Choraliers changing things up for annual spring concert
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- Published on Tuesday, April 26, 2016
File photo. The Choraliers at their spring concert last year, held at the Viscount Cultural Centre in April.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
This year, the Choraliers wanted to try something different for their spring concert. The ladies’ choir from Neepawa has invited another choir to share its talent and the spotlight with them.
The week before their performance, the Choraliers will be travelling to Lorette to sing with the local ladies’ choir there, the Seine Singers. Then, the Seine Singers will come to Neepawa to perform with the Choraliers at their concert.
Sunday, May 1 is the day of the Neepawa Choraliers’ annual spring concert this year. The concert is set to start at 4:00 pm at the Knox Presbyterian Church.
The visiting choir is also the reason that the concert will be at 4:00 pm, which is a different time than it has been in the past. Having it in the late afternoon will make it so that the Seine Singers won’t have to leave home too early and can still make it back home before too late in the evening.
Carolyn Durston, the director of the Choraliers, said that the Seine Singers focus on different kinds of music than Neepawa’s ladies’ choir. They also have a band from Lorette that accompanies them, called Plain Salt. The band will perform a couple songs on their own as well. The Seine Singers are bringing a visual artist and a literary artist who will take part in one of their pieces, too.
The Choraliers will perform about half the concert, with the visiting musicians taking the rest. Durston said her choir has a variety of songs prepared, with styles ranging from popular music, to showtunes, to old jazz songs. At the end, the two choirs will come together to perform one song as a collective.
“I think it will be interesting for people to see what other choirs in the province are doing,” Durston said, adding that it’s also an opportunity for the Choraliers to get new ideas and try new things.
She noted that there is also a family connection between the Choraliers and Seine Singers. The emcee for the Neepawa concert, who was a part of the Choraliers for many years, has a daughter in the Lorette choir, so she’s been to many of their concerts and knows them well.
Overall, Durston estimated the concert to be about an hour and a half.
Tickets will be available at the door, however, there is a reduced price for those who get their tickets in advance at the Viscount Cultural Centre. Students also get a discount on admission.
