PREVIEW
FRESH
Chronos Vocal Ensemble
Friday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
St. Albert Catholic Parish
7 St. Vital Ave.
Admission by donation
As the concert season extends into the new year, Chronos Vocal Ensemble keeps the choral pipeline flowing with a pristine slate of new faces, works and composers.
The 32 choristers, including St. Albert alto Guylaine Lefevbre-Maunder and Morinville alto Anne-Marie Switzer, present FRESH, the first full-length concert of the season on Saturday at West End Christian Reformed Church. The ensemble will also perform a 90-minute abbreviated version on Friday, Jan. 12 at St. Albert Catholic Parish.
"We want to share new music by Canadian composers inspired by secular texts and poetry. The themes are universally human – love, passion, death, loss and hope. There are other themes of nature and lots of wonderful poetry from the last 100 years," said founding artistic director Jordan Van Biert.
The Friday night program boasts 11 songs, each less than five minutes in length. Chronos performs British Columbia composer Nicholas Ryan Kelly's premiere of A Flame in the Embers.
Van Biert notes the text is borrowed from Marjorie Pickthall's poetry. Although once believed to be an "obscure" writer, Pickthall now is thought to be the best Canadian poet of her generation.
"It paints a nighttime scene. It's very serene. You could call it a mood piece," Van Biert said.
Another deeply felt and spiritually crafted work on the program is Peter Togni's The Eighth of September. The freelance Canadian pianist, composer and broadcaster based out of Halifax has enjoyed seeing his work produced everywhere from Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall to Rome's Vatican City to Shanghai's Oriental Arts Centre.
"The Eighth of September was commissioned for a 25th wedding anniversary from a text by Pablo Neruda. Although the commission was fulfilled, it was without a premiere. We have the joy of holding the world premiere."
Composer Zachary Wadsworth, a leading composer of his generation hailed for his "prismatic" works, will see the Canadian premiere of Three Lacquer Prints.
"It's from a set of poems describing the art process. It's a piece of music interpreting a work of art and our performance further interprets the composer's vision. Anne-Marie Switzer highlights the work as featured soloist."
Van Biert also selected Kathleen Allan's The Frost, Tawnie Olson's Spring and Fall, David Archer's Who Has Seen the Wind and Matthew Emery's When the Sun Comes After the Rain.
For more information on FRESH visit www.chronosvocalensemble.com
