Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 pieces that celebrate rising choral composers at Chor Leoni's The Big Roar

From Miranda Currie’s world premiere “Pass on the teachings” to a work with Bollywood rhythms, two-day choir fest celebrates fresh, diverse voices

By Janet Smith

The Big Roar. Photo by Philip Jack

Chor Leoni presents The Big Roar at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on May 8 at 7:30 pm and May 9 at 1 pm

AT CHOR LEONI’S annual choir extravaganza, The Big Roar, the draw is the sheer number of voices—350 strong—that gather to harmonize across generations. Participants this year include the group’s professional ensemble The Leonids, MYVoice youth choirs, young PRÉLUDE singers, and participants of the Emerging Choral Artist Program, as well as two B.C. high-school choirs.

But there’s another aspect of the two-concert celebration for audiences to “roar” about: programs that, far from presenting the tried and true, showcase an excitingly diverse slate of rising new voices in choral composition.

Below, just a few of the highlights hitting the Chan Centre on May 8 and 9.

#1

“Pass on the teachings”

By Miranda Currie

The event’s finale gathers all 350 voices for this world premiere by Miranda Currie, the inaugural Amplify Artist in Residence for Chor Leoni's 2025–26 season. She’s a northern Indigenous multidisciplinary artist educator and composer who lives among the Dene people in Yellowknife, drawing on the influences of her own Mushkegowuk (Swampy Cree) heritage and Euro-Canadian ancestry. Currently completing a Masters in Indigenous Land Based Education, she’s released five albums of music, including two for children. The song expresses Dene knowledge systems, where Indigenous Elders share wisdom, stories, and traditions with younger generations.

Marie-Claire Saindon

#2

“The Day Is Yours”

By Marie-Claire Saindon

Choral numbers don’t come more uplifting than this recent work by Franco-Ontarian choral composer Saindon. The rhythmic piece, performed by the entire 350-voice chorus, is a percussion-driven affirmation to “Rise up, And know the day is yours to shape. Fill it with hope, Fill it with life, Fill it with awe, Fill it with Joy!” The artist is composer-in-residence at Chor Leoni—one who loves to draw on imagery and poetic text. Based in Montreal as composer-in-residence for Chœur Adleisia, she multitasks across scoring films, teaching fiddle and accompanying dancers. Expect this one to get the entire chorus moving—not to mention its conductor, music director Erick Lichte.

Shruthi Rajasekar

#3

“Lingua Tonga”

By Shruthi Rajasekar

Minnesota-based Rajasekar’s premiere is a joyful homage to the colourful music of Bollywood, bursting with ornamentation and raga-like rhythms. The composer and performer’s accolades include McKnight Composer Fellow with the American Composers Forum, Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and winning the Global Women in Music Award from the United Nations. Her music draws from her roots in the Carnatic and Western classical traditions, and has been performed everywhere from London’s Royal Albert Hall to Mumbai’s National Centre for Performing Arts. The Chor Leoni choir performs the piece at The Big Roar.

Henrik Dahlgren

#4

“Woods”

By Bon Iver, arranged by Henrik Dahlgren

We’re curious about this one, a choral arrangement of the beloved indie folk band’s raw, a capella track, a vocord-enhanced song about isolation and introspection from 2009’s Blood Bank EP (“I’m up in the woods/I’m down on my mind”). The mesmerizing original uses heavily processed, autotuned vocal layers to simulate a digital choir. Enter young, award-winning Swedish composer Dahlgren, who interprets the short but arresting piece for the decidedly no-autotune-necessary The Leonids. The composer began his musical education at the Malmö Academy of Music, continuing at the Royal College of Music in London and the University of Aberdeen.

Cedrick Howoseb

#5

“Muhona”

By Cedrick Howoseb

The young MYVoice choir, with its singers aged 12 to 24, is the perfect vehicle for another exuberant entry on The Big Roar program. The Namibian composer's rousing a capella piece draws on African rhythms, but it also springs out of Howoseb's inspiration from the hymns of his old Lutheran church choir. The young, self-taught musician directs the Sion Youth Choir of Namibia, and won the title of Best Old Mutual Choir Conductor in his home country. 

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