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The MBCC is known for its great balance between music and other activities. The week begins with registration on Sunday afternoon. All course participants will have an audition with the Guest Director, and have time to settle in and acquaint themselves with the site. Sunday evening, all participants join in an orientation session that ends with our famed “Time Warp”. The course is on double daylight savings time to ensure that there is sufficient light for evening programmes. (There is also benefit to recovering that extra hour on the last night of the course.)
Each weekday begins with a hearty breakfast. The mornings are dominated by rehearsals. The trebles will generally rehearse with the Guest Director while the lower voices are with the Artistic Director. Each morning, there is also an opportunity for changing and changed voices to have individual voice coaching with practising professionals. The mornings are completed with recreational time.
Afternoons feature the final rehearsal of the day, followed by extended recreational opportunities. These may include sports and recreation on the fields or in the lake, arts and crafts in the Arts Centre, technical activities, or time with the Chaplain and Artistic Director preparing that night’s Evensong.
Each evening begins with Evensong, where repertoire for the final Sunday is performed, and Father Ed conducts an interactive sermon on some aspect of the theme of the week. This is followed by a wide-game that includes all the participants of the course.
Supervision of the course participants is a team effort. Sports and recreational activities are under the leadership of our proctors. The proctors are all senior high-school or university students who have been at the MBCC for several years, and are familiar with our policies and procedures. Perhaps the greatest strength of the MBCC over its history has been the stability of its staff which oversees the well-being of each child: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Each year, returning course participants look forward to renewing their acquaintance with such characters as "The Heater" and his vocal coaching; "Larry" with his innumerable bags of popcorn; or Father Ed with his interactive homilies. Our nurse is a music lover who is always available to help with any concern our participants may have. This dual level of supervision which looks at the needs of the whole child is unique to the MBCC, and ensures that all course participants are under multiple-adult supervision at all times. As a truly Christian environment, our many returning participants revel in the fellowship of friendships renewed.
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