Vancouver Chamber Choir performs Timothy Takach’s nature-rooted multimedia piece We Are Phoenix, January 24
Under the inspiring title I Fall, I Rise, the concert also features the Focus post-secondary choir and winners of the Young Composers’ Competition
Timothy Takach. Photo by Tony Pike
The Vancouver Chamber Choir presents I Fall, I Rise at Pacific Spirit United Church on January 24 at 7:30 pm
“I FIND MYSELF IN LOVE with this intricate, beautiful world.”
That’s the final line of “I Fall, I Rise”, a poem by C.J. Nichols that expresses a profound appreciation for the Earth—more specifically, for its innate balance of destruction and creation. Concepts of transformation, such as a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly and a phoenix rising from the ashes, are referenced throughout.
“I Fall, I Rise” is one of 11 poems that form the lyrics of We Are Phoenix, an original multimedia work by American composer Timothy Takach. Its Western Canadian premiere will be the focal point of the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s next concert—aptly titled I Fall, I Rise—at Pacific Spirit United Church.
Takach’s piece features a variety of other texts that revolve around humans’ relationship to the planet, including late poet Patricia Monaghan’s “In the Beginning”, librettist Caitlin Vincent’s “Digging Up a Rose”, and author Louise Erdrich’s “To Risk Your Heart”. Takach writes on his website: “This piece became an exploration of the idea that we are not separate from nature, nor above it, but intrinsically a part of it.”
On January 24, video projections will accompany We Are Phoenix; the visuals will mirror the themes of perseverance and renewal that are present in the music itself. And a string quartet consisting of violinists Georgina Leo and Rebecca Ruthven, violist Catherine Chen, and cellist Jake Klinkenborg will join the vocalists.
I Fall, I Rise, which starts at 7:30 pm, will also feature the post-secondary singers of the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s Focus professional development choir and the three winners of the 17th biennial Young Composers’ Competition. 
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