IN A dark, narrow alleyway behind Christ Church Cathedral
in downtown Vancouver, a woman stretches out behind
the wheel of a car, eyeing the rear door of the church.

It’s 8:30 p.m., rehearsal should
have ended haif-an-hour ago.

But inside the cathedral, a group
of attentive bright faces, with
mouths open wide, stand before
an intense-looking man gripping a
baton.

At the wave of his © ind, they fill
the room and hall ays with sweet,
celestial music. It seems that they
are in no hurry to leave.

EVELYN
JACOB

feature writer

That's because West Van-
couver’s Rupert Lang — com-
poser, organist, conductor and
choirmaster of Christ Church Ca-
thedral — has taught them to love
music.

“The foremost criteria for me is
that they love the art, the art being
music,’ says Lang, founder of the
Vancouver Children’s Choir
(VCC). “They must learn to iove
the repertoire, the different colors
of the languages. If they don’t,
they won’t sing long.’

Lang is an exacting, disciplined
man who demands the best from
the 30 boys and girls who sing in
the choir.

The children, in turn, have the
utmost reverence for their teacher
and await his every command:
they prick up their ears when he
speaks to them, and laugh when
he jokes with them. The silence
that descends upon the room
when he lowers his baton is
dramatic.

Fitting the bill of a schoolmaster,
Lang, 40, is a slender, bespectacl-
ed man with a gentle manner.
Parents have described him as a
man with extremely high stan-
dards, a man entirely lost in his
music.

“He’s so disciplined, the
children never challenge him,”
says one parent.

For his part, Lang believes that

&

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Save a child’s life.

unicef ¢

United Nations Children’s Fund

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Capilano Community Services, 600 West
Queens, North Vancouver. Participating
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different musical experiences are
essential to a child's understanding
and appreciation of music, which
is why he introduced German,
Latin, French, Japanese, Finnish
and Esperanto into their cur-
riculum.

Says Lang: ‘‘If a song is written
in Finnish then it must be sung in
Finnish. it gives the children a
totally different experience from
English: different vowel shapes,
different choral timbre.’

Many of the children agree that
variety is what fuels their fascina-
tion with choir. For fun, Lang
throws jazz and ‘50's rock and roll
into the program.

See Music
Page 26

y

Prizes Galore!

All-Star Line-Up, All for the Kids.

Some of the biggest names in show
business will join Timmy this weekend to help
B.C’s disabled children: Pat Boone, Shari
Lewis, Roger Whittaker, Tanya Tucker, Laurie
Thain, Up With People and many more. All

in all, 21 hours of nonstop entertainment, "G2? Please watch, please pledge! 8p.m. Sat.
all for B.C. Lions Society special! projects. “=” to 5p.m. Sun.

Not only do the kids win, you could too!
Make a pledge and your name goes into our
Prize Barrel to win a trip for 2 to Reno,

San Francisco, Las Vegas, Mexico,
Hawaii, London or Hong Kong.

CHRISTMAS TELETHON

December 3 & 4 - 669-1988

EWS photo Tom Burley

RUPERT LANG, choirmaster «f the Vancouver Children’s Choir, is a precise instructor. The North Shore
resident founded the VCC in 1:83 to create a professional training program for young singers. The children,
age nine to 16, receive extensive training and perform a demanding repertoire. The choir is performing
Handel's Messiah at Christ Church Cathedral on Dec 7.

Or one of 21 exquisite 14k gold ladies’ diamond
cluster rings. Courtesy of:

JEWELLERS
was. So Much To Kee on CBC.

CBUT-TV Vancouver CJDC-TV Dawson Creek

CFTK-TV Terrace CFIC-TV Kamloops
CHBC-TV Kelowna CKPG-TV Prince George
And on Northern Service to the Yukon, N.W. Territories & Northern B.C.

British Columbia
Lions Society
for Crippied Children

MMI

GIVE SO WONDERS NEVER CEASE. —~——-—-——

25 - Wednesday, November 30, 1988 — North Shore News