A bounty of choral concerts await Manitoba audiences this weekend and one such show brings two choirs together to share in the music making.
“Every year when we present Confluence, we invite a choir to sing with us,” explains Horizon Artistic Director Johanna Hildebrand.
In this year’s concert, they welcome the Eastman Youth Choir, which is made up of senior high school students from across southeastern Manitoba who come together for three weekends of intensive workshops and performances.
“We feel very special that they’re going to be singing with us,” says Hildebrand.
The senior member in the PVI (Prairie Voices Inc.) family of choirs, Horizon consists of singers aged 26-plus. As society adjusts to a new normal, the new landscape of choral was uncertain, according to Hildbrand.
“We didn’t know if there would be a resurgence in people wanting to join choirs and sing,” she says. “As it turned out, people are just coming in droves to audition for Horizon.”
The 48-member strong contingent is the largest ever assembled and offers some unique and exciting possibilities for the choir, according to Hildebrand.
“Suddenly we can do 16-part harmony which is really fun!”
Presenting a diverse range of composers and subjects, Horizon launches their season with the Canadian premiere of a composition about Oscar-lauded Hidden Figures icon Katherine Johnson, NASA’s first female African-American research mathematician
Drawing on a text from Johnson’s own autobiography Reaching for the Moon, Horizon will perform “Girl with the Numbers” by Canadian composer Marie-Claire Saindon, with choreography prepared by Jenny Magnus.
Other composers include Caroline Shaw, Esther Scliar and Eric Whitacre. Plus a special arrangement of an Eagles hit!
Confluence – featuring Horizon with the Eastman Youth Choir – takes place on Saturday, November 19 at St. Andrew’s United Church. 7:30 pm – tickets are $20 with $10 student tickets available.
Click here for more information and tickets!