I came to Ensemble Companio as a mid-season replacement – an always nerve-wracking experience. Would I be able to learn all of the music in time for performances? Could I fit in with an established group that had already been working and performing together? At the first rehearsal, everyone in the group welcomed me with open arms, and I immediately felt like we were all old friends. The weekend intensive rehearsals have become a welcome retreat that I look forward to all month. And the music-making? In my 15 years of choral singing, both professionally and not, I have never experienced an equal to the quality of the singing we do in EC. I have never attempted to sing choral music from memory before, and now that I have, using the score almost feels like cheating! There is something truly magical that happens when 24 people come together to make music with nothing but Joe’s skilled baton between us and the audience. We listen, we communicate, we connect with ourselves and the audience in a way that’s truly exciting!