Vancouver Chamber Choir announces FIFTY, its 50th-anniversary tribute concert
Founder and conductor emeritus Jon Washburn returns to the podium with artistic director Kari Turunen to look back at a half century of championing new work
Founder and Conductor Emeritus Jon Washburn returns to conduct FIFTY
Jon Washburn, founder and conductor emeritus of the Vancouver Chamber Choir, will return to share the podium with artistic director Kari Turunen for the ensemble’s 50th anniversary tribute concert, FIFTY, on November 19.
The evening at Pacific Spirit United Church at 7:30 pm will not only pay tribute to 50 years of choral performance, but to the nearly 400 works commissioned and premiered by the Vancouver Chamber Choir.
Turunen will conduct the first half of the program with music from last six years, including two premieres, and Washburn will lead the second half, with an emphasis on the music he championed in his long sojourn with the choir.
The concert features a new commission titled she was wilderness by Vancouver composer Katerina Gimon, in a setting of a powerful and timely poem by young Saudi-Arabian poet Waad Tariq. The show also boasts the Canadian premiere of a rarely-performed work by the late R. Murray Schafer.
Elsewhere, listen for former chamber-choir member Kathleen Allen’s Stars, commissioned and premiered by the ensemble in 2015, as well as “Härmaniitide lend” (“A gossamer flight”), the third movement from the suite Hilissügis (Late Autumn) by Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds.
Other highlights include the premiere of Finnish composer Mikko Nisula’s epic 2020 composition Les Rêveries, and Canadian-born, Finnish-trained Matthew Whittall’s lush Lauantaisauna.
Following all local health protocols, including mask and vaccine-card mandates, the concert marks almost 50 years to the day from when the Vancouver Chamber Choir held its first official concert—and the ensemble’s strong role in championing contemporary music.
Fine more information and tickets here.
Post sponsored by Vancouver Chamber Choir