Island Soul Choir presents �Make Us Free�

add to outlook add to google calendar remind me

Sunday, November 26th, 2017
3:00 PM

A new song by Brian Tate, Make Us Free, is the inspiration for Island Soul Choir’s upcoming performance. With all the strife and heartache in today’s world, we need songs like this one that urge us to “shake off the chains that bind us, break down the walls that divide us, bring out the love inside us, and make us free.”

In addition to Make Us Free, the choir will treat the audience to their usual blend of gospel, spiritual, pop, civil rights, African and Afro-Cuban songs, and for the first time, they will be performing a First Nations song written by multi-award winning composer Sandy Scofield. A Métis from the Saulteaux and Cree Nations, Sandy has won five Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, a Canadian Folk Music Award, an Indian Summer Music Award (U.S.A.), a Western Canadian Music Award and received three consecutive Juno nominations. The choir is especially appreciative that she took time out of her busy schedule to come to the island to teach us her song as well as some of the traditions of First Nations music.
 Santa Fe

For the opening act, Island Soul Choir is pleased to present Sweet SantaFe, a charming husband and wife duo currently living in Courtenay. Christine Baxter is a songwriter from Alberta whose voice conveys a level of authenticity while floating on the mystical tones of her soprano voice; Michel Rivero Mordoch is a Cuban troubadour, teacher and songwriter who has an effortless voice that transitions from deep warm tones to sweet tenor notes that resonate with any audience. Together, their songs are authentic, and their rhythmic blends are rich, giving their audiences a fresh and infectious experience that the world is so in need of. These two writers are following their truth, with an intrinsic need to create connection wherever they are.

Island Soul Choir is a non-auditioned community choir that draws its members from all over Vancouver Island, from Victoria to Port Hardy, as well as Gabriola, Salt Spring and Quadra Islands. It is truly an all-Island choir! Their repertoire covers gospel, spirituals, world music, blues, pop, soul, R&B… basically any type of music that touches, moves or inspires the soul. Members don’t necessarily have any prior choir experience — they may not even know how to read music — they just want to sing. With 140 members and many of them experienced singers, there’s definitely safety in numbers for newcomers to find their singing voice.

Given that Ms Mundy lives in Vancouver, Island Soul Choir rehearsals are scheduled only five times per session, about a month apart, unlike traditional choirs that rehearse weekly. The choir continues to be hugely popular in spite of (or maybe more due to) this unorthodox rehearsal format.

Phenomenal! We’ll absolutely be back for another concert… So exhuberant!… Loved being part of the uplifting energy… We just loved it!… Thanks for such a lovely show… The singers are so enthusiastic!… Very uplifting!… Makes you want to join… Really fun to watch… Always great… Fantastic!

http://www.porttheatre.com/events/nov-2017/island-soul-choir-presents-make-us-free/