For 45 years, AURA Chamber Choir has been dedicated to producing fine choral music throughout the Okanagan.
This year, the spring anniversary concert will be made even more beautiful when they perform J.S. Bach’s masterpiece, The Passion according to St. John on April 6 and 7.
“It’s a massive undertaking,” says musical director Dr. Terry Pitt-Brooke. “We’ve engaged professional players from the Okanagan Symphoney Orchestra and Vancouver, local vocalists, and celebrated tenor Benjamin Butterfield – well known to Vernon concertgoers from his recitals for NOCCA (North Okanagan Community Concert Association) – to realize this most dramatic of Bach’s settings of Jesus’ last hours on the exact 300th anniversary of its first performance!”
Pitt-Brooke and the choir have been working on perfecting the music since early January.
Rehearsing the score is just part of work the choir has put in to make this production a reality.
“You might have heard us singing downtown at Christmas time, or caroling at various senior centres as a way to fundraise. We even held a silent auction at our Christmas concert,” says AURA president Margaret Hundeby Hunter.
Local community members have jumped on board too.
Philanthropists Janet Armstrong and her partner Lloyd Davies have donated over $3,000 in support of the concert.
“Having sung in Aura for many years I know how much preparation goes into a work like this,” says Armstrong. “Our tangible financial support leads to so many intangible benefits! This will be a thrilling experience for both performers and audience alike.”
The choir has also partnered with Watkin Motors Ford and the Vernon Towne Theatre for a movie screening supporting AURA.
Every month, Watkin Motors Ford and the Theatre team up to present Thankful Thursday, with 100 per cent of ticket sales going towards a chosen charity that month.
You can see Maestro staring Bradley Cooper Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at thetowne.ca.
“This is a win, win,” says Hundeby Hunter. “Not only do you get to see a seven-time Academy Award nominated movie, but you also get to show your support for AURA!”
Maestro is about the conflicted relationship between famed conductor Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre.
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