How a TikTok video catapulted this all-women choir from northern B.C. to worldwide fame | 24CA News

When Naomi Dugdale and her longtime pal Lauren Iwanciewski joined the Nove Voce Choral Society in Prince George 4 years in the past, it was an area glee membership identified principally by British Columbians.

But a TikTok video they produced this September — that includes all choir members however one lip-syncing the ’80s hit Don’t Stop Believin’ by the Californian band Journey — immediately catapulted the group of younger singers, some as younger as 15 years previous, to worldwide fame.

The 27-second clip is a part of a collection on the choir’s social media web page difficult its viewers to guess who is definitely singing. It has been seen greater than 72 million occasions and the quantity continues to be rising. 

The submit has additionally attracted greater than 360,000 feedback from all over the world, together with from American actor Rosie O’Donnell.

Dugdale, 21, says the reveal-the-singer collection goals to showcase particular person members’ abilities by having every of them performing the music she enjoys. 

Iwanciewski, additionally 21, admits she was stunned the quick video has earned the choir a lot publicity in a single day.

“It was just disbelief at first because we never expected them to blow up that much,” Iwanciewski stated. “That’s just crazy.”

‘Nine voices’

Director Robin Norman says the choir began within the Christmas season of 2005: as a Salvation Army volunteer, she gathered eight college students from her voice coaching class to sing carols for the Christmas Kettle Campaign at numerous places in Prince George to assist enhance donations.

Norman says she made up “Nove Voce” — which means “nine voices” in Italian — when she wanted a reputation for the choir to compete in a music pageant that required at the least 9 members in a workforce.

“There wasn’t a lot of thought that went into it — it was like we had to put a name down on the registration form,” she stated.

The impromptu-named choir has witnessed its membership and viewers base develop since. In 2008, it started to carry three to 4 ticketed live shows per season.

Most not too long ago, on Dec. 18, the 23-person Nove Voce teamed up with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra for a live performance performing Christmas classics on the Vanier Hall theatre.

Affordable platform to pursue music

Nove Voce holds a number of auditions per 12 months for singers age 15 or above, who must pay an annual membership payment of $125 as soon as recruited.

Norman says the choir is an inexpensive platform to apply music, particularly for younger individuals who have musical abilities however do not have an opportunity to pursue music of their research and careers.

“Before we started Nove Voce, there was really nowhere for them [in Prince George] to keep singing, because private lessons are expensive,” she stated. “If you’re going to school for engineering or nursing, it can be prohibitive.”

Dugdale, who’s finishing her engineering diploma on the University of Northern British Columbia within the spring, says she has been singing in a choir since grade college and might play the piano and harp.

But even with wealthy data and expertise, the social assist from fellow choir members is essential as she continues to pursue her musical pursuits, she says.

“It’s super great how you can still be in the choir and be from a variety of backgrounds — all of the ladies in our choir have such different jobs, but we come together for choir.”

Nove Voce is scheduled to carry out in a Broadway-themed live performance on Feb. 11, 2023, and to compete on the International Choral Kathaumixw pageant in Powell River, in B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, subsequent July.