One Human Family Gospel Choir

Welcome!

We are One Human Family Gospel Choir, Vancouver Island Chapter

Musical Director:  Eric Dozier

Our History/Who We Are

One Human Family Gospel Choir (OHF) is a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-generational organization founded on the principle that there is only one race - the human race, one family, the human family.

Founded in 1998, the One Human Family (OHF) is an organization that began in North Carolina by Eric Dozier, Cara Williams and Dilsey Davis, asserting that the arts have the ability to break all chains, release all yolks, and cross all barriers, fusing all hearts into one.  Gospel music and spirituals in particular possess a unifying spirit with the ability to change the world, and the mission of OHF is to spread the word that the power of unity can illuminate the whole earth.  OHF acknowledges music in general as being a viable vehicle to energize people and give birth to new expressions of community.  Music has a way of reaching deep into the hearts and minds of all people.  OHF has specifically selected African American spirituals and gospel music as the genre to convey its message because historically, this music has always inspired hope and peace for the future.

OHF came to Vancouver Island in 2006, to both Cowichan Valley and Victoria, and we used to meet at two separate locations on different days to rehearse.  We have since joined forces and now rehearse together on the same day; every second Saturday at Sylvan United Church in Mill Bay, 985 Shawnigan - Mill Bay Road, Mill Bay GOOGLE MAP for 4 hour rehearsals to practice, learn new songs and prepare for performances, which we perform on the Island (from Parksville to Victoria) and in Vancouver.

You are invited to attend all performances in all areas; we love to sing and share our joy of song!  Please see our performance preparation guidelines below.  Singing at every performances is optional, however we are a performance choir and hope you will join us when able.  We have a lot of fun together!

We encourage carpooling and cost sharing for travel, however leave the planning/organizing up to you to organize by email or during breaks at rehearsals.  We provide a list of email addresses of fellow members to choir members several times throughout the year.  We commit to using it for choir business only and ask that you do the same to honor our promise.  Please do read your emails thoroughly, as there is critical information in them, and we like to keep rehearsals filled with as much singing as possible!

Rehearsal Schedule (For September - December 2008)

This season our focus is gospel (of course) with an additional emphasis on soul!

We will advise of additional performances via email.  We’ll also advise members by email of performances in Vancouver, which you are welcome to perform at.

To Book a Concert

Please forward requests for performing, to our Events Coordinator, Tamara Martella.  Her email address is: tamara.palmtree@gmail.com Please include the event name, organization, location, date, time, contact person, and other information you consider relevant.

Note:  a minimum of 4 weeks is required for booking requests to be considered.

Performance Attire

We ask that you wear black pants/skirt and a black top (no faded t-shirts please) in winter and a white top in the spring/summer.  We’ll let you know when we consider the season to have changed!  For women, a colored scarf is optional.

Performance Guidelines

We ask that members attend a minimum of 5 out of 8 rehearsals to be concert ready for December 13th; anyone joining after October 25th will not be ready to participate in the December 13th concert, as they will not be up to date on the new material and fine tunings of songs.

Three of the five required rehearsal attendances need to be the last 3 rehearsals, November 22nd, 29th and December 6th, as Eric will be teaching and finetuning for concert/performance readiness and putting concert material together for performance.

Warm ups prior to concert start 1 1/2 hours before performance start time. Bring plenty of water to drink!

Cost

The cost for the season (Sept. - Dec. 2008) is $160.00, by cash or cheque.  Please make your cheque payable to OHF Gospel Choir.

Please do invite your friends to share your joy.  There is no charge for the first visit.  If they then choose to join us, we request payment/their email address so they will be kept up to date on future events/information that they need to know.

Hardship options are available.  Please see one of the admin team members for requests.

Bursaries

We understand that some people who would like to sing with the choir may find it a hardship to pay our seasons fee.  In response we are looking at the possibility of establishing a Bursary Fund to assist people who might not otherwise to able to sing in OHF Gospel Choir.  If you would like to contribute to a Bursary Fund please speak with Sylvia Wende or email her at swende@shaw.ca

Bursary and hardship requests will be reevaluated each year.

Your VI Admin Team:

We are in the process of blending our two VI chapters - Cowichan Valley and Victoria.  Please bear with us as we work out some new systems.  In the meantime, please pay at the table that represents your home location.  Thank you!