A Choral Feast 4 brings Vancouver Chamber Choir together with two Alberta ensembles, May 14
Edmonton’s Chronos Vocal Ensemble and Calgary’s Luminous Voices add vocal power to a program that’s strong on contemporary composers
Chronos Vocal Ensemble
Luminous Voices
The Vancouver Chamber Choir presents A Choral Feast 4 at Christ Church Cathedral on May 14
WHAT A WIDE-RANGING set of courses being served up at the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s aptly named A Choral Feast on May 14.
Conducted by artistic director Kari Turunen, the choir will perform everything from 14th-century music by Guillaume de Machaut to Alex Freeman’s 2019 piece “Calle sin Nombre”.
Kari Turunen
Joining it is Edmonton’s Chronos Vocal Ensemble, with cutting-edge gems like B.C. composer Dorothy Chang’s 2022 work “Hear My Prayer” (and its tip of the hat to Henry Purcell), as well as maverick composer Caroline Shaw’s 2017 work “and the swallow” and Stuart Beatch’s 2023 composition “What She Gave Me”.
Those two ensembles also combine on “Deux/Two Solitudes”, by rising contemporary Franco-Ontarian composer Marie-Claire Saindon.
But there’s much more century-hopping to come. After intermission, Calgary’s Luminous Voices range from “Ego flos campi”, by the 16th century’s Jacobus Clemens non Papa, to works by Woodland Cree–Dene composer Sherryl Sewepagaham, not to mention the world premiere of Stephanie Martin’s “Streamside/To Birds”, complete with solo performances by baritone Nicholas Allen, mezzo-soprano Sara Staples, and soprano Julie Crouch.
The three choirs then join forces to fill Christ Church Cathedral’s vaulted ceilings with Andrew Balfour’s “Trapped in Stone”, Beatch’s “Girl Hours”, and Malika Tirolien’s “Oliassa”—leaving choral fans fully satiated. 
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