#schubertiad

Chor Leoni and its star ensemble The Leonids prepare for a busy month of music, beginning with its May 5th Schubertiad collaboration with Early Music Vancouver.  For their second performance, on May 11th, it celebrates strength and vulnerability in The Turning: Chor Leoni & The Leonids, both shows are on stage at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church. 

The Leonids in The Turning (l to r): Eric Alatorre, Jacob Perry Jr., Steven Soph, Enrico Lagasca, Erick Lichte, Steven Caldicott Wilson, Dann Coakwell, Jonathan Woody, Andrew Fuchs, Sam Kreidenweis. Photo: David Cooper. The Turning is part of a full week of mentorship, rehearsals, and performance for Chor Leoni and The Leonids, bringing together more than 200 singers of all ages for the week of study and celebration, culminating in the annual VanMan Summit Concert on May 13th at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC.  Closing out the month, May 24th at St. Andrew’s-Wesley, Resound is Chor Leoni’s 30th Anniversary Fundraising Gala. The intimate evening of music, dinner, wine pairings, and along with an immersive experience with the celebrated Men’s Chorus, raises funds that will ensure Chor Leoni can continue to inspire audiences through performances, expand its youth educational programs, and broaden its reach and the reach of Canadian music to communities around the world. Chor Leoni’s guiding tenet of transformation through music is at the core of The Turning. It features newly commissioned and existing works that speak directly to mental health and wellness, including the world premiere of composer Sarah Rimkus’ The Watcher of the Wood, a deeply personal and poetic exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “In both The Turning and the VanMan Summit programs we give voice in exquisite words and song to often invisible, hidden emotions and mental health struggles,” says Erick Lichte, Artistic Director of Chor Leoni. “Our members and audiences come to Chor Leoni as a place of support and acceptance. These spring events express and embody our commitment to creating joyful spaces where vulnerability and strength are in harmony, and people can be wholly themselves.” The Turning: Chor Leoni & The Leonids features new works by Sarah Rimkus, Giovanni Bonato, and Maura Bosch. Together The Leonids, Chor Leoni, and its Emerging Choral Artist Program perform the world premiere of American composer Rimkus’ The Watcher of the Wood, a profound and intimate piece with text by the composer’s husband Thomas LaVoy, who writes from his own experiences with PTSD. The program also includes the North American premiere of Sügav Rahu (Deep Peace) by the Italian composer Bonato in his manifestation of peace in our souls. The concert takes its title from The Turning, by Minneapolis composer Bosch. This deeply intimate work, with texts written by men in court ordered anger management classes, explores the beginning of vulnerability, of asking for help and of wanting to make profound change in our lives. Also on the program, Jocelyn Morlock’s An Die Musik, which was commissioned by Chor Leoni eight years ago. The powerful work speaks to the transformative power of music in our lives and its potential to drive away the darkness around us. Rimkus’ composition will also be performed at the VanMan Summit Concert on May 13. Adds Lichte: “One of the goals of the VanMan Summit is to create a space for singers to positively and collectively access, process, and express their emotions. Each of these works, written by women but using the words of men and their trauma, give voice to men’s emotional experience through an open and honest spirit of sharing.”