Sing for the love of it with Vocal Rhythm Oxford

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

Two performers in Oxford County are starting a new initiative to welcome those who want to meet like-minded people who love to sing.

Vocal Rhythm Oxford (VRO) is a new initiative offering programming for people looking to perform and sharpen their singing skills. Between 80 to 90 people have expressed interest so far.

VRO, run by musical director Chloe Weir and program director Mike Crabbe, came after the directors realized a need to have a space for the community to gather together and sing Top 40 pop songs for the joy of it. Crabbe and Weir have been collaborating together since high school and are very involved in Oxford County’s arts community, particularly the theatre scene.

“Through our natural interactions through those experiences, we realized there's a really beautiful arts community and everyone is looking for something different to connect to one another and build on this community,” said Crabbe.

Weir added that beyond high school choirs, coffee houses, musical theatre productions, and other opportunities, also seen sometimes in post-secondary, there aren’t a ton of opportunities to sing in adulthood other than karaoke or as a professional singer.

"There's a lot of places where if you want to be an actor, there's loads of community theatre. If you want to sing musical theatre, there's loads of opportunity for that, but pop music - just singing into a microphone for the love of it - there's not too much of that so that's kind of the niche that we wanted to fill.”

VRO will have an audition-based performance session on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. starting April 23 and a monthly sing-sesh session that is more focused on working on socializing and skill-building without performances on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at College Avenue United Church. However, VRO is more focused on those who love to sing as a hobby.

"If you have a spark in your heart, if you're a shower singer and you want to take it to the next level, this is something that we want to invite people to things that they can help build their confidence in not just in performing, but in social interactions too,” explained Crabbe said.

The performance group of VRO will have their first performance at the Downtown Woodstock Streetfest Main Stage on July 19 and will sing summer songs such as “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves, “Soak Up the Sun” by Cheryl Crow, and “(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, as well as disco songs such as ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”.

Crabbe has fond memories of checking out StreetFest in the summer growing up in Woodstock and attending the annual event with Weir when they were camp counsellors, so he’s looking forward to performing there.

“It's nice to be a part of something that's already big in our community and having an experience that allows local talent the opportunity to present for our community and add some really wonderful opportunities for people to come out and support them,” he said.

“It's free to attend, so it's really nice for the friends and family involved and just to know that it's a way to warm our downtown a little bit more on an already beautiful day. StreetFest is always such a very specific vibe of this fun in the sun and that's the perfect way to have our first concert,” Weir added.

More information on VRO can be found at https://vocalrhythmoxford.carrd.co or by visiting the VRO Facebook and Instagram pages.