3 minute read
COMMUNITY
Peter Brimacombe
Uniting the Community through Music Show November 30
The Reach! Diverse-City Singers performing at the World Refugee Day commemoration, Victoria City Hall. Retired former BC Notary Susan Mercer, (in blue, back row, third from right). Artistic Director Anne-Marie Brimacombe in front, (left, hands up)
It has been said that disunity underlies many of the significant problems in our community and world.
A dynamic nonprofit in Victoria is effectively counteracting that through the power of music.
Established in 2017, West Coast Reach Association (WCRA) was established to celebrate diversity of ages, cultures, and abilities through the performing arts. Already it is offering four unique programs, bringing together very diverse groups of people through music. Susan Davis Mercer, former President of The Society of Notaries Public of BC, is on the Board of WCRA and actively participates in two of its groups. The Reach! Diverse-City Singers include new and established Canadians from more than 15 different cultures. “The camaraderie and enthusiasm are amazing,” says Susan, “and when we start Louis Armstrong’s song by saying ‘It’s A Wonderful World’ in over a dozen languages, it’s really touching.”
Susan is also a member of the Our Place OutReach Singers that bring together members of the street
Reach Performing Company members in rehearsal
community with the greater community through music. Held in partnership with the Our Place street shelter, this group also leads the singing in the annual CBC reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Victoria. Another outstanding WCRA group is the Reach! Performing Company. “Half the members overcome significant disability Anne-Marie to participate in Brimacombe this group,” says Artistic Director Anne-Marie Brimacombe, “and a number of members are professional performers. The calibre of performance is amazing; audience members are often up singing along, dancing, beaming, and wiping away tears all at the same time.”
These three groups perform at numerous community events in Greater Victoria and host the “We Are One” benefit concert each year to commemorate World Human Solidarity Day and the International Day of Persons With Disabilities. The show this year also features a number of amazing guest performers and will be held in Victoria at 7 pm on Saturday, November 30. www.westcoastreach.org/
The fourth program offered by WCRA is “Music and Movement Are Magic,” an early childhood learning program at the Inter-Cultural Association (ICA) PreSchool in Victoria for children of new immigrants and refugees. “Some of these children have been truly traumatized by war in their countries, and music is such a loving way of coaxing them out of their pain,” says Brimacombe.
All WCRA programs and groups help participants develop music and/ or performing skills but they all have a greater purpose, as well . . . to bring meaning, healing, and unity into the lives of participants and the community. At a time when we are all facing considerable disunity and stress in our lives, this is truly a welcome and joyful initiative. s Peter Brimacombe is a volunteer with “Reach” as administrator and music arranger.
Reach Performing Company
Our Place OutReach Singers performing at the Our Place street shelter block party
