By Helen Peng
When we walk through the halls of Collingwood, by the choir room, or into our classes on some days, we often find ourselves the cheerful Ms. Horswill greeting us. I first met Ms. Horswill when she substituted for my Art History class two years ago; although she knew little about the subject, she made the class and the work easier to get through with her unmistakable curiosity and undeniable enthusiasm. Like that time in Art History and many more instances afterwards, Ms. Horswill exuded a similar excitement when I sat down with her to talk about her passion in the choral arts.
Growing up in Nelson, Ms. Horswill found her love for singing at the age of six in the local choir Corazón, and for the next eight years, her interest expanded and intensified with the help of this musical community. In grade 11, she attended a performance by the local choir Kokopelli. Looking back, Ms. Horswill reflects: “The performance blew my mind. I knew that I needed to move there and sing with them–and I did it!” Eventually, Ms. Horswill moved to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta, where she minored in music. Ms. Horswill speaks fondly of her time at university: in addition to learning more about conducting and music theory, she took part in university choir groups, and, of course, fulfilled her dreams of singing with Kokopelli there.
Along with singing, Ms. Horswill also grew up with theater and dance, and now, she uses her free time to run and explore different films and books. In talking about her hobbies, I could see that she truly believes that art is crucial as a form of expression. “For a lot of people, art is the first way they learn to express themselves,” she says. “Whether it’s writing short stories or singing music, emoting that way is beautiful in expressing what you’re going through.” As a visual artist myself, this connected with me–when I produced my first drawings, I remember that the cathartic emotions that followed were incomparable, and this feeling has encouraged me to continue to channel my inner thoughts through the form of art.
Ms. Horswill cites her conductor and founding director of Corazón, Allison Girvan, as a significant influence on her music career. Allison Girvan is the reason why she loves to sing and decided to pursue music for life.
After moving to Vancouver, Ms. Horswill found it difficult to connect with a “choir family”, so she decided to create her own with friends whom she grew up singing with. From nine friends in a living room to more than 60 members in an official rehearsal space, Ms. Horswill’s choir group Gracenote has developed into her choir family in the last five years. “We started out, partly, to make music, but also out of a desire to create a community,” she muses.
I decided to check out Gracenote’s website and YouTube channel afterwards, and yes, it totally lives up to the hype. Recently, the group has gotten a lot of interest from the local community: from showcase concerts at the Canadian Rocky Mountain Festival to being featured in a music video with Ashleigh Ball, their performances continue to expand the community Ms. Horswill has created to include others with similar minds and talent. In 2018, Gracenote began Kôr, a mixed voice group that included low-voiced folks, and this group toured BC in 2019 and will take on many more exciting projects this year.
Ms. Horswill, as the musical director, is able to explore songs and styles of music that she enjoys together with this group. Particularly, she loves to sing and conduct songs that make her cry–these simple, sweet, and folky melodies with an acoustic guitar accompanying a chorus of soft voices are what she lives to express herself with. Her favourite performances were this style of music featured in small, intimate found spaces, one of which is the SoFar Vancouver concert. Arranged by one of the choir group’s members, they performed a cover of “No Me, No You, No More” by The Staves.
When we walk through the halls of Collingwood, by the choir room, or into our classes on some days, we often find ourselves the cheerful Ms. Horswill greeting us. I first met Ms. Horswill when she substituted for my Art History class two years ago; although she knew little about the subject, she made the class and the work easier to get through with her unmistakable curiosity and undeniable enthusiasm. Like that time in Art History and many more instances afterwards, Ms. Horswill exuded a similar excitement when I sat down with her to talk about her passion in the choral arts.
Growing up in Nelson, Ms. Horswill found her love for singing at the age of six in the local choir Corazón, and for the next eight years, her interest expanded and intensified with the help of this musical community. In grade 11, she attended a performance by the local choir Kokopelli. Looking back, Ms. Horswill reflects: “The performance blew my mind. I knew that I needed to move there and sing with them–and I did it!” Eventually, Ms. Horswill moved to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta, where she minored in music. Ms. Horswill speaks fondly of her time at university: in addition to learning more about conducting and music theory, she took part in university choir groups, and, of course, fulfilled her dreams of singing with Kokopelli there.
Along with singing, Ms. Horswill also grew up with theater and dance, and now, she uses her free time to run and explore different films and books. In talking about her hobbies, I could see that she truly believes that art is crucial as a form of expression. “For a lot of people, art is the first way they learn to express themselves,” she says. “Whether it’s writing short stories or singing music, emoting that way is beautiful in expressing what you’re going through.” As a visual artist myself, this connected with me–when I produced my first drawings, I remember that the cathartic emotions that followed were incomparable, and this feeling has encouraged me to continue to channel my inner thoughts through the form of art.
Ms. Horswill cites her conductor and founding director of Corazón, Allison Girvan, as a significant influence on her music career. Allison Girvan is the reason why she loves to sing and decided to pursue music for life.
After moving to Vancouver, Ms. Horswill found it difficult to connect with a “choir family”, so she decided to create her own with friends whom she grew up singing with. From nine friends in a living room to more than 60 members in an official rehearsal space, Ms. Horswill’s choir group Gracenote has developed into her choir family in the last five years. “We started out, partly, to make music, but also out of a desire to create a community,” she muses.
I decided to check out Gracenote’s website and YouTube channel afterwards, and yes, it totally lives up to the hype. Recently, the group has gotten a lot of interest from the local community: from showcase concerts at the Canadian Rocky Mountain Festival to being featured in a music video with Ashleigh Ball, their performances continue to expand the community Ms. Horswill has created to include others with similar minds and talent. In 2018, Gracenote began Kôr, a mixed voice group that included low-voiced folks, and this group toured BC in 2019 and will take on many more exciting projects this year.
Ms. Horswill, as the musical director, is able to explore songs and styles of music that she enjoys together with this group. Particularly, she loves to sing and conduct songs that make her cry–these simple, sweet, and folky melodies with an acoustic guitar accompanying a chorus of soft voices are what she lives to express herself with. Her favourite performances were this style of music featured in small, intimate found spaces, one of which is the SoFar Vancouver concert. Arranged by one of the choir group’s members, they performed a cover of “No Me, No You, No More” by The Staves.
In the future, Ms. Horswill hopes that Gracenote will be able to travel internationally to share their music with other cultures, and, in turn, learn about the music of other cultures.
If you enjoyed this performance, Gracenote will also be performing live at the Vancouver Art Gallery on March 6th at 12pm and on March 14th for their annual fundraiser “$ing”. They will be on tour to Kelowna in April.
Follow Gracenote on Instagram @gracenotevancouver
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4NtGq7ewnZKRDAnCEVctQ
Website: https://www.gracenotevancouver.com/
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