In the Night We Shall Go In
Welcome!
Welcome to the fourth project of SING THE NORTH’s Season 2 – IN THE NIGHT WE SHALL GO IN by Canadian-Latvian composer, Imant Raminsh.
This page contains everything you need to join our performance project of this haunting and iconic piece.
Please see the Materials buttons below to download your score, technical guide, and to access your rehearsal audio and video recordings.
Scroll down to the LEARN MORE section to read important notices About the Project, such as the design of the project, how to learn your part, what to wear and how to film, and other our plans for our video.
Under LEARN MORE you can also Meet Your Collaborators, read about our Field Trip, and view the Video Archive of our rehearsal recordings.
Our live sessions take place in the STN Rehearsal Room – To attend, simply click on the image below to enter the rehearsal, the interview with our composer, and to join our virtual field trip to the Okanagan, one of Canada’s most productive wine and fruit growing regions
We recommend you download Zoom Client for Meetings before attending our live events.
This project will finish with the premiere of our In the Night Video, which will appear on the STN YouTube Channel a few months after the project is completed. Remember you are just as welcome in if you want to sing in rehearsal but choose not to record a note!
If you have any questions at any time, don’t hesitate to write to me at kathryn@singthenorth.ca.
About the Project
What is the Piece?
In the Night We Shall Go In is a beautiful piece for SSAATBB chorus and string ensemble by Canadian composer Imant Raminsh, a setting of a very touching poem by Pablo Neruda.
Our project is timed in the SING THE NORTH calendar to take place just as winter’s grip begins to lift in many Northern regions.
Raminsh’s beautiful hymn to the coming of spring reminds us that, even during the darkest times, beauty lies dormant. We must simply wait, and then take the steps to steal away over the wall to witness beauty's emergence.
Our Performance - With Strings
'In the Night We Shall Go In' exists in two versions: one for SATB choir & piano, and the other for SATB choir and string quintet. At Imant Raminsh's request, we are performing the version with string quintet.
Our string players are Cristina Zacharias and Julia Wedman (violins), Patrick Jordan (viola), Pippa Macmillan (double bass) and our cello soloist is Keiran Campbell. All are players in the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra of Toronto.
Our Timetable
STN meets on Saturdays and Wednesdays in 2022. All sessions are 1.5 hours long unless stated otherwise on the timetable.
Please see the Timetable button above to download your timetable, which includes rehearsal times, field trip and interview sessions, and the deadline for submitting your recordings.
Your Learning Materials
Our project provides you with everything you need to learn your part.
First, under the Materials buttons above, you will find your score and your Rehearsal Audio Files
Our Zoom Room
Click on the Rehearsal Room image above to attend our live sessions or use these meeting details:
- Meeting ID: 889 3959 3064
- Passcode: 382076
The Rehearsal Audio Files are purchased backing-track audio files of the full piece with voices highlighted and piano accompaniment.
NEW! Please Note:
- Singers & Style: These are not our STN Ensemble singers singing on the Rehearsal Audio Files - Our STN Ensemble singers' tracks will be coming in week 2-3 of the project.
- Tempo: The Rehearsal Audio Tracks are quite a bit too fast. We will be singing at an easy, relaxed, contemplative, and very beautiful andante tempo
- Our Recording - with Strings. We are performing this piece with a string quintet from Toronto, all of whom are players from the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. You can hear the beautiful recording they have made for us of the string parts by clicking on the 'Our Beautiful Strings' button above under Materials.
What is our Tempo?
To hear our tempo, you can click on the button titled 'Our Beautiful Live Strings Recording!' - this is the recording made just for SING THE NORTH by our players in Toronto. It is the accompaniment that will feature on our video.
Further Music Learning Support
Next, you will attend our live (or recorded) full choir rehearsals and sectionals, where we will work together to shape our interpretation of this beautiful composition.
Finally, we provide you with two sets of material to help you make your recording:
First, there is a Technical guide to help you make the most of your equipment while recording (see below for further special instructions pertaining to this project).
Second, we provide Recording Videos - these are the conducting tracks you will use to record both your video and audio. These will be available in week 3 of the project.
Your Audio & Video Recording
We are asking all choristers to submit two separate files for this project – one Audio only and the other Video with audio.
We will be using the audio on your Audio recording for the final audio track on our video. We will use the audio on your video to synchronise the singers and then it will be discarded. This means that you can sing freely without worrying about errors on your video. Please play the sound in the room and sing without headphones in your video recording.
For further information, see the Technical Guide under Materials.
Singers are also welcome to submit audio files but no video, or video but no audio—whatever makes you the most comfortable. As always, it is also always fine for singers to join us in rehearsals but not submit any audio or video!
Technical Requirements
For general technical requirements, please see the Technical Guide.
Your Dress & Background Set-up
Please wear dark blue or black and film against a dark blue, black, or generally dark background.
To get a dark background, you can try any of the following:
- film outside a dusk with a light on your face.
- film in a room without the lights on, standing far away from the wall behind you and with a light on your face. The camera will be tricked into thinking that the background behind you is dark and will lower the colour there.
- Film inside in the evening or at night without lights on in the room except the light on your face (check for shadows over your eyes, though)
- Film through Zoom and upload a blue or black image as your background image.
- If this is too much, that's fine, please just film wherever is comfortable for you!
Submit Your Files
We accept all kinds of audio and video files. To submit your files, click on the Submit Your Audio/ Submit Your Video buttons above, where you will be taken to a secure Dropbox uploader.
The submission deadline is listed on the timetable.
Video Premiere
Our video will premiere on the Sing the North YouTube Channel a few months after the completion of the project.
We will be in touch with singers in advance of the world premiere of our video to tell you the time and date so you can invite your friends and family to our live watch party on YouTube.
This will be followed by an STN Cast Party in our private rehearsal room - an event not to be missed!
MEET YOUR COLLABORATORS
We are thrilled to be collaborating with six of Canada's top musicians for our virtual trip into the sound world of the beautiful Okanagan fruit-growing region of British Columbia.
Our Composer
Born in 1943 in Ventspils, Latvia, he came to Canada in 1948. Since his early studies at the Royal Conservatory, the University of Toronto, and the Akademie Mozarteum in Austia, 0ur composer, Imant Raminsh, has become one of the brightest superstars in the Canadian choral firmament.
Raminsh is the founding conductor of the Prince George Symphony, the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan, NOVA Children's Choir, and AURA Chamber Choir. His compositions have been performed on six continents by such ensembles as the Vancouver, Edmonton, Hamilton, Toronto, Okanagan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick Symphonies, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Choir, the Tokyo Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Stockholm Chamber Choir, the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, Ave Sol (Latvian Chamber Choir), and many others.
The strongly melodic nature of his compositions he attributes to a lifelong interest in vocal and choral music and suggests that the ultimate source may be the pervasive song heritage of his Latvian culture.
Imant Raminsh is unconcerned that his music is viewed as harmonically and rhythmically conservative: 'I have a limited time to compose... and I'm more comfortable saying the things I have to say in a language I already know. I don't have to be original for the sake of being original. That's my very sincere approach' (ibid).” - Source Canadian Encyclopedia
Our String Ensemble
We are joined by five very special string players who have come together as a chamber ensemble expressly to record the string parts for our SING THE NORTH project on this piece.
Led by violinist Cristina Zacharias, our ensemble features violinist Julia Wedman, violist Patrick Jordan,and double bassist Pippa Macmillan. The cello solo on our recording is played by American show-stopping cellist Keiran Campbell.
Equally at home on period and modern instruments, all our string players are members of Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
Read more about Keiran Campell on this wonderful interview about our project with him published by The Cello Museum.
Virtual Choir Field Trip
Virtual Wine Tasting on the Naramata Bench
Every SING THE NORTH project features a trip in our virtual choir tour bus, a special session when we travel together as a choir to a different part of Canada to meet the people who live and work there.
Located in southern British Columbia, Canada - the Okanagan Valley is one of the warmest regions in all of Canada.
The Okanagan is home to endless fields of fruit trees, grape vines, and warm nights. If you are lucky, you may even see the elusive Ogopogo rising from the surface of Okanagan Lake.
Our Field Trip on the STN Virtual Choir Tour Bus will take us to a very special part of the Okanagan - the Naramata Bench - home to some of Canada's most celebrated wineries.
Virtual Wine Tour with Savannah Swaisland of Savvy Wine Tours
We are thrilled to be travelling virtually to the Naramata Bench to have a private tour of the indigenous history of this important fruit-growing region with vintner, vineyard manager, and award-winning tour guide, Savannah Swaisland.
The tour will take place on Saturday, April 16 beginning at 1pm Pacific time. See the timetable button under Materials, above, for the start time in your area.
Click on the rehearsal room link above to join us live - or watch the Video Archive below for the recording, which will be posted following the event.
Invite your Friends!
All our field trips are open to friends & family of the choir, so please do be sure to invite anyone you know who may like to join us. You will receive an email before the field trip containing the zoom link to forward to family & friends.
Live session Video Archive
All our sessions are recorded so you can watch on catch-up.
Videos will normally appear in the archive within 24 hours of our live session time.
Week 1
Week 1 – Welcome & Meet the Choir
Week 1 – Interview with Imant Raminsh
Week 1 – Sectional Sop & Alto
Week 1 – Sectional Tenor & Bass
Week 2
Week 2 – Sectional – Sopranos
Week 2 – Sectional – Altos
Week 2 – Sectional – Tenors & Basses
Week 3
Week 3 – Full Choir Rehearsal
Week 3 – Sectional Sopranos
Week 3 – Sectional Altos
Week 3 – Sectional Tenors & Basses
Week 4
Week 4 – Full Choir Rehearsal
Interview with Julia Wedman & Keiran Campbell
Week 4 – Sectional Sopranos & Altos
Week 4 – Sectional Tenors & Basses