From medieval texts to the Pogues, musica intima puts new spin on holiday choral songs
The self-directed vocal ensemble covers a lot of ground in two new virtual holiday concerts
Musica intima bass Steve Maddock started singing before he started kindergarten.
Musica intima presents Ceremony of Carols on December 20 and ding dong! on December 22 via Zoom.
EVER SINCE HE was four, Steve Maddock has been singing. He was a boy soprano in church choir until his teens, those years instilling in the Vancouver artist a deep passion for music. Attending a high school for the performing arts near Toronto, where he learned to play trumpet and took to jazz, cemented his love for all things musical. Over the past two decades, Maddock has established himself as an in-demand musician and actor across the country, performing as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and the Dal Richards Jazz Orchestra and as a performer with Arts Club Theatre and Stage West Calgary, to name a small handful of gigs.
Part of his time lately has been devoted to rehearsals for two upcoming concerts by musica intima, which he joined in the late 1990s after subbing as a bass.
Singing during COVID times is as frustrating for the local artist as it is fantastic.
“Daily temperature checks, health questionnaires, physical distancing, several breaks in order to air out the space, gallons of hand sanitizer, and masks at all times while indoors, including while we're singing,” Maddock says of the protocols in place for the pair of digital shows. “Truth be told, I hate singing with a mask on and will never get used to it. However, given the alternative, I wear it and do as best with it as I can.
“I’m blessed to be in a room with 11 other people, making music,” he says, “especially during these times.”
Maddock performs in both of musica intima’s holiday concerts. Taking place December 20, Ceremony of Carols, recorded at Christ Church Cathedral, features a collaboration with harpist Janelle Nadeau. Ding dong!, the ensemble’s cheeky Christmas show, filmed at St. James Community Square, takes place December 22.
What distinguishes musica intima from other professional choral ensembles is that it does not have a sole music director; rather, the 12-voice group functions as a pure collaborative. Being self-directed is what initially attracted Maddock to the organization .
“There was a hipness and a real sense of musical adventure that I hadn’t really experienced before, at least not in choir,” Maddock says.
Kira Fondse has a background in opera and musical theatre.
The structure demands a high level of commitment from the ensemble’s members, notes soprano Kira Fondse, who joined musica intima just over a year ago. With a background in opera and musical theatre, Fondse has a Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Manitoba. She had previously trained and performed as a solo singer or in musical or opera productions and didn’t have much experience singing in small vocal ensembles or focusing on blending into others’ sound.
“This is not your traditional choir or vocal ensemble; there is a lot more responsibility and dependency on each member, and you need to develop unique skills in order to help the ensemble thrive, such as learning how to cue and sing at the same time,” Fondse says. “A wonderful thing about this ensemble is that it employs musicians of many different musical backgrounds and walks of life, and so everyone has something different and unique to share. And we all learn so much from each other.
“It’s really exciting to see what new things folks keep bringing to the table,” she says. “From jazz singers to professional choral conductors to opera and musical theatre singers to pop singers to professional choral singers to music educators and brass players, there is such a wide variety within the ensemble. This might sound like a recipe for disaster, but there is a common desire within each ensemble member to create the best possible sound and the highest quality art that we can.”
Musica intima’s versatility will certainly be on display with these very different takes on seasonal programming. A masterwork for voices and harp, Ceremony of Carols is a favourite among treble choirs. Although Britten’s arrangement for mixed choir is less known, it’s no less powerful. Maddock describes it as “one of the most aesthetically pleasing pieces” he has ever encountered. Inspired by Britten’s masterpiece, composers Cecilia McDowall, Andrew Balfour, Tawnie Olson, and Matthew Larkin created new music for voices based on ancient Christmas texts. With Nadeau on harp, the concert will also feature traditional choral songs.
Ding dong! goes in a completely different direction. Featuring a local jazz trio and in-house arrangements, the concert covers a gamut of styles, including blues, country, pop, folk, and jazz. Classic carols are mixed with songs by the likes of Corb Lund, the Pogues, the Pretenders, and Pentatonix.
As many other arts groups have found, the push to present some kind of holiday concert was simply non-negotiable to musica intima, even if this year’s events are happening online, masks and all.
“Music is such a powerful tool,” Maddock says. “It redeems, it heals, and at this time of year, it can warm the heart. We want to be able to bring a bit of comfort, a bit of joy, to people.”
Fondse says it not being able to perform as per usual because of the pandemic has been very hard on the singers. The concerts offer a kind of rejuvenation for those on-screen and off.
“We are artists who love to make art,” Fondse says. “We love to sing. We love to collaborate. We love to create and share stories through music. It is life-giving to us in a way that is hard to describe, but my goodness do we ever miss it when we don't partake in it. So it was important for us to offer these performances, simply because we need it right now. But we also know our audiences do, too.
“People have been incredibly supportive of our online offerings so far and have shown the desire to see intima through this rough season,” she says. “Everyone in the ensemble is just so grateful to be able to sing together right now.”
For more information about musica intima’s digital performances, visit its website.
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