Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Cranbrook, but my family moved to Alberta when I was very young. I’ve also lived in Iowa, Colorado, and spent a beautiful dozen years in the floodplain of southern Manitoba.

What methodology do you use as a voice trainer and the choir director?

I think about the first of our species (or an ancestral species) to vocalize in a melodic manner, the first to vocalize with another human to make harmony – consonant or dissonant. I think about the first union of music and language. I think about why, after so long, we are still compelled, on such a primal level, to sing… Especially together.

Strangely, so many of us are afraid to sing. Our voices are so tied to our identities: it’s when we feel safe that they can truly open. I approach singing as a meditation, a ritual in some ways. It can be a sonic balm to soothe us from the inside out and back again. It is a tangible realization of our bodies as unique instruments worthy of sounding.

My philosophy is shaped as much by Pauline Oliveros as its is by Johann Sebastian Bach: to listen deeply, comprehensively and to know that the greatest things come from tuning into one another.

How are you feeling about your new role?

As Coreen (Coreen Douglas from The Kettle) and I were talking about The Kettle Society and its choir, a new momentum began whirling in me. It’s not just excitement. It’s an ache to make real sound with real people who live real lives. We know how healing sound is. A fundamental part of my current research and practice is testing the ability of collaborative sound making to help us reconnect with our own essential resonance as much as each other's. I feel like the Kettle Choir is a really perfect place to get to do that.

Do you have any goals in mind for The Kettle Choir?

I’m very excited to get to know the folks in the ensemble. I feel like I’m more of a collaborator/facilitator than a director; I’ll take my cues from them.

That said, I do have a few things to get us started (including some Giacomo Puccini and some Stan Rogers).

We would like to know more about Sarah. Can you share a few (fun) facts about yourself?

I love cycling around Vancouver on my trusty rusty road bike. I love to cook and bake. I’m terrible at keeping plants alive.

More fun facts please!

I have a 10 year old grey cat with a pink nose and white mitts and boots. He was just a wee kitten when we found each other. I had this idea that he should pick his own name, so I sat with him on the floor of my apartment and went through all my old language text books. He didn’t respond to anything from the French or German ones, but he cooed like a pigeon when I got to ‘Giacomo.’ A few days later, the song rolodex of my mind popped his name into the chorus of ‘Iko Iko’ (one of my childhood faves) and his last name became Finane. If you’ve never heard the Dixie Cups’ version, go find it right now.

We are happy to introduce Sarah Jo Kirsch, our new choir director!

Meet Sarah

Sarah (they, she) is an accomplished interpreter of western art music and has performed across Canada, Europe, and West Asia as a soloist and collaborator.

When they are not in the studio, at the rehearsal, or on the stage, Sarah loves cycling around Vancouver on their trusty rusty road bike. They love to cook and bake, and are terrible at keeping plants alive.

The Kettle is excited to have Sarah as the new choir director starting May 19th. Given their experience and outlook on music as a wholistic experience, we can’t wait to see (and hear) our choir thriving under their direction.