Halifax Camerata Singers and Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus will join three other choruses from across Canada on June 19 for Take This Thread/Le fil que je suis.
The new choral work by Vancouver composer Katerina Gimon, with text by Montreal poet Lauren Peat, explores the connections that hold us together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not the first time Gimon and Peat have collaborated, after having met thirteen years ago singing in the Hamilton Children’s Choir, Peat says she was thinking about “this delicate effort to re-weave the links between us in this time.” Gimon says she was delighted to be writing music “that reflects our world, that can help connect people.”
The two Halifax choral groups will combine with more than 160 singers from Waterloo’s Grand Philharmonic Choir, Montreal’s Société choral de Saint-Lambert and the Richard Eaton Signers from Edmonton.
Montreal-based violinist and concertmaster for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Bénédicte Lauziere and Waterloo-based pianist Ian VanderBurgh will also perform.
Coming together collaboratively for this new bilingual work, the various choir directors agreed they wanted to work on a piece that captured the Zeitgeist of this unique moment in history.
With this project, we wanted to create a new work that acknowledges the loss we all feel and so many are experiencing. – Mark Vuorinen
“With this project, we wanted to create a new work that acknowledges the loss we all feel and so many are experiencing,” says project leader and artistic director for Waterloo’s Grand Philharmonic Choir, Mark Vuorinen.
“We also wanted to tie together our vast country by involving creators from coast to coast,” Vuorinen continues. “With five choirs, a poet and a composer, we have a project that spans from the Pacific to the Atlantic.”
Jeff Joudrey, who directs both Halifax-based choirs, knew immediately it was a gift for the two local groups.
“The timeline was perfect for us,” he says. “It enabled us to join together for virtual rehearsals and eventually with our colleagues across the country to create something beautiful in a time when we all were yearning to sing together again.”
Take This Thread, Le fil que je suis premieres online June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Atlantic time. The event will conclude with a conversation with Gimon and Peat about the creative process. Audiences can register to receive a link to the free concert at Eventbrite.