Welcome, all, and thank you for joining us this evening!  The Elektra singers and I are once again armchair world travellers as we host friends from our choral world for our Tapestry International Celebration of Women’s Choirs. This week is our triennial chance to renew friendships and forge new ones with outstanding musicians who share our passion for the present and future of women’s choral singing.

As the four choirs bring to light the flavour of their culture, the music of their region’s composers and arrangers, and the distinct sound of their voices and programming, each Tapestry is unique. This year, our guests are Frisches Ei (yes, this is a Japanese choir whose name means “fresh eggs” in German!) conducted by Mariko Miura, Gardabaer Women’s Choir led by Ingibjörg Guðjónsdóttir, and VOX Femina Los Angeles under the direction of Iris Levine. After more than a year of collaboration by email and chance meetings at other events, these last few days together in Vancouver have seen us rehearsing, sharing, and learning from each other. We’ve eaten Vancouver cuisine, learned music, and shared some stories. My hope is that we will all leave with memories that will influence our music-making and our lives going forward.

At Choral Threads on May 4, you’ll hear from each choir separately. The grand finale Celebration Concert on May 5 features cameos by each choir and 140 voices together singing one work from each country under the direction of the four conductors. Joining us for those works are the 12 talented singers of Elektra’s Mira Youth Mentorship program.

Only Elektra’s solo repertoire is listed below.  The solo repertoire by the other choirs can be found here: Tapestry International 2018 Concert Program web.  Some additional background information can also be found in the Tapestry International 2018 Listener’s Guide

Performance Pieces:

1. One Voice Ruth Moody
2. Pity Me Not Stephen Smith
3. O-Yo-Yo trad. Quebec folksong Stephen Hatfield (arr) 

Canadian Work