The Upper Canada Choristers will close their season with a concert titled New Beginnings on May 10. Spotlighting four world premieres, including one by a composer still in the fifth grade, the concert celebrates the choir’s 30th anniversary.
The Boys’ Choir of Maurice Cody School (directed by Carole Snow) will be the guests at the event, alongside with the UCC’s Latin ensemble Cantemos, and pianist Hye Won (Cecilia) Lee. Along with the live audience, you can experience the concert via livestream on the choir’s website, or directly on YouTube.
The Music
“New beginnings are possible every day,” said co-founder and conductor Laurie Evan Fraser, “often evolving out of adversity. The challenges we face can be opportunities to reinvent ourselves and foster growth, inspiring the creation of songs that encourage resilience and solidarity, hope and faith, and inner strength.”
It’s a theme that characterized the founding of UCC itself, along with the new pieces in the program, which includes four world premieres.
We’ll Live in Harmony (Gwyneth Twyford, words & music)
Gwyneth Twyford is a fifth grade student at Maurice Cody School. Their song has been arranged for the school’s boys’ choir by Upper Canada Choristers artistic director Laurie Evans Fraser.
To Greet the Sun (David Archibald)
UCC commissioned this three-movement work from Archibald, a Master’s student at the University of Toronto. The text consists of three Canadian poems — The Heart of Night by Bliss Carmen, Day Dawn by E. Pauline Johnson/Tekahionwake, and Sunrise Along Shore by L.M. Montgomery — interwoven together with a theme of hope and new possibilities.
Little Robin (Matthew Secaur, music; Fiona Ibaseta, lyrics)
Matthew Secaur is a member of the choir, and lyricist Fiona Ibaseta is his daughter. Their piece was inspired by the concert’s optimistic theme.
Heartshine – Brilla Corazón
This new piece was composed by Laurie Evan Fraser with lyrics in English and Spanish by Jacqui Atkin and Jacinto Salcedo.
UCC toured to Japan in 2019, and in remembrance, they’ll also sing Hana Wa Saku (Flowers Will Bloom), a piece that was composed after the Tohoku Tsunami, which caused the death of 18,000 people in 2011. UCC sang it along with a Japanese choir at a concert in Ageo City on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Cantemos, UCC’s choir specializing in Latin American music in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin, celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2023. The ensemble will sing Todo Cambia (Everything Changes) from Chile, and Quinta Anauco (It Never Ends), a piece dedicated to the city of Caracas, Venezuela.
The program will be rounded out by favourite works, including Ola Gjello, arrangements of the unofficial Cape Breton anthem We Rise Again, and others.
- Check details about the concert on May 10, 7:30 p.m. at Grace Church on-the-Hill, and find tickets, [HERE].
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