Here's to Song

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Saturday, May 6th, 2017
2:30 PM

It’s not quite as big an event as Canada’s 150th birthday, but marking twenty years of singing for Nanaimo has Island Bel Canto Singers ready to celebrate!

This all-women’s choir, entertaining Nanaimo audiences for two decades now, shows no sign of slowing down. In their upcoming concert “Here’s to Song”, they remind you that in spite of all the challenges we face in today’s world, there is still lots to sing about!

Artistic director Sharon Sinclair has chosen a program with a variety of songs from concerts past and exciting new pieces, honoring the vital place that music, singing and songs have in our lives. Sharon is well known in Nanaimo as director of the accomplished Sinclair Singers, a busy voice and piano teacher, and a singer with the Island Consort Chamber Choir. Sharon, a lifelong choral music lover, feels “singing in a group has a way of opening us up to many wonderful experiences, and is good for us on so many levels – emotionally, physically, spiritually. I can’t imagine a life without song.”

The concert theme piece “Here’s to Song” by acclaimed Canadian composer Alister MacGillivray is a tribute to the way music and friendship are intertwined. And the American folk hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing?” is an upbeat a cappella piece that celebrates life and creation – “through all the tumult and the strife I hear that music ringing. It finds an echo in my soul, how can I keep from singing?”

The program also includes such pieces as a lively arrangement of “Tell My Ma”, an a cappella four-part harmony rendition of “Over the Rainbow”, and all-time Gershwin favorite “Summertime”. One of three pieces sung by the Chamber Ensemble, a smaller group within the main choir, is a lilting cradle song called “Gartan Mother’s Lullaby,” based on an old Irish song and poem, sprinkled with Irish mythological names and place names. Another traditional Irish melody by the Chamber Choir tells of a young maid who slips away to be with her lover under the moon – “Spinning Wheel” arranged by Mark Sirett. Island Bel Canto Singers are very pleased to present special guests Flute Cocktail.

Choir accompanist and pianist Pat Rustand joins Bonnie Stebbings and Karen Withers-Janssen on flutes in an instrumental interlude. At the May 13 concert only, several past choir members or “alumni” will be joining the group for the last two numbers, to honor twenty years of song and fellowship.