Elektra Women's Choir rebrands as Elektra
The new name reflects the ensemble’s commitment to inclusion and embraces gender neutrality
ELEKTRA WOMEN’S CHOIR is now being referred to simply as Elektra. The rebranding, which embraces gender neutrality, reflects the ensemble’s commitment to inclusion and diversity while acknowledging its history of leadership in celebrating music for adult treble voices.
Since its founding in 1987 by co-conductors Morna Edmundson and Diane Loomer, Elektra has championed the works of women composers and provided a platform for underrepresented voices in the classical music world. This step explicitly names Elektra as a choir of adult treble voices.
As part of the change, Elektra’s website has been rebranded and relaunched, now being more accessible and user-friendly.
Elektra is also encouraging new adult soprano and alto singers to join them. The ensemble’s first performance of its 2024-25 season is The Light of Hope Returning on November 30 and December 1. Read Stir’s feature on the work, which includes a storybook-like video projection of visual artist Kevork Mourad’s hand-drawn animation, here.
Earlier this year, Elektra announced that Edmundson will be stepping down as artistic director after 38 years with the organization following this season. The search is on for a new leader.
Gail Johnson is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
Singers from the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs unite with musicians in this annual performance of charming seasonal selections
Part puppet show, part film screening, and part concert, the show lets attendees in on its creation
At Mountain View Cemetery, musica intima and the Vancouver Bach Choir join forces with local brass players to perform a Phrase of Remembrance
On Remembrance Day, composer-in-residence Marie-Claire Saindon contributes new piece that tells of finding light in darkness
Free open house at VIVO Media Arts Centre features live performances by Matthew Ariaratnam, Andromeda Monk, Sapphire Haze, and Anju Singh
Festival co-curated with The Cultch’s Heather Redfern features the workshop premiere of Payette’s musical On Native Land, plus a new choral composition
Performing alongside pakhavaj artist Tejas Tope, Dagar explores the virtuosity of dhrupad, India’s oldest-surviving classical style
White rabbits and Magritte clouds, as Visions Ouest presents film of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s epic and affecting multimedia performance
Castalian String Quartet, violist Timothy Ridout, cellist Zlatomir Fung, and pianists Angela Cheng and Benjamin Hochman will perform two concerts in one day at the Vancouver Playhouse
Innovative show created by Rodney DeCroo, Samantha Pawliuk, and David Bloom melds music, theatre, and poetry inside a giant fish
The a cappella work by Joby Talbot is meant to be seen and heard
Conductor-composer to lead Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canadian premiere of his sweeping mix of Western and Asian traditions, November 8 and 9
Renowned countertenor and Renaissance viol consort play a German Baroque programme based on the latter group’s Signum Classics album
Shawn Kirchner’s exhilarating folk oratorio blends familiar and new carols in an immersive multidisciplinary exploration of winter mysteries
Surrealism is a major influence on the Belgian big band coming to Vancouver courtesy Music on Main
Adaptation of Strauss’s beloved operetta opens Vancouver Opera’s 65th season with cheeky adapted dialogue and musical delights
Vancouver-raised, New York-based artist’s 2022 recording of the works was praised by Glass himself as “a highly dynamic and expressive performance”
Friends of Chamber Music concert features well-loved works by Ravel and Beethoven, alongside a contemporary piece by Israeli composer Matan Porat
Group melds folk traditions, klezmer music, and urban energy into a unique style as it raises money for Ukraine’s humanitarian and military efforts
The artist’s quintet comes to the Ironworks on November 2, as part of the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society’s IronFest V weekend
Appearing at the Kay Meek Arts Centre, Vancouver Island pair fuels its blues and folk with curiosity and joie de vivre