Voices of the Kingston Chamber Choir could be heard throughout the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on Sunday.
The exclusive live-streamed concert marked the choir’s return to the stage after 21 months.
“I remember being in the rehearsal hall when we first started to sing this music and when we first came back together to sing together, and just the look in everybody’s eyes,” says the choir’s artistic director, Darrell Christie. “The fact that we’re able to come back together and do the thing that we all love to do.”
Sunday’s performance coincided with World Choral Day, a day that celebrates the global recognition of solidarity, peace and understanding for choirs around the world.
Christie wanted to spread some of that joy in the Kingston community through the group’s performance.
“We decided to name our concert today ‘Finding Hope’, as I think we all need a little bit of hopefulness and a bit of cheer to look forward to,” he says. “I think it’s been a very confusing time, this past 21 months during the pandemic, and I think for us at least as a choir, the joy of being able to come back together and share music as a community. We wanted to share some of that joy today and share some of that hopefulness.”
The choir also performed the world premiere of “On the Beach at Night,” a piece by Canadian composer Matthew Emery — commissioned specially for the KCC.
“As a composer sometimes I joke that the pandemic hasn’t changed my life too much. I’m sitting in my studio alone writing,” says Emery. “But, of course, the music isn’t done until it’s been performed and until it’s been sung into life, into being. And so that part of the creative process has been tricky. And I’ve had to wait patiently, almost three years, to hear this work be performed live today. So, I’m really grateful and I’m really excited to hear the piece.”
While the concert was live-streamed Sunday afternoon, tickets can still be purchased at the choir website for viewing of the performance until next Sunday.