Halifax Explosion Commemorative Show Goes to Edmonton
The ECMA-nominated Halifax Camerata Singers (HCS) with special guests, Rhapsody Quintet and actor Jeremy Webb are taking Halifax 1917: From Dreams to Despair to the first Edmonton International Choral Festival, June 1-4, as invited guests of Pro Coro Canada. This original production commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion was first performed before sell-out audience at Halifax Central Library two months ago. Utilizing “letters” imagining correspondence between a young soldier overseas, and his family and friends back in Halifax, the concert portrays a bustling wartime Halifax with marching suffragettes, vaudeville houses and concerts in the Public Gardens. Poignant compositions, including commissioned works by Paul Halley and Chris Palmer, give a contemporary take on some events of the era. Some comments from audience members at the March premiere: “what incredible work and a privilege to attend,” “best concert I’ve ever been to,” “brilliant concept and a magnificent production,” “beautiful music, singing, narrative, projections – bravo to all!,” “I was truly moved.”
Camerata’s performance is on Friday, June 2 at 8:00 p.m. at All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Edmonton. Other performers throughout the Festival are the host choir, Pro Coro Canada, and Sweden’s Voces Nordicae as well as a massed gala choir. Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey commented “We wanted to tell a Nova Scotian story in Edmonton, and were delighted when the Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada, Michael Zaugg, accepted our suggestion of taking the Explosion show to a Western audience. We are also so excited to perform with Pro Coro and Sweden’s Voces Nordicae and to work with master choral conductor, Robert Sund.”
The concert concludes with a work commissioned for the choir and Quintet by Halifax composer Christopher Palmer, utilizing a text by former Alexander MacKay School principal, DM Matheson. Palmer discovered the poem in the rare books section of the Halifax Public Library, and is travelling to Edmonton for the Festival.
Halifax 1917: from Dreams to Despair has been updated to include Camerata’s newest commissioned work, I Lost My Talk, with text by the late Mi’kmaq poet, Rita Joe, commissioned from Canadian choral composer, Jeff Enns.
Also travelling to Edmonton are Halifax’s award-winning Rhapsody Quintet (Jennifer Jones, violin; Shimon Walt, cello; David Langstroth, bass; Eileen Walsh, clarinet and Diana Torbert, piano) and Halifax’s favorite actor/director/producer Jeremy Webb. For more information on Rhapsody Quintet, please visit www.rhapsodyquintet.com and on Jeremy Webb: www.easternfronttheatre.com.
Now celebrating the 30th anniversary of their founding in 1986 by Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey, Halifax Camerata Singers has become one of Canada’s leading chamber choirs. Recipient of the Healy Willan Grand Prize for Canadian choirs in 2010, the choir’s fifth recording, A Time for All Things, won Best Classical Recording from Music Nova Scotia in 2016, and was nominated for an East Coast Music Award in 2017. Lynette Wahlstromaccompanies the choir, and Assistant Director is PEI native Michael James. The choir includes performers from many parts of Nova Scotia, and is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, the Province of Nova Scotia/Arts Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality and individual donors and corporate supporters. The choir has distinguished itself by performing exciting choral repertoire from many periods and styles, with special attention to Canadian music. Camerata often collaborates with chamber ensembles, Symphony Nova Scotia and other musicians. Camerata’s five recordings are for sale at the Symphony Nova Scotia Boutique, Taz Records, online and through iTunes, and are distributed worldwide through Naxos of America, Inc. in partnership with Halifax’s Leaf Music.
The Canada Council for the Arts has provided travel funding. Halifax 1917: From Dreams to Despair also received funding assistance from Halifax Regional Municipality through the Halifax Explosion Grants Committee. A repeat performance in Halifax is being planned for early December of 2017 at Central Halifax Library.
More details are available at http://www.yegchoralfestival.com contact1986@halifaxcamerata.org, find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or www.halifaxcamerata.org.