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Choral showcase features premiere by Andrew Balfour, iconic Canadian songs and more
This Sunday at Westworth United Church, the Esprit Singers are leaning into the spirit of “made in Canada” with a concert celebrating the diverse, powerful voices of Canadian composers—past and present. Titled North of the 49th Parallel, the 3 p.m. performance features works by a wide-ranging lineup, from Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen to Andrew Balfour and Malcolm Forsyth.
A premiere by Andrew Balfour
“It [the commission of the work] came about because I had reached out to Andrew Balfour. He's a composer that I find so interesting and so compelling, and I really, really wanted to have Esprit perform a work of his,” said conductor and artistic director Valdine Anderson. “We found the work Qilak, but I thought it would be so fantastic to have an accompanying work to go with it, and so we commissioned him.”
That new piece is called Sakihitowin.
“It’s really talking about the words which have been community and truth and it's just celebrating this with syllables that kind of come to a sort of climactic point,” Anderson explained. “I would say it's kind of a celebration or a great big fanfare, really.”
Echoes of the frozen North
Balfour’s works appear in the concert’s first section, Songs to Celebrate Canada, alongside Malcolm Forsyth’s Auyuittuq, named for the national park on Baffin Island.
“The name of the area Auyuittuq really means ‘place where there's no summer.’ So it's a frozen landscape and the poetry is fantastic,” said Anderson. “It appears frozen and that nothing's happening, but really there's a great deal of passion amongst all of this frozen atmosphere.”
She described the piece’s sound as “harsh and stark and yet beautiful in its own way.”
A rainy interlude for spring
The concert’s second section revolves around the theme of rain, featuring three evocative works by Canadian composers.
“We wanted to do Sid Robinovitch’s Noche de Lluvia so much. It's just such a beautiful piece and so fun in a kind of a tango sort of rhythm,” said Anderson. “And After the Rain by Sarah Quartel… has a text by Dan George… and I Dreamed of Rain is just a beautiful piece by Jan Garrett.”
Iconic Canadian tunes get a choral twist
The program rounds off with what Anderson calls “lighter fare,” including Leonard Cohen’s Bird on a Wire and Hallelujah, and Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You and Big Yellow Taxi.
“We've pretty much copied K.D. Lang’s arrangement,” Anderson said of Bird on a Wire, performed by soloist Olivia Maxfield. “We've got the organ in there and everything. So it should be kind of fun.”
Joining the choir is a trio of guest musicians: Terry Youmans (guitar), Miles Littman (bass), and Chris Maxfield (drums). “Lucky us—they just happened to be here for this concert,” said Anderson.
Also on the program is All Together We Are Love by Vancouver composer Katerina Gimon.
“It’s a cappella, but it’s kind of got the choir beatboxing a little bit,” said Anderson. “They're providing their own rhythm section. The harmonies are so pretty… it's funky and really fun.”
A program to inspire national pride
Anderson hopes audience members leave both inspired and uplifted.
“Apart from feeling really, really proud of the output of music from Canadian artists, I hope they’ll be humming along to Hallelujah as they go out the door,” she said. “Canada has wonderful music and we can put a whole program together of it… it covers pop, it covers music about the country itself, and it covers classical choral music too—so, all genres.”
If you go
North of the 49th Parallel takes place Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m. at Westworth United Church (1750 Grosvenor Avenue). Visit espritsingers.com or classic107.com for more details.