Concert Program
When the Spring is Born
March 9, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Shaughnessy Heights United Church
This concert was a celebration of the work of twelve women composers and arrangers, all but one of whom were alive and well in March 2019 and continuing to create new works across Canada and further afield. The concert was part of our three-year initiative (2016-2019) called “Celebrating Women Composers“, in which we looked to create opportunities for and increase the profile of women composers and arrangers. Since our concerts are always explorations for ourselves, our live audiences, and other choral directors, I took the opportunity to unearth new works and composers and arrangers for myself as well as sharing the work of some outstanding women many of us have “met” before.
We were very pleased to welcome our Featured Composer, Montreal-based Marie-Claire Saindon. A multi- talented musician, Marie-Claire grew up playing fiddle and singing alongside her singer-songwriter mother. She has been Composer-in-Residence of Adleisia Women’s Chamber Choir in Montreal. In her days with us, she met some of Vancouver’s choral directors and composers, met and rehearsed with Elektra, made two videos about her music for treble choir, gave a pre-concert talk with me, and was in the audience to hear three of her works performed.
One of the best things about music is that it allows us to be in the moment, connected with the past through poems and concepts, and with the memories and thoughts that it evokes differently in each of us. My greeting to the audience in our program said, “I hope our concert gives you some moments of calm, refreshment, excitement, and reflection. It’s what we’re here to do. Again, thank you for being with us on our continuing journey.”
Here are pdfs of our concert program and my Listener’s Guide, which goes into more depth about the programming:
When the Spring is Born Listener's Guide
Performance Pieces:
Canadian Work