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Dear friends of Chor Leoni,
Although the choir's first concert in our 07/08 season isn't until November 10th, that doesn't mean we're not performing elsewhere! In this issue of the eRoar you'll find: 1. Go ahead, feed the Lions 2. Two sold out October events 3. Chiaroscuro: A Concert to Honour the Darkness and the Light 4. HOPE: Chor Leoni's 15th Annual Remembrance Day concerts 5. Other Chor Leoni resources on the net 1. Go ahead, feed the LionsA donation to the Chor Leoni Endowment Fund will help the Lions roar for generations to come. We have ambitious plans for the future – to share our music widely, to commission new Canadian songs, and to mentor a new generation of young singers. Reliable annual interest from the Chor Leoni Endowment Fund can make it all possible. Please give online or contact David Carpenter, Administrator, at admin@chorleoni.org to discuss the giving options. 2. Two sold out October eventsChor Leoni held its September 26th rehearsal at the stunning venue for this year's At Home with Chor Leoni. It's an amazing home in Southlands and the lions sounded fantastic in it. We are sure our guests will be as amazed at the beauty of this year's location as we were when we first walked in. With celebrity emcee Maestro Bramwell Tovey and other musical guest lined up alongside the lions, At Home with Chor Leoni is sure to be a grand evening of intimate music-making and fun. We are thrilled to announce that the event has sold out. Watch our website for photos from the evening and news of next year's At Home with Chor Leoni. Speaking of sold out events, Chor Leoni's first appearance alongside author Alistair MacLeod, as part of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, has also sold out!3. Chiaroscuro: A Concert to Honour the Darkness and the LightOne event that we know has not sold out (yet) is a joint presentation of Callanish Society, Chor Leoni, and Christ Church Cathedral. Chiaroscuro: A Concert to Honour the Darkness and the Light is an afternoon of sacred song, choral works, and poetry that reflect on themes of lightness and dark – in the seasons – and in our lives. Featured performers include Chor Leoni, the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, and more. Chor Leoni will be performing selections from its Healing Voices CD. For more details visit our website. Callanish Society provides healing retreats for people with cancer. Proceeds from this concert will provide support for the work of Callanish and Christ Church Cathedral. ChiaroscuroSaturday October 27th, 2007 @ 3 pm 4. HOPE: Chor Leoni's 15th Annual Remembrance Day concertsAfghanistan, Iraq, Darfur: only three places of many in our modern world where strife and warfare seems all-encompassing. As we approach another Remembrance Day, named long ago to commemorate “the war to end all wars,” it is tempting to give in to despair. Is our deep desire for peace and its actuality an impossibility? That is the question Diane has chosen to explore in HOPE, the opening concerts of the choir’s new season. “The inspiration for HOPE came from Emily Dickinson's well-known poem of the same name,” says Diane. “I appreciated the way she compared hope to a bird - implying that the bird's song (or hope), does not fail us but is always possible. In these times, where the quest of peace seems more and more unlikely, this poem and its message of eternal hope seemed to bring the encouragement we all need.” This concert acknowledges the conflict around us, remembers peacekeepers and soldiers who have lost their lives in it, and offers consolation and hope to all who have suffered loss. This sentiment is most directly conveyed in three selections from Pavel Chesnokov’s Panihida No. 2, an affectingly beautiful setting of the Russian Orthodox Memorial service. Ms. Loomer has chosen works ranging from powerful to delicate to illuminate the concert’s theme. The imagery of Beethoven’s "O welche Lust," from the opera Fidelio, has prisoners exulting in the light as they rejoice in their temporary freedom after being kept underground for years, while the twentieth-century setting of Dickinson’s Hope is a Thing with Feathers, by Finnish composer Rautavaara, cannot help but have concertgoers quietly moved with its thoughtful ending. Other works on the program include Alice Parker’s robust setting of Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal, which draws on the traditions of American shaped-note singing, and Christmas in the Trenches, which features Christopher Gaze as soloist. (The latter is sure to move you, so come forearmed with handkerchiefs.) As always the concert will open with For the Fallen by Sammes and close with Rupert Lang’s beloved Kontakion, and carefully chosen readings will intersperse the music. “Our aim is to commemorate, uplift, and console,” says Loomer. “Our wish is that everyone leaves with the realization that the times are never too dark to sing – or to hope.”
Saturday November 10th, 2007 @ 7:30 pm Sunday November 11th, 2007 @ 3 pm Tickets: $28 Adults $23 Students/Seniors For the November 10th performance, $20 tickets for seating in the Cathedral’s chancel will be available at the door 15 minutes before concert start time on the evening of the performance. These seats offer great sound but limited sight lines as they are behind the choir.
5. Other Chor Leoni resources on the netOK, so you've signed up for Chor Leoni's eRoar and you regularly visit our website to check for updates. Did you know there are more Chor Leoni resources on the web? Yes, we're doing our utmost to draw you away from productive work to spend more time in front of your computer monitor:
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