Girls play baseball at this Montreal park. The city wants to turn it into a library
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The Province
15 minutes ago
- The Province
B.C. couple scores big hit with their Sunday hymns on YouTube
With over 160 million views and 645,000 YouTube subscribers, the fully independent project is one more jewel in the creative crown of two busy local artists Submitted photo of Eli Bennett and Rosemary Siemens Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sunday Hymn Serenade — Bring Back the Hymns is an online musical series produced by local musicians and married couple Eli Bennett and Rosemary Siemens. With over 160 million views and 645,000 YouTube subscribers, the fully independent project is one more jewel in the creative crown of these two busy local artists. First produced in the couple's Vancouver apartment during the pandemic as a means to bring church music into people's homes during lockdown, it has since produced 500 episodes and counting. The series features guest choirs, children's ensembles, and three generations of the musical family in weekly posts. Music has been a lifelong passion for both Siemens and Bennett. 'My mother started me singing as a baby and playing violin and piano at age three playing hymns,' said Siemens. 'I learned how to perform in church when they used to have special music at the little country chapel where I grew up in Plum Coulee, Man. After, we would gather at my grandparents' place afterwards and sing hymns in four-part harmonies with 60 of my closest relatives.' Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bennett also grew up in church singing hymns as well as learning other genres listening through his father Darryl Bennett, a film and TV composer and drummer in the Powder Blues Band, as well as the band of gospel legend Andre Crouch. The couple met in a studio where Bennett's father was producing Siemens' album. He has followed in his father's footsteps, winning a 2018 Leo Award for his score for the documentary I Believe: The Story of Real Bearded Santas, as well as Juno nominations with Five Alarm Funk and others. Bennett also leads his own jazz quartet, which has performed at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. 'My father got to write with gospel legend Andre Crouch and I grew up in his church in Los Angeles singing hymns of a very different sort than Rosemary's Mennonite upbringing,' said Bennett. 'So when we arrived at the idea of the channel, we wanted to blend the two styles together. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They had previously explored spiritual sounds with their duo Sax and Violin. The group took home a 2020 Covenant Award, which honours the Canadian gospel music industry's brightest stars, for its instrumental track You Say. But the idea of doing something more was always in the background. 'While I was touring with the Canadian Tenors and my own group, I always would throw in a hymn because I felt so comfortable playing it,' said Siemens. 'In 2019, a friend asked us to play a hymn for their parents, and we recorded it. I thought, we should do something on YouTube, and that September we put up our first song.' When COVID cancelled all of the couple's gigs, they began posting a lyric hymn on Wednesdays and on Sundays would post a live video filmed in some setting that worked within the couple's bubble. The feedback to the posts seemed universally positive, and Sunday Hymn Serenade — Bring Back the Hymns was born. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We started getting the most beautiful messages from people who said they loved the peaceful nature of hearing a lot of the music that wasn't really being performed in a lot of the churches anymore, even before lockdown,' Siemens said. 'The posts would have easy-to-read large print so you could sing along, and we found our secret formula. It's so fulfilling to us to be touching people's lives like this.' 'The two of us have done so much in music, but individually never pursued a music ministry on our own,' said Bennett. 'Coming together brought this together, and producing two songs a week is no easy feat. But the comments show us that this is beyond music and touching people's lives in ways that we couldn't do with other genres.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While large print and church classics might suggest that Sunday Hymn Serenade — Bring Back the Hymns is mostly experienced by an audience of a certain age, the couple says their metrics suggest otherwise. Bennett says all ages are on board. 'That's only something we learned about looking at YouTube analytics. Since we started this thinking of it as something for older people, which was some of our original motivation,' he said. 'But we are seeing something quite different and hope to be able to share this with churches.' By far, the United States is the top market, but Singapore and Lagos, Nigeria are in the second and third spots, they say. Unlike top 40-oriented contemporary Christian songs that are proving popular today, the duo selects centuries-old songs for filming. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The hymns have stood the test of time and weren't written for radio play or to go viral, but rather to be filled with theology,' she said. Coupled with visuals shot everywhere from the family farm in Manitoba to the Vatican and North Shore mountains, Sunday Hymn Serenade — Bring Back the Hymns is on a mission to keep as many of these church classics in circulation as possible. In addition to the weekly YouTube segments, Sunday Hymn Serenade — Bring Back the Hymns now has a radio format broadcast on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. on CFAM Radio 950. Siemens and Bennett are also still active in their other musical pursuits. Bennett's latest project is scoring a documentary for the 100th anniversary of Route 66 for PBS. His jazz album, Breakthrough, is available at Read More Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances. Vancouver Whitecaps Sports News News News
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
Saskatoon Berries ready for playoffs after record breaking season
WATCH: The Saskatoon Berries have enjoyed an impressive regular season that will go down in the history books. WATCH: The Saskatoon Berries have enjoyed an impressive regular season that will go down in the history books. The Saskatoon Berries are feeling confident as they head into playoffs after their record-breaking regular season. 'It was a little bit of a struggle leading up to it, lost two games and that one was getting close to coming down to the wire. But standing there kind of gave me the opportunity to walk it off and took that opportunity and broke a record,' Mason Roell told CTV regarding his grand slam walk off on Sunday. Roell's impressive hit puts the Berries at 46 regular season wins, which is a new record for the Western Canadian Baseball League. 'What's great about this team is that all the guys are really close and we're good friends with each other, so we're always happy when anyone else succeeds [we] get to cheer each other on and I think that's kind of just a sentiment to the team,' Roell said. The Berries have been on a roll for most of the season, only slowing down towards the end of the regular season after two consecutive losses to the Regina Red Sox. 'It was almost like a monkey off the shoulders. We tied and then lost a couple games like 'oh, we need to go get this win'. And then, when we did it, it was kind of a relief. And then just focus on playoffs now instead of the regular season,' first baseman Cory Wouters said. Playoffs begin on Wednesday, with the Berries hosting the Moose Jaw Miller Express. The team's assistant coach Chance Wheatley shared that while the team is remaining focused and expecting a tough battle against Moose Jaw, he is feeling good going into playoffs. 'We got a ton of confidence. And we're set up pretty well for the playoffs here, health wise and all that. So I think we're where we want to be, and we're excited to get rolling with it,' Wheatley said. This 46-9 season comes only two years after the Berries' inception. Outfielder Ethan Murdoch credits much of the team's success to an enthusiastic and supportive community. 'The organization is really well run, top to take great care of us. And at the end of the day, the fans support, too, is just a huge, positive, we love playing here. We love playing at home. We played really well at home this year,' Murdoch said. Murdoch says the fan turnouts have been a huge contributor to the team's success. With home field advantage going into playoffs, the Berries are ready to give their fans all they've got in the hopes of bringing the Harry Hallis Memorial Trophy home to Saskatoon. 'Two-thousand people out here and it's really loud and it makes for a fun environment. When you play every day in the summer, [it] gets a little long. But it makes it feel a little easier when you have all these people out here and it's loud,' Murdoch said.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Saskatoon Berries ready for playoffs after setting new record for wins
Last Sunday the Saskatoon Berries set a new Western Canadian Baseball League record for most wins in a single season. The team, which is only in its second season, edged past the Sylvan Lake Gulls' 44 wins in 2024, and now holds the record with 45 wins. Tyson Dale, who usually plays under 18 AAA baseball with the Saskatoon Cubs, got his chance to play in the Western Canadian Baseball League with the Saskatoon Berries. He said he was very nervous, but excited to play in the league. "It feels like it was great. I had a really good time," he said of his experience. "It's a lot more competitive. Guys hit the ball so much harder." Dale said in this league there is no room for mistakes, and even a small error could cost you the game. But the guys in this league know how to get things done. "This is a special group of players, and to have the record that they have this year, it's really special," he said. "I want to take that drive to win into my baseball career." Dale said it would be amazing to be able to play for the Saskatoon Berries next year. "It's always a privilege to play and it's not guaranteed tomorrow," said Cooper Westland, who plays second base, shortstop and third base for the team. "You just want to go out there every day with your best effort and do it for the fans and your teammates as well." Westland said the reason for the success this season is because of the amount of love and support from the coaches, staff and other team members. "We just all just bond together and we just enjoy hanging out with each other," he said. "I think we do a really good job of just showing up each day with a smile on our face, and that's what keeps the whole team going." Jalen Freeman, who plays outfield, said they don't play to lose, they play to win. "That's just how we go about every day, every rep, every practice," he said. In two weeks he will be heading back to his hometown of Houston, Texas, but he says he loved playing for the Saskatoon Berries. "It did me great, this place was great. People were great, the fans were great," he said about his experience. "I mean it's kind of sad, but you know, life goes on and those people will always be in my heart. So it's cool." Freeman said the team is ready for the playoffs. "We are ready to go. We train all season. We worked all season."
