Half a century is enough

Choir director at francophone parish decides to step down

By ANH HOANG
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

He stepped up to the choir director's podium when he was 28 for the task and has stayed since.

"I think it's time to leave now," said the 73-year-old choir director at Paroisse Immacul‚e-Conception. "You don't want to wait till you drop dead and they carry you out of here. It's better to stop when you're still standing, when you're still ahead in life."

The cheery choir director says his ailing health is keeping him from leading his 20 singers every Sunday.

"One eye is gone, the other one is only at about 50 per cent," Lorieau said. "So I don't see very well anymore.

Immacul‚e-Conception's choir was one of the few choirs to sing in four-part harmony. But those days are now few and far between because it has become an all-female choir.

"We don't have any boys anymore," Lorieau said. "The boys, they love singing, but they don't love practising. You need to practise. It's been all girls for about five years.

"We have a full choir with both boys and girls at special Masses."

Practice is minimal, about an hour before Sunday Mass.

"We've been there so long, we know most of the songs already," Lorieau said. "Now that my eyes are giving, a lot of it is from memory."

He has too many favourite hymns to name, but includes Vous Qui Cherchez Dieu (Searching for God) on the list.

Outside of the Church music, Lorieau loves the classics and choral music.

"None of that bang, bang music they're listening to today," he said. "That's what it sounds like, a lot of banging. It's too loud."

Music was the only source of entertainment for Lorieau, who grew up in Legal. His father and mother sang alongside their six children during family gatherings.

"We were always singing," said Lorieau, who passed on his musical genes to his eight children.

Lorieau was also a singer with Edmonton Opera for 10 years and a saxophonist for an orchestra in his swinging single days.

"I played in the orchestra until 2 a.m. every night," Lorieau said. "After I got married and started working, I couldn't stay up that late anymore. I had to get my sleep."

Though music was his passion, he knew it wasn't going to pay the rent. He spent 45 years in the real estate business.

"I love music, but it doesn't pay much," he said. "I had a job so I could enjoy my hobby - music."

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