Pop stars from across the decades are getting a makeover courtesy of Rainbow Harmony Project.
The 2SLGBTQ+ family of choirs is inviting choral fans to Love Out Loud: Pop Royalty this weekend at the West End Cultural Centre, the first concert of their 26th season.
Katy Harmer, Rainbow Harmony Project’s interim artistic director, says that for their first concert of 2025, the group is pulling out all the stops. “We’ve got the Rainbow Harmony Project, we’ve got the youth choir as well, and we’ve got a band, we’ve got horns, and our two MC’s, two drag queens – well-known in the city here – Special K and Lady Muse!”
All of these elements combine to bring the music of everyone from Madonna and Michael Jackson to Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan. Harmer says the decision to include artists from across the decades was an international one to make sure choristers of all ages had music from their youth to sing along to. “We wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just the one-named pop stars that we know from years ago, but also really current,” she explained. “I think there should be something for any pop fan out there. You’ll find something that you like in this concert, I think.”
Putting together a musically fun concert like this one is not without its challenges. Harmer notes that it takes a special balance to perform pop music in a choral style. “We have to talk about, you know, in terms of learning how to sing it, adding the harmonies that maybe are different from the harmonies that you hear,” she says.
“It’s a lot of fun and that’s really what we want to have, but we still have to find that balance of like, ‘OK, we’re singing in a healthy and good way, right?’. But we’re also singing stuff that everybody knows, so we don’t want to, you know, mess with it too much.”
Harmer notes that trying to strike this balance is a good exercise not only for the choristers, but for herself as a conductor. “Pop music is definitely not my usual area of expertise,” she admits with a laugh. “I’ve been learning a lot about how to direct pop music and how to just have fun and relax a little bit as well and just lean into [the music].”
Love Out Loud: Pop Royalty takes the stage at the West End Cultural Centre on February 22 at 7:30 p.m. Choral music fans are encouraged to visit Rainbow Harmony Project’s website for tickets and more information.