Introductions

Dear reader,

Before I begin to spill out my thoughts, I thought that I would briefly introduce myself.

My name is Irene Apanovitch. I currently reside in Toronto, Canada, although my roots take me back to Eastern Europe, particularly Minsk Belarus. As many choral musicians, I began my formal musical training with piano lessons at the age of six. Upon countless years of lessons and eventual acquisition of a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from the University of Toronto, I have received what one may call their 'calling' and decided to pursue a career as a choral conductor. Thus I am in the process of receiving my Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Alberta, where I have the distinct pleasure of studying with two incredible professionals: Dr. Debra Cairns and Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff.

This past year I spent a lot of time mulling over the idea of having a student initiative within the Canadian choral community. My ideas eventually shaped into a project proposal which I am excited to eventually forge into an active enterprise. In the meantime, I thought that I'd take a personal initiative and gain some practice writing about choral music and choral art in general. After all, the field is vast and the sheer amount of talented individuals involved in it is enough to inspire one to start talking. So that is what this blog is - an initial step in igniting dialogue amoung students, their mentors, and lovers of choral music worldwide!