Anastasia

I don’t always do musicals, but when I do, I sing and dance with Alexander Showcase Theatre! I’m no expert, but I really enjoy (and hear the same from others) the level of professionalism, class, and skill in performance that this group of people brings to bear. Under the skilled leadership of Vincenzo and Gwyneth Sestito, this company puts on productions that will have your jaw drop and I feel lucky to have been able to be a part of this one, given how busy of a year I’ve had! Singing and dancing with some good friends and making some new ones along the way was a truly memorable experience, so thank you to all, and I hope to work with you again soon!

2023 International Barbershop Convention

What an incredible ride this was! I didn’t have any expectations going in, but we worked hard and were so excited to be able to sing on finals night, even if we didn’t make the top 10. Coming 11th was, in some ways, more wonderful than making the top 10 because it meant that we had some amount of freedom to focus on entertainment over score! I like to think the two are inextricably linked… However, I don’t think our mic-testing set would have scored as well given the features of the arrangements that deviate from what helps barbershop music shine.

The work that quartetters are doing in order to compete at the highest levels is absolutely insane. I have watched the pressure build up in peers and in myself over the years, and I think there’s something kind of surreal about what we do competing. I want everyone to remember: every person that crosses that stage is a champion somewhere. These are the best of the best competing against each other, and it’s inspiring to be a part of it.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2018

All In: Sing Like Nobody’s Listening

You read that correctly. I’m doing a show in Edinburgh with the boys in Yonge Guns! I admit, I was disappointed when I learned we would not be competing in this year’s international barbershop quartet contest. We had such a great run of it that I wanted to build off of that momentum! But that momentum continued all the same, and got us going to Scotland for a run of shows with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as releasing our first album! If you want tickets to the show in Scotland, click here.

In the Winter of 2017 we were well under way planning our trip and I realized that no one I know would  be able to see this show that we’re working so diligently on! I quickly recommended to the guys that we put our show on in Ontario, and I proposed a riskier move: we should bring our show around the province. Ontario is so huge that to drive from one end to the other can take over 10 hours, depending on where exactly you’re going. While we can fill a fair amount of seats in Toronto, some people just won’t be able to make it, so instead, we did 4 shows! East, North, West, and South: Peterborough, Harmony Ranch, Hamilton, and Toronto. We had the chance to practice the show before crossing the pond, figure out what things worked and what didn’t in a performance scenario. We also made a bit of money to help fund our trip, which is a costly endeavour even if we sell out our show in Edinburgh. And of course, we got to show our Ontario fans that we are still around, are still working on music, and that we still want them to come see our shows! I’m happy to say that the shows were generally a great success, and if we time them right, we might be able to do even better next time!

Next stop: Edinburgh!

Show Some Love: Yonge Guns’ First Album

After many attempts at an album, with various artists and with varying levels of success, I am utterly thrilled to be finally releasing one officially! Like anything, we put a lot of our blood, sweat, and tears into this and I for one am immensely proud to be looking upon the fruit of our labours. I put this into my upcoming events page because I intend there to be an official release show, though we have had a small personal party to celebrate the release, and I understand that some have mistook our Edinburgh show to be an album release. If you came to our Edinburgh show, don’t worry! You only saw a few of our album songs. Pick up the album now and listen to it at home! Next time you see us, we’ll show you have we’ve already grown.

Annual Toronto Northern Lights Christmas Show: “Christmas at the Met“!

Perhaps my favourite thing about this Christmas concert was having The Ault Sisters out. I have had the pleasure of singing with them before, but not with their backing band! Some of our songs just got a whole new energy with a rhythm section underneath, and all those pesky downbeats were right on cue. I’m happy to say I now sing with two of the sisters Ault in Solstice, and I’m hoping we can keep on doing so!

The Toronto Christmas Market: Various Appearances with the Candy Cane Carolers

Good times with the Candy Cane Carolers!

The Danny Love the Holidays with Yonge Guns and P.A.G.E. 4!

The Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Area‘s Christmas event was a first, and I think that between us (Yonge Guns) and the boys in P.A.G.E. 4, we made a splash! We also ran into a roaming brass trio who must have had pretty cold hands! Just holding our music was freezing for us, but thankfully there were plenty of places in which we could take refuge from the cold. And we met a few carolers during our strolling and taught some tags! Keeping the barbershop love alive!

Barbershop Harmony Society International Convention 2016, in NASHVILLE!

I headed down Nashville way at the beginning of July 2016 to join the Toronto Northern Lights and Yonge Guns in the chorus and quartet contests, respectively. This was exciting for me as it was the first chance I had to compete with the Toronto Northern Lights since I wasn’t on stage with them when they won in 2013 and they have to take two years off! As for Yonge Guns, because I “aged out” of the collegiate contest, this was our first time competing in the open contest, and the competition is hot! We took a bit of a hit to our egos (only natural when you go from placing 3rd to placing 32nd), but that just goes to show how much hard work and dedication these quartets are putting into their performances each year! The chorus, meanwhile, placed 4th and I got to take home a cool bronze medal that I get to sport in pride of all of my hard work. After Summer, we’ll be back to the drawing board and planning something big!

Yonge Guns First Annual Show!

I’ve always found it amusing to call an event the “first annual” of that event, but we will follow through with our intentions to have a show at least once per year. In 2016, we held it on June 4th at The Burdock with The Ault Sisters as our guests! Stay tuned on the upcoming events page for 2017’s show, and possibly some more exciting news…

The Ontario District Fall Convention 2015 and Ontario Quartet Contest

In 2015, after a great International Collegiate Quartet Contest (see below) in Pittsburgh and a LOT of practicing, Yonge Guns took the Ontario District with some of the highest scores seen in Ontario in decades. I continue to work with them in trying to be the best performer I can be, and even arranged a song (Goodbye May Seem Forever, from Disney’s The Fox and the Hound) for us to sing in 2016 as a thank you to Ontario for all of their support and love.

Barbershop Harmony Society International Collegiate Contest 2015 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In 2014, my quartet performed on the international stage for the first time, competing in the collegiate contest and placing a very respectable and surprising tenth; but our surprise was as nothing to the windfall of placing third the following year with our highest score ever! We performed a medley of Hey Look Me Over and If My Friends Could See Me Now for our second song, to follow one of our favourites, If I Ruled the World. When they announced us for third place, after having declared the scores for the fifth and fourth place quartets (some of the highest scores the society has ever seen), we couldn’t believe our ears… it felt like we had won! But then the hair-raising realization that there were two more places left to announce, and it felt like winning a second time when we heard our friends ‘Shoptimus Prime announced second place right after!

These contests are always very warm and welcoming, and regardless of placing, and despite how hard everyone works to put their absolute best on stage, and how much heart and soul goes into each performance, the people of this organization continue to make beautiful music and appreciate that something amazing and wonderful is happening during each competitor’s performance. The joy we all take in these performances lives on in the hearts of each viewer, whether they too were a competitor or not, and it shows in the hours upon hours we spend each night at these conventions singing with each other, new friends and old, without reservation. It’s great to be a barbershopper!

Annual Joint Fundraising Show with ‘Shoptimus Prime and Yonge Guns

Last year the two quartets joined forces to do a fundraising show, giving half of the proceeds to the church the show was held in and the other half to Sing Canada Harmony. The show is pay-what-you-can, and it is held in Ellis Chapel in Puslinch, Ontario.

Last year, Yonge Guns’ bass, Reuven Grajner, had a conflict that meant we needed a substitute singer. This year, that same bass brought his own quartet, Avenue Road, but ‘Shoptimus Prime had their own troubles! Their tenor, an educator who traveled from Buffalo to sing with them, was unable to attend because he landed a teaching position and Fridays are teaching days! Yonge Guns’ treble trio (top three voices) each learned two of ‘Shoptimus Prime’s songs and sang with them, and the show was a smashing success! We had such a great time and hope you’ll be able to join whomever performs on the show next time!