J-Choir (Public)

New Updates!!!!!

2010-03-15T22:38:00.003+08:00

Here are some new updates on the upcoming services:

Dates Services Be in church at Mass Timing
15/03 St. Anthony's 7.30pm (8pm mass)
20/03 Wedding @ SFX 9am SHARP (10am mass)
25/03 - Penitential 7.30pm (8pm mass)
26/03 - Stations 7.30pm (8pm mass)
02/04 - Good Fri 2.15pm (3pm mass)
20/04 - St. Anthony's 7.30pm (8pm mass)

Annika

Christmas Carolling 2009

2010-01-01T00:26:00.007+08:00

It's Christmas time once again and to kickstart the Christmas season and Christmas cheer, Jubilate Choir embarked on our annual Christmas carolling session. We welcomed some new members joining us for the first time and we made our presence felt in several community locations in addition to our house-to-house sessions. This year we visited the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Marine Parade Central, Geylang East Home For the Aged, Aljunied GRC's Christmas party and Queenstown GRC/Beyond Social Services' Christmas Party.

Our carolling sessions began on the 12th of Dec when our choir started the day by making cloth flowers in preparation for our old folks home visit. Right after packing up, we headed down to Marine Parade Central for our debut public performance. Although we faced some problems with the sound systems and adapting to the new singing environment, we managed to overcome the problems faced and pulled off a wonderful opening performance.

The next day, 13th of Dec, we visited the old folks at Geylang East Home For The Aged.
The old folks were very enthusiastic, joining in the singing and clapping as we sang various Christmas carols. Ending with we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS, we to each and every one of the old folks the cloth flowers as a memento and little gift.The old folks smiled joyfully as they received their gifts and wished us warmly. We chatted and accompanied them as they enjoyed a Jackie Chan Film on television.

The following week, 19th of Dec, Jubilate carolled at Tan Tock Seng Hospital! Our carolling session was meant to spread joy to patients as well as their family members and all the other people there. Smiling as we carolled, the audience enjoyed our performance, clapping and swaying to the beat of the music. Some curious children peered out from behind their parent's backs whenever we sang songs about Santa or Rudolph. The day ended with Jubilate singing carols at Nicholas's house in Dakota Crescent where we had the company of Emma and her partner as they danced along with us to the songs .
On the final day of our carolling before Christmas, the 20th of Dec, Jubilate Choir made our way to the Aljunied GRC at a pavilion in Joo Seng Road, just a stone’s throw away from our church to sing at the community Christmas party, with guest-of-honour Dr Fatimah Lateef. Jubilate carollers had their cute little Santa hairbands and hats on while waiting for Clifford to set up the guitar and speakers.
Once we were given the cue to start, we swayed from left to right with wide smiles stretched across our faces, trying to egg them to sing along with us and to be in the Christmas Spirit.
The Carollers took turns to dish out the dishes for the people attending the party too. After serving, the Carollers started eating lunch before resuming their round of carolling. There was a magician performing magic tricks and stunts to impress the crowd, including card tricks, rope tricks and colour tricks. As the magician needed assistants Colleen and Zac were pulled out to join the magician in one of his tricks. The finale was spectacular and breath-taking involving the full spectrum of colours and it warmed the crowd up for us to sing a second session of carols with them.
The afternoon was spent at the Queenstown GRC to take part in a Christmas party for the children of Beyond Social Services. Showtime began at 4pm when Carollers stood at their designated spots assigned earlier to prepare for the game. Verena prepared an icebreaker game to sort the children into categories - length of hair, attire, age. The game began quite abruptly, however children were quickly and excitedly squealing and running about looking for the category they belonged to. Afterwards, the children were split into groups led by Choir members to prepare for the main activity - dressing up the models into various Christmas characters: Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus and Christmas Tree. The models cat-walked across the stage to present themselves to the kids.After drawing lots to see which character the guys have to dress up as, the models went to their respective groups and started getting dressed up! The kids, all hyped up and energetic, used their creativity and began cutting newspapers, crushing newspapers into balls, pasting crepe paper, etc, to the apprehension of some models. Soon everybody was involved. When it was time to present the models, the guys, wondrously and somewhat precariously decked out, were seen somewhat limping up the stairs towards the stage.The winners were announced and prizes were given out. Although it had been a chaotic scene then, seeing the children’s brightly lit faces made us sure they enjoyed themselves.

The final performance of the day was a last performance at Marine Parade Central. It was a total blast. Big Bang!!! Jubilate carollers sang as though there was no tomorrow and we are sure the audience felt it. Several members of the audience were singing along and the presence of Santa and his Santarinas in was enough to make the Christmas spirit felt very strongly.
All of our hard work paid of in one night with the flood of applause and well wishes. We ended the day with a small in-house Christmas Party at Dawn's place.

Wrapping up our Christmas carolling 2009, it was an immensely tiring but enriching experience. All the friendships made and the lives we managed to touch, even a little bit, made the whole thing worth while. On that note, we wish one and all a Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year 2010! :D

To see more pictures, visit our PHOTO ALBUM.

Written by Joshua & Ruth

2009-12-28T02:14:00.003+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Sorry this place has been so quiet for a long time. It's been a hectic few weeks for the choir but we're working on bringing you updates on our activities as soon as we catch our breath from the said activities.

Meanwhile, happy holidays and hope you enjoy our rendition of "Winter Wonderland".

:)

The Festivals of the Dead

2009-11-04T11:52:00.005+08:00

Recently the month of October gave way to the month of November and with it came three special days: Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. A non-Catholic friend of mine asked me what is the difference between these days. It was difficult for me to give an answer that I felt was accurate. So I did some research.

All Saints’ Day, officially known as the Solemnity of All Saints, is celebrated on the 1^st of November in honour of all the saints, as the name suggests. In Christianity, saints have feast days, commemorating the anniversary of that saint’s martyrdom. Eventually, there came a time when the number of martyrdoms became so numerous that it was impossible to have a feast day for every saint. Hence, All Saints’ Day came about; to equally venerate all these saints.

This day was also known as the Feast of All Hallows. The day before 1^st November, 31^st October, was known as All Hallow’s Eve or All Hallow’s Even. This evolved into the word we know today as Halloween. It has its roots in a festival of the dead, hailing from old Celtic traditions. Its associations with the occult stem from this tradition, although the eventual evolution of the festival to what we know today came in the later part of the 20^th century, in an effort to sanitise and commercialise the ‘pagan’ festival. There are little or no Christian links with Halloween, except perhaps, for the origins of the name.

All Souls’ Day is on the 2^nd of November and is a day to commemorate the dead who have not yet entered Heaven. It is a day to remember the souls who are undergoing temporal punishment for their sins in Purgatory. This is how it is differentiated from All Saints’ Day. For many cultures, there is a special day in a year for the commemoration of their dead. In the Chinese culture, it is the Qing Ming Festival. For Chinese Catholics, All Souls’ Day has become its equivalent and is just as important to them.

As Catholics, we believe in the afterlife with God in Heaven but we also believe that we cannot go there immediately because we are sinners. Therefore, we remember and pray for the souls of those we love that they can be cleansed and enter into the Heavenly light.

All three days have their differences and their own special rituals and commemorations. They are common in their links to the dead and a celebration and honouring of the spiritual world and the afterlife. They are evolutions from the very old traditions of the festivals of the dead and of the hope of renewal and new life.

Written by: Irene

Sources:

New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, All Saints Day: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm

New Advent Cathlic Encylopedia, All Souls’ Day: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm

Wikipedia, Halloween: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

2009-10-11T21:05:00.003+08:00

Jubilate choir
CONGRATULATES
our parish priest, Fr John Khoo,
on the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination
and
on his 69th birthday!

Join us for makan!

2009-10-05T16:36:00.003+08:00

Join us for a casual fellowship session this week.

Location: Church canteen
Date: Sunday, 11 oct
Time: After 9am mass

We'd love to meet you and chat. No obligations. :)

2009-09-30T16:50:00.006+08:00

(click the image for higher resolution)
*Venues are unconfirmed at this point in time.

If you are interested to join us for carolling this year, feel free to contact us either by email: jubilate.ss@gmail.com or give us a shout out on the tag board. Remember to let us know how to contact you.

St Stephen's Parish Mission 2009

2009-09-30T11:52:00.005+08:00

For the past few weeks, the Church of St Stephen has been having their Parish Mission conducted by the Redemptorist priests - designed to reach out to its parishioners and bring people back into the Church. It had many aspects to it, including home visitations as well as themed masses all aiming to build a stronger sense of community and membership towards the church.This week marks the grand finale of the Parish Mission with a nine night Novena held in St Stephen's followed by fellowship and mingling.

It has been a major project and a lot of effort has been put into this Mission. Not only did the various priests take the time and dedication to visit every one of the parishioners' homes, they also arranged for announcements to be made in other churches, like Novena Church, to inform others about the Parish Mission at St Stephen's. Having our fellow brothers and sisters keeping us in mind and praying for us was a sign of our potential and the supportive nature of the Catholic church in Singapore.

Internally, members of all the church ministries chipped in to provide logistical support, transport services and putting together the group masses to ensure a conducive environment for this Mission to take place. It was a good opportunity for all ministries to work together as one for the betterment of our church.

It has been a golden opportunity to reach out to members of our community whom we seldom see and let them know that they are welcome and that they have a role to play to contribute to the Church. We hope that this spirit of community and enthusiasm will be sustained and fanned into greater potential that will be beneficial for the church in the years to come.

This Parish Mission has been successful thanks to the effort put in not only from the priests but also from the laity and the parishioners themselves, who sportingly went along with whatever was planned during the Mission. While there will most likely not be a Parish Mission for some time to come, we hope that those parishioners who were touched by this Mission will stay on, and continue to grow and contribute to the Church.

Written by Andrew

2009-08-30T17:57:00.006+08:00

Congrats to the confirmation class of 2009 on their Confirmation!

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart.
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling
And scatter there Thy cheerful beams.
~Saint Augustine

Spirit-filled souls are ablaze for God.
They love with a love that glows.
They serve with a faith that kindles.
They serve with a devotion that consumes.
They hate sin with fierceness that burns.
They rejoice with a joy that radiates.
Love is perfected in the fire of God.
~Samuel Chadwick

Jubilate Choir retreat 2009

2009-08-01T10:11:00.000+08:00

On 25th and 26th July, Jubilate choir held a two day, one night retreat session. Highlights of the retreat included talks by Sister Christina and Brother Derrick, a choral masterclass by Stephen Cleobury and, of course, games by Zac and Auggy.

The retreat opened with Sr Christina's talk, held at the CAYC, entitled "Why we do what we do". The session explored our various values, life goals and motivations in a bid to try to answer the question posed in the title of the talk. While it was too limited a time for answers, it certainly opened up new avenues for reflection and thought for us to think about our involvement in the ministry. As this was an open seminar, we had the opportunity to meet with and talk to youths from other parishes.

Br Derrick's session that night was equally thought provoking. Focusing on selected phrases from 'The Lord's Prayer', the session helped us to examine our relationship with god and each other. Through various ways such as songs, bible sharing and even charades, Br Derrick challenged us to reflect and rethink about our place in the church. Most memoriable was the final task of thinking about what we, as individuals wished for the choir and to write them down to be shared as a communal prayer. Having the chance to hear what everyone's hopes and dreams were meant the ability for all of us to forge a common goal for the choir, whether it be spiritual, musical or communal. It created a better sense of community as we knew that it isn't just the leaders that set goals and direction for the choir , but that it is the individual that makes up the whole.

On Sunday, the choir made its way to the Esplanade to attend a choral masterclass conducted by Stephen Cleobury, conductor of the King's College choir of Camsbridge. We had the opportunity of hearing two choirs - the Singapore Children's Lyric Opera and the Singapore Lyric Chamber Choir - sing and to learn from them as Cleobury gave tips on how to improve their singing and performance. Although the session was quite dry at times, we still managed to learn some things. Tips such as preparation, phrasing and audience engagement were found to be extremely useful.

Of course, the retreat was not all serious seminars and talks. There were quite a number of games organized by Zac and Auggy. Quite unforgettable games such as the Fishball game in which teams had to pick up fishballs with their teeth to find notes hidden inside them. Not as bad as the flying chicken of last year but still destined to go down in Jubilate history. There were plenty if the usual balloon popping games and even a Jubilate Idol session which let us hear the beautiful voices of some of the more quiet singers. Games designed to entertain and to build team spirit and bonds certainly met its goal.

At the close, it was an enjoyable two days retreat. Even though mishaps and sleepless nights happened, overall it was a roaring success. Kudos to Aloy and Tessa who were overall in charge of organising the retreat and managed everything so that things went on so smoothly and enjoyably. Why do we do what we do? Because it enriches our lives and the lives of everyone we touch through our actions or through our music. That's what it means to be a part of this ministry.
For more photos, please visit: http://jubilatechoir.multiply.com/photos/album/13/Jubilate_Retreat_2009#

Written by: Irene

Jubilate Day of Fun!

2009-06-21T09:58:00.000+08:00

On the 20^th of June 1877, Alexander Graham Bell installed the world’s first commercial telephone service in Ontario, Canada. On the same date in 1963, the “Red Phone” is put in place after the Cuban Missile Crisis to link the White House with the Kremlin. And exactly 46 years later, Aloy called me using his handphone to ask me why I wasn’t at the bus stop with everyone else.

“Hurry up and come! We’re waiting for you!” shouted a ferocious Aloy into my ear, leaving me temporarily deaf on one side.

So I made my way as quickly as I could with my one good ear to where he was. As it turned out, I was right on time for the arrival of John. In the Bible, John the Baptist helped prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. On that day, John the confirmant helped lead us on the path to East Coast Park.

It turned out to be a really, really long walk, and we were saved from our marathon only by the apparition of an angel clothed in a brilliant white light on the road behind us. This actually turned out to be Dawn and Verena in their white van, which we were equally thrilled to see. We spent the rest of the journey in air-conditioned comfort, and were more than ready to start rollerblading when we got out.

Our group was quickly separated into two: the rollerblading elite (comprising Clifford, Aloy, Amanda, John, Gen, Tessa and Auggy) and the rest (Dawn, Daphlyn, Steffi, Andrea, Verena and Josh). While the most skilful of rollerbladers went off on their own, mocking our inability to do anything but better acquaint ourselves with the ground, we learned how to stand, fall, move forward, fall, turn a little and fall again. Almost like our very own stations of the cross.

All of us eventually managed to move at least a little on our wheels, so we all took something away from the 3 hours we spent. Tessa and Auggy learned a complex spinning technique worthy of a pair skating performance on ice, Clifford learned how funny we look in photos when we’re also on blades, John learned an important lesson on Gravity and I learned how to skate : )

After saying our thanks to our very patient instructor, we made our way to lunch amidst choruses of “kookaburra sits on the old gum tree” and “walk slower lah!”. We had a good makan and quite a bit of time to rest our tired legs, before Aloy took over with his world renowned games (string and ball game, anyone?).

I’ll end off with a few words from John, when asked to comment about the day:

“I don't think there was anything I disliked.” and “I guess I enjoyed the company pretty much and would love to go again.”

Thanks John : )

Written by: Joshua

Upcoming Event!

2009-04-29T13:25:00.004+08:00

Youth Mass @ Church of St Stephen
Time: 4pm
Who: YOU!
Where: Church of St Stephen (Sallim Road, along Aljunied Road)
Celebrant: Fr Gerard Louis

Come down and join us. All are welcome. :)

An Evening Walk With Jesus

2009-03-28T01:11:00.002+08:00

As Lent draws to a close, let us remember that by dying on the cross, Jesus Christ took away all our sins, so that we might be saved.

On our part, as children of God, what have we done this Lent season? Are we repenting and seeking forgiveness? Or are we still as arrogant and ignorant, refusing to humble ourselves? If you have not had a chance to sit down and reflect, perhaps you would like to join us for an evening of reflection and sharing on Jesus's last moments before he died.

Date: 4 April 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm
Venue: RCIA Room/Choir Room, 2nd level

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).

The Season of Lent

2009-03-13T21:55:00.006+08:00

Now, we have entered the season of Lent and are in the midst of preparation for Good Friday and Easter. The forty days of Lent is a symbol of Christ's forty days of penance in the desert. Lent is the time for us to take a step back and reflect on our lives. How are we living our lives? Is Lent just another annual Church thing or does it have a meaning in our day to day lives?

During Lent, St Stephen's will be having Stations of the Cross every Friday at 8pm followed by Holy Mass. Do join us and make a sacrifice once a week to come and be with Jesus and walk the last few moments of His life again. It is a good way to focus our own reflection as each station has a link to activities in our daily life.

I'd like to share with you a video I found on youtube a few years back. It's the song "I See Love" by Third Day set to clips from the film "The Passion of the Christ". I like to take it out and watch it during Lent because it's so meaningful and poignant and really helps me to think about what kind of sacrifice Jesus made for us all and why?

Because GOD LOVES US.

Isn't that amazing?

新年快乐！

2009-02-02T10:20:00.003+08:00

The Chinese New Year has just come and gone. It was a busy time for a lot of us as we visited relatives and participated in parties with our families and friends. The choir had a turn being a part of the celebrations too. We had a mini-CNY gathering last Sunday, 31st Jan, in the church canteen, complete with lo hei and other yummy goodies contributed by our members.

From all of us at Jubilate, we'd like to wish you a very happy and prosperous Chinese New Year. 新年快乐，恭喜发财，万事如意，心想事成，身体健康 and numerous other four word Mandarin phrases that are commonly used.

Reflections On Christmas Caroling 2009

2009-01-28T15:27:00.002+08:00

It’s come to the end of another round of caroling for Jubilate Choir. Caroling brought back Choir members that have not been around for some time and a new addition to our group too. It is an activity that helps to bring the Choir together and spread the Christmas cheer to the houses we visited.

This year’s caroling was different from the last in a few interesting ways. We had a new look, thanks to Dawn who got Reindeer ears for the girls to wear, a departure from the usual Santa hats. It made the Choir look much more cheery and bright. We caroled at many different and diverse settings as well – from traditional Christmas parties complete with Santas, DJs and good buffets, to the Youth Group get together at Avon Park Condo, and quieter family environments.

The part that I loved the most in this year’s caroling was singing the birthday song at the request of some families. We did a new and spontaneous arrangement which was upbeat and very unexpected. It was a joy to watch the birthday girl’s face light up as we sang that song especially for her.

Although it is still very early in the year, I am looking forward to this year’s caroling, I hope that we will get more time to hang out at the houses this year. To chill out, get to mix around and enjoy the nice food that we have missed while we brought the Christmas cheer to people’s homes.

[To see more memories of our Christmas caroling, go to the Recordings section or visit: http://jubilatechoir.multiply.com]

Written By: Tessa

Some revamping

2009-01-24T21:28:00.000+08:00

Hi all!

We're doing some much needed revamping and updating on this site. Please bear with us as we fix the moving parts. Feel free to give us feedback if something doesn't work.

So what's new?

We've got a music player playing a song we recorded - City of God. We've got a new video under the Recordings section and some new photos for you to look at. For those of you who are anxious to see more of what we've been doing, visit our photos website at http://jubilatechoir.multiply.com.

2008 was an interesting one, the significant events being our choir Retreat in August and fundraising sessions. We'd sung at weddings and funerals and the chrism mass for the Archbishop. Of course, the highlight was our annual Christmas Carolling. Despite it being the busiest and more hectic time of the year, it was a blast for all of us! Stay tuned to read our review of our carolling session for last year 2008.

Hopefully, 2009 will be just as fruitful and rewarding a year. We'll be posting updates from time to time, so do remember to check back to see what we're up to. Of course, you can be a part of this too. If you want us to sing at your event or if you'd like to sing with us, don't be shy to email us or leave a shout out on the tag board. :)

Happiness and peace to you!

Bringing Christmas To St Stephen's

2007-12-03T00:21:00.000+08:00

So it's the first Sunday of Advent, and the Jubilate Choir had our first taste (in 2007) of spreading Christmas cheer by caroling in the foyer after the 10am Mass. It was for a good cause, of course, an advertisement, of sorts, for the parishioners to 'sample' our music, and see if they'd like to have us over for Christmas.

And so far, we've got 4 confirmed homes to sing our hearts out!

So thanks for the invites, everyone, and to the other families out there, please contact us ASAP, as we've only got a few more slot left, so hurry!

Only while slots last. =)

The Christmas Chill...

2007-11-28T22:56:00.000+08:00

During the Christmas season, we have this burning desire to spread our infectious brand of Christmas cheer, which we've affectionately termed "The Christmas Chill".

It's that chilly feeling you get when you wake up in the morning, during the Christmas season, when a sudden cool breeze hits you when you look out your window, or when it's raining and although normal rain is chilly, the rain at this time, gives you a different kind of chill. That's the Christmas Chill. It gets stronger as we get nearer to Christmas, and when you hear Christmas carols being played or sung when you go shopping in town. It's that chill when you've just bought that gift that you know your little boy or girl or wife or husband or girlfriend or boyfriend wanted you to get.

And it's this Chill that drives the Jubilate Choir to sing, with great love, year after year, for old-folks homes, for hospitals, and for broken homes which need the warmth we bring, or simply for happy families, who graciously share their warmth with us.

And this year, we've effectively gone Internet.

Look out for recordings of us singing your favorite carols, free for download, here in our recording section.