Last month at our Board of Directors meeting in Vancouver, we welcomed Rachel Casponi as the new Kamloops/Cariboo regional rep. Check out this video interview, where she explains why she decided to join the BCCF Board, and some of the many membership benefits:

Why become a BCCF board member?

“There are lots of opportunities that we are able to enjoy because there are rooms of people like this working tirelessly on a volunteer basis. I’ve just benefitted so much from either mentorship programs in my teaching career or being able to go to great workshops or being able to belong to choirs who are supported by the BC Choral Federation. But on another note, it’s a great personal gain because it’s a great way to meet people and learn from people that have been serving in this province for years and years. [The BCCF] is a tremendous wealth of knowledge and energy and dedication and that’s just always inspiring. It makes you a better person when you’re around people that give.”

Why should my choir join the BCCF?

“I hope we can do a really good job of showing what it is to be a member and how you can benefit [workshops, discounts, access to music library] but also that there’s a team of people who are advocating, that are doing that larger work, that are helping to respond to some of the challenge that arts educators, artists, musicians and choir directors are facing. That you have a place that you can go and take that to, a concern that will end up at a meeting with some of the people in the room that have been doing this the longest, to say ‘Help with this: How do I deal with the fact that my church choir is aging?’ or ‘What do I do when my musical child has no access to music at school anymore?’ So there’s a tremendous value and it’s such a nominal fee to support the volunteers in the room who are helping to tackle those big questions.”