It’s not another Royal visit, but for those who love choral music, it will be the next best thing.
Professional chamber choir the Laudate Singers is in Vernon to perform Songs of the British Isles, including both traditional secular and contemporary choral music showing the British influences on modern Canadian life.
The event, taking place Sunday, Oct. 2 at All Saints Anglican Church, is co-sponsored by Vernon’s Aura Chamber Choir and Kelowna resident John Powell.
“Music from the British Isles has had such a profound impact on the Canadian choral scene. It’s always interesting to see how we receive these influential works in a modern context,” said Laudate’s current artistic director Lars Kaario. “We don’t often get to compare and contrast the styles and intricacies of choral music from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all in one concert.”
Laudate means praise, and for the singers every concert is a joyful celebration.
Founded in 1995 by Kaario, this professional-level chamber choir skillfully and passionately presents innovative programming that spans centuries, cultures and genres.
Laudate Singers combine technical artistry with the ability to make all kinds of choral music accessible.
Their program in Vernon commences with British composers of the 16th and 17th centuries, who developed folk songs into secular songs, such as John Farmer’s Fair Phyllis I saw Sitting, Orlando Gibbons’ The Silver Swan and Now is the Month of Maying by Thomas Morley.
The first half of the concert ends with a secular song from the Renaissance, Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd, as well as the scared piece, Mass in G minor, written by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1921.
The singers perform pieces by modern composers of today’s Britain after intermission as well as one by young Canadian composer Chris Sivak, the everlasting voices, which made its premiere in May this year. It is based on text written by Irish poet William Butler Yeats.
Sivak has been composer-in-residence with Laudate since September, 2014.
The Laudate Singers perform at All Saints Anglican Church, 3205 27th St., Vernon, Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Bean Scene, Bean to Cup and at the door. For more information, call 250-542-8118.