Calgary chorus turns tweets into beautiful music

Leave it to Albertans to battle the winter blues with humour — and create a viral tourism campaign in the process.

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus decided to crowdsource their Twitter followers for tips on how to stay warm during the city's cold winter months.

Wordsmiths were then tasked with adapting the best of those tweets to O Fortuna, the Latin poem set to music as part of composer Carl Orff's Carmina Burana cantata.

Because O Fortuna is known for its dramatic tenor, suggestions like "Try hot yoga/Or a nose hat" sounded especially ridiculous (and funny) when they were sung in earnest by the 120-member choir.

Other lyrics included "Hunker down and find your mittens" and "Make some really good mulled wine."

Some of the stranger tips included bowls of noodles and lining wool socks with plastic bags, while an inspired poutine lover suggested the song's most memorable line: "Gravy action on my cheese."

The video is part of a campaign by Tourism Calgary to attract visitors to the city, even, it would seem, in the less desirable months of the year.

The tactic appears to be working. CNN picked up the story and broadcast the video yesterday, drawing scores of new viewers to Tourism Calgary's YouTube page where they can discover that putting clothes in the dryer just before you head outside is another great way to stay toasty.

Of course, the Chorus put it far more elegantly than that.