Dear Chor Leoni fans,
Greetings from Vancouver, home of cherry trees in bloom, crocuses and daffodils raising their heads to the sky - and home of that big party happening on the slopes above and in the streets! Before we head out to line up for the Olympic Zip Line, we've a few things to share with you: 1. Welcome the World: The reviews are in
2. With Glowing Hearts: Chor Leoni sings for the Olympic Torch Relay
3. A Unique Offer: A Time to Heal: moving beyond homelessness CD
4. Meetin' Here Tonight goes digital
5. Next concert: Canadian Voices 1. Welcome the World: The reviews are in
 The lions were proud to be part of the 4-choir extravaganza, Welcome the World: A Choral Gala, presented with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad on February 9th. It was such a treat to hear Vancouver Chamber Choir, Elektra Women's Choir, and musica intima vocal ensemble in solo sets, and to join our voices together in song.
An audience of over 1100 people crammed into Vancouver's St. Andrew's-Wesley Church to hear 4 of Canada's top choirs, each a leader in their genre, perform a wide-ranging programme that was proudly current and Canadian. One third of the works sung were by Canadians, and two thirds were by living composers! Check out what the reviewers had to say, and if you were there, please send in your own review to info@chorleoni.org and we'll add them to the website! "The singers exceeded even my high expectations, with a program of multilingual, multicultural works that ran the gamut from the humorous to the contemplative, from the sacred to the very-definitely-not. The combination of technical prowess and emotional interpretation, combined with the sheer joy of singing, had the packed church simply abuzz."
"The voices of these choirs resounded with songs from around the world singing in the world's many tongues. Each ensemble sang different songs from different countries to the delight of a full-house audience." Ed Farolan, ReviewVancouver.org "Diane Loomer's Chor Leoni was last, going for broke with everything from Lap overtone singing to an un-conducted French-Canadian dance song. Its best-in-show was one of Pavel Chesnokov's extraordinary Russian Hymns, delivered with rich intensity. Consider the world greeted."
David Duke, Vancouver Sun
2. With Glowing Hearts: Chor Leoni sings for the Olympic Torch Relay
 The day after Welcome the World, Chor Leoni was proud to sing in West Vancouver for the arrival of the Olympic Torch Relay. What a crowd! What a reaction when we introduced as "Your Chor Leoni Men's Choir!" Kudos to baritone, Greg  Martin, for handling the preparation and conducting of our performance. It was an amazing experience. We'd carefully rehearsed the official song There's A Light/Cette Flamme, but there's no way we could rehearse the impact of actually singing it beside the Olympic Cauldron. For many of us, our Olympic experience began right there.
You can read more about it and see some great photos from the evening on the CL blog, and there's even more photos in our flickr stream and on Facebook. 3. A Unique Offer: A Time to Heal: moving beyond homelessness CD
 Vancouver's First United Church has released A Time to Heal: Moving Beyond Homelessness, a CD featuring donated tracks from a huge range of performers, including Dalannah, Gail Bowen, Emerson Drive, Jim Byrnes, Linda Lee Thomas, Vancouver Chamber Choir, and Pinchas Zukerman. It's a unique musical offering, and proceeds from its sales will help fund the church's well-known work on behalf of Vancouver's homeless.
Chor Leoni and other arts organizations, including the Alliance for Arts and Culture, have been offered a unique opportunity to support this worthy project while raising funds for their own strapped coffers in a unique fundraising endeavour. By specifying Chor Leoni on the order form, the lions will receive a portion of the purchase price, as will the Alliance for Arts and Culture.
Yamana Gold Inc., a Canadian gold producer, has pledged to support this special project. For each of the first 5,000 CD's sold, Yamana will donate $1 to the Alliance for Arts and Culture and $1 to First United Church for its work with the homeless in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
The cost of the CD is $20 (plus $5 shipping and handling and applicable taxes) and may be ordered online here.
4. Meetin' Here Tonight goes digital
 The response to our latest CD, Meetin' Here Tonight, has been terrific, with orders coming in from all over. We're pleased to announce that the CD is now available on iTunes. (If you've wanted to send it to someone on the far side of the world, iTunes may offer the simplest process yet, with it's "Gift this Album" option.)) Just click here to be taken to the iTunes store. Happy listening!
5. Next concert: Canadian Voices
Our next concert, Canadian Voices, is a co-production with the amazing Elektra Women's Choir (Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director), and features an all Canadian selection of works ranging from Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen to Srul Irving Glick, and including a wide range of brand new works commissioned for this concert.
You'll hear new music by Stephen Smith, Jocelyn Morlock and Kristopher Fulton, as well as fantastic arrangements by Ron Smail, Kate Polsky, Ken Cormier and Larry Nickel. Each choir will be premiering new works in their solo sets, as well as debuting Kristopher Fulton's Orpheus, for mixed choir.
You'll find music to stir your soul, get your feet tapping, and to make your heart swell with pride as Elektra and Chor Leoni explore the riches of our musical landscape together. Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster. Canadian VoicesElektra and Chor Leoni Sing the Musical Richness of Canada! Saturday, April 10, 2010 @ 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 11, 2010 @ 3 pm
font.f1 {font: 12.0px Geneva; letter-spacing: 0.0px}Ryerson United Church
2195 W45th Ave, Vancouver BC
$28 | $23 Ticketmaster 604.280.3311
Chor Leoni gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts, City of Vancouver, Government of British Columbia, British Columbia Arts Council, The Corporation of the District of West Vancouver, Vancouver Foundation, Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation, CBC, The Vancouver Sun, Playboard, Borden Ladner Gervais, Tom Lee Music, Northwest Musical Services, Ltd, Cypress Choral Music, and Contact Printing & Mailing Ltd. Chor Leoni also thanks its many generous individual donors and volunteers.
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