher laughed good naturedly.

“That’s why I signed up,” said Connery-Dwyer as the others laughed in the background. “A sequin jacket, white shirt, red bow tie and super nice black pants and dress shoes? Very lovable,” he said.

This is Fontaine’s first year at the helm of the choir program at Neelin, taking over for Carolyn Gwyer who retired in 2024 after 30 years.

“I love making music and I love working with young people,” Fontaine said, adding, “there’s nothing like the energy and the beauty in working together to make choir magic. I was serenaded by the group once upon a time and it’s so lovely. It’s a fantastic tradition,” she said.

As a Grade 12 student this will be Hoskin’s last year as a serenader, but she said her future will always include singing and being involved in community choirs.

“Looking at how successful it was last year and how much fun we all had, I think it’s something that should definitely continue for a lot of years,” Hoskin said.

“A lot of people in the community really love it, and I know the all the students love doing it, so I hope they just keep doing it forever.”

To book a serenade, send an email to fontaine.marla@bsd.ca.

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