Canada and the U.S. seek choral harmony at Tapestry International Festival
Vancouver’s own Elektra hosts adult treble choirs from Nova Scotia, Illinois, and California in this triennial celebration
Elektra. Photo by Christopher Edmonstone
Elektra presents the Tapestry International Festival, with performances taking place at Pacific Spirit United Church on May 8 at 7:30 pm, and at Christ Church Cathedral on May 9 at 7 pm
A CERTAIN PRESIDENT south of the 49th parallel has dialled back his rhetoric about turning Canada into the 51st state, but the months he spent ratcheting up the tension between our two nations has had a lasting effect.
Good luck finding a Tennessee bourbon on the shelf at your neighbourhood liquor store, for example. And good luck, for that matter, finding any Canadian who feels inclined to take their next vacation anywhere in the United States.
Some things know no international boundaries, however, and music is one of them. In that spirit, long-running local choir Elektra is once again hosting its signature event, the border-crossing Tapestry International Festival, which gathers together adult treble choirs—those focused on the soprano and alto ranges—from different countries.
(Left to right) Cassie Luftspring, Anne Hege
“It happens every three years, and we invite choirs to apply from around the world,” Elektra’s artistic director, Cassie Luftspring, tells Stir in an interview conducted via Zoom. “They come and they bring their own sound and identity and share that with us and with our community, and we share our own. It’s a beautiful collaborative journey, culminating in performances for the wider public.”
Visiting choirs this year include one from Canada—the Aeolian Singers from Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by Frances Farrell—and two from the United States: La Caccina from Chicago, Illinois, under the guidance of artistic director Carling FitzSimmons; and the Peninsula Women’s Chorus, based in Palo Alto, California.
“This chorus came to Tapestry years ago with a previous artistic director,” says Peninsula’s current AD, Anne Hege, on the same Zoom call. “So there’s been a long relationship with Elektra that I think is really quite wonderful. So it’s been on my radar to apply, and this seemed like the right time to come.”
This won’t be Hege’s first visit to B.C.—as a young chorist she performed at the International Choral Kathaumixw in Powell River twice, and she also sang at Expo 86—but it will be her first time at Tapestry.
This year’s fest will also be the first for Luftspring, who stepped into the role of artistic director for the 2025–26 season following Elektra co-founder Morna Edmundson’s retirement after 38 years at the helm.
Luftspring explains that Tapestry consists of two events, kicking off at Pacific Spirit United Church. “The first concert is on May 8; it’s called Choral Threads,” she says. “It’s free, with RSVP, to the public. It’s an open, exploratory experience. It’s a chance to meet the choirs and hear the individual voices and approaches that make each ensemble unique. We each have our own set, and we perform on our own on a kind of rotation basis, and that is the entire concert.”
Things conclude the following night at Christ Church Cathedral with the Tapestry Celebration Concert.
“That is a ticketed performance in a more formal setting,” Luftspring says. “We still do our own solo sets, but we also bring our collective energy into four massed-choir works that we all learn together. So, that combines all 130 voices in song as a really exciting concert finale.
“Ahead of time, each of the conductors selects a massed-choir piece that’s representative of our country or our ensemble,” she continues. “The two choirs from Canada have chosen pieces that are by Canadian composers, for example. So, yes, we prepare the music in advance, but when we meet on the festival days, we do have combined rehearsals. We all get together and each conductor conducts one of the four massed-choir pieces with everybody.”
From stateside come Wendell Berry’s poem “The Peace of Wild Things”, set to music by by Joan Szymko; and Rosephanye Powell’s Maya Angelou–inspired Still I Rise.
The pieces by Canadian composers are Sherryl Sewepagaham’s Cree-language kahkiyaw oskâyak and Stephanie Martin’s setting of Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.
Canadian composers are well-represented throughout the Tapestry weekend, through performances of works by Marie-Claire Saindon, Don Macdonald, Katerina Gimon, and Andrew Balfour.
Hege says she is eagerly anticipating not just the performances, but the opportunity to connect with others who have a passion for the power of the human voice—no matter which side of the border they reside on.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how the other choirs work, how they sound, and how the directors lead,” she says. “We programmed the four massed pieces, two in the fall and two in the spring, so it’s been great having that as part of our repertoire all year, and I’m just really excited to see the rest of the sets, and to get to know these other singers.
“It’s like a conference meets a festival meets a gathering,” she says. “I like that name for the way musicians can come together and pick each other’s brains and enjoy each other.” 
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