Image taken pre-COVID
When Cathy Baker isn’t shuttling customers around the Victoria Regional Transit System, she is dedicating much of her time and energy to the Gettin’ Higher Choir, where she and husband Dick Jackson are co-Directors.
“I joined the choir as a participant in 2011, and within half an hour I totally felt like I had come home based on the community singing that was happening,” said Cathy Baker, who has also been driving for BC Transit since 2008. “Dick and I became the co-Directors in 2018 after we had both completed the Community Choir Leadership Program.”
The pandemic obviously hasn’t been easy on singing groups. Cathy acknowledges that some singers don’t get the same energy belting out songs in a virtual world, which has impacted local participation. However, the silver lining is that the Gettin’ Higher Choir has been able to reach new singers outside the bounds of physical geography.
“We’ve been virtual since March of 2020, but in that time we have connected with people in places like Ontario, PEI, Idaho and Tokyo. This pandemic has shown that there are ways of helping people feel, in a meaningful way, like they’re a part of a community. I’ve heard over and over from people that this has been a lifeline for them.”
The Gettin’ Higher Choir isn’t just passionate about singing, and learned long ago that their collective voice can have a huge impact on people around the world. On June 19
th, the group hosted a virtual event titled “Voices Rising: a Fundraiser for Mozambique”, which you can now view on the group’s
YouTube channel.
This event may have been delivered on a different platform than previous versions, but it marked the 23
rd straight year of fundraising for Mozambique. You can learn more about the group’s inspiring connection to the African nation, and specifically the village of Kapasseni,
here. Their efforts have helped in the building of key infrastructure and the development of many critical resources for that community.
While every event over the last 23 years has been special in its own right, this year had a rather well-known guest in Juno Award winner and longtime philanthropist Bruce Cockburn. The artist has been heavily involved in a variety of initiatives to support Mozambique, where he traveled in 1995. The group reached out to Cockburn through his management company, and were pleasantly surprised that he agreed to perform his song “The Mines of Mozambique” as part of his half-hour set at Voices Rising.
Cockburn’s participation also led to a pretty surreal moment for Cathy Baker and Dick Jackson, who performed a cover of his song “The Coming Rains” while he listened.
“Initially it seemed a little daunting, performing a Bruce Cockburn song in front of Bruce Cockburn, but he was very encouraging when we talked to him about it prior to the concert. I noticed during the song that he seemed to get a bit choked up, and he said after that he doesn’t typically get to hear live covers of his own music and it meant a lot to him.”
The event raised more than $22,000 for Mozambique, and over the course of 23 years these events by the Gettin’ Higher Choir have raised in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That speaks not only to the hard work and dedication of the group, but also of the generosity of music lovers that have found a unified purpose and passion.
The choir’s last in-person rehearsal was on March 10, 2020. The hope is that regular practices at the Church of Truth on Superior Street and the Alexander Mackie Lodge in Langford will resume in the fall, while also continuing to welcome singers on Zoom. Membership is open to all who want to dip their toes in choral waters, and more information is on
the group’s web site.
And if you’re wondering if Cathy has ever belted out a song while behind the BC Transit wheel or started a passenger sing-along, the answer is yes and no.
“I feel like I would need permission to get customers singing, but I sometimes sing when my bus is empty,” said Baker. “I was inspired to write a simple song based on the delightfully irregular sound of the air-powered windshield wipers because of the funky rhythms they can make!”
