Classical music: choirs gather to celebrate the return to normal life

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choral feast

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when: November 27, 2:30 p.m.

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Where: Orpheum Theater, Vancouver

Information and tickets: vancouverchamberchoir.com

The Vancouver Chamber Choir has assembled a remarkable new event for this waning choral calendar. This is a polychoral extravaganza featuring half a dozen ensembles singing in the Orpheum.

The idea of ​​a large choral gathering has been under consideration for over a year. At first, it was a somewhat dreamy notion of what would be possible once musical life established some kind of normality.

“VCC Artistic Director Kari Turunen and I came up with this idea over a year ago. At the time, it was just wishful thinking. Why don’t you invite them?” said Executive Director Steven Beranger.

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Months later, the wishful thinking has evolved into a certainty and is now a reality.

Chamber choirs have long enjoyed priority patron status at the Orpheum, receiving citizen grants to rent the theater for special occasions.

“The pandemic was really deadly for the choir,” Beranger said.

And the concept of an epic choral mashup showcasing an ensemble that rarely sings in the Orpheum seemed particularly appropriate after more than two years of struggle. The opportunity to reflect on the diversity of our choral scene has truly become a way to celebrate.

The idea was to invite a choir and give each a part of the afternoon’s program to present a sample of that particular repertoire, ending with a song or two with all the singers participating.

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Of course, there were some practical considerations.

“The number of people on the Orpheum stage is limited, so it was kind of a tasting menu,” Beranger says. “If we had absolutely everyone, we would have sung for each other without an audience.”

This time only small and medium sized ensembles participated. And in the future?

“If this is successful, we have established a framework for future collaboration,” Beranger said.

The afternoon begins with Carey Tennant of the Vancouver Youth Choir, headed by Nitotamoku Askey of Sherrill Swepagaham, a composer of the Cree Dean family, who hails from Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta and is a graduate of the music therapy program at Capilano University. .

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Tennant’s own group will then stay on stage to sing Indonesian folk songs and Aurora by Eriks Eschenvalz. The next set by Lars Kaario’s Laudate Singers contains the program’s oldest work, Claudio Monteverdi’s Zefiro torna e’l bel tempo rimena from 1614.

Conducted by Paula Kremer, the Vancouver Cantata Singers conclude the first part of the program with three 21st century compositions by Tracy Wong, Arvo Peart and Hussein Janmohamed.

An intermission will be followed by contemporary music by Leslie Ueda and Andrew Balfour of Musica Intima, followed by Mahler and Hrushowski of the Phoenix Chamber Choir conducted by Dave Rosborough.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir’s set includes works by Michael Delilahmore and Edmonton-based Laura Hawley.

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Then it’s time for the grand finale, with Turunen conducting the music of Mendelssohn and Rheinberger.

“We end with two songs that we all sing together,” said Beranger. “200 singers in the finale!”

Encore: More choral music is played at the Orpheum in early December. Bach’s Choir Christmas (December 4th, 2pm) is another extravaganza with his eight VBC choirs. And it’s the turn of his Vancouver Bach Choir to perform Handel’s Messiah (December 10, 7:30 p.m.). Leslie Dala conducts the choir, joined by a quartet of soloists and members of his Orchestra for Vancouver His Opera. For more information, visit vancouverbachchoir.com.