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The quality that separates a Proximus 5 holiday show from the myriad others taking place this month is the intimacy.
“The immediacy of five individual voices, there’s a close connection that you can make with people,” says alto Karla Ferguson. “The fact that we’re singing fairly traditional or familiar songs, I just think that we’re going to hit people in all the feels.”
“At times, we can’t look at the audience because they are being very emotional,” adds baritone Paul Bruch-Wiens. “That’s what I find with the audience in Proximus 5 is they are truly allowing themselves to go to the place that they feel tradition bring them.”
The sense of intimacy that Proximus 5’s ‘Noel Nocturne’ concerts provide musically will be enhanced by their setting: All Saints Anglican Church in West Broadway. These two concerts are the final stop on Proximus 5’s winter tour that saw them make several stops in western Manitoba in the past week.
These holiday concerts represent something of a departure for the 5-piece a cappella ensemble, who have steeped themselves in the repertoire of the Renaissance and Baroque choral masters for the first years of their career. Now, the group is turning to poppier arrangements more reminiscent of Pentatonix, The Swingle Singers, and Rajaton.
“We’ve all wanted to move that direction,” says Bruch-Wiens of the style change. “Over time, we noticed that the audience really appreciated that move, and we really do want to sing for as many people as we possibly can while still enjoying it ourselves.”
Ferguson notes that even though the style has changed, the mechanism by which the group delivers their music has remained the same. “All the techniques still apply where you're working with really close harmonies. I think the beauty too of of each individual voice is one per part. You know, it gives us lots of chance for nuance and I think we're just bringing all the skills that we have in in regular classical singing.”
Those skills are something that the group employs not only in singing the music that others have written, but the music that’s being written for them as well by ensemble member Scott Reimer. He explains that the knowledge he has of the other voices in the ensemble allows him to put Proximus 5’s signature touch to the timeless holiday music that audiences love.
“I think the main thing is that when you've got five voices that cover the spectrum of what the human voice is capable of, I've got basically anything at my disposal,” says Reimer. “I can truly be creative with these five parts and get them to fit together how I want, knowing the voices that will be singing them.”
That creativity and intimacy will be on full display for the final two concerts of Proximus 5’s ‘Noel Nocturne’ tour. Those concerts take place at All Saints Anglican Church on December 7 at 7:30 p.m. and December 8 at 3 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found at the group’s website.