MUSIC

HOLIDAY ARTS Arts groups bring some musical warmth to holidays

by Steve Newton

Seven Vancouver arts organizations will bring joy to local music fans with in-person performances this holiday season.

Please note: COVID-19 protocols set in place by the current Provincial Heath Orders include proof of vaccination and the use of masks.

DALA LEADS BACH CHOIR IN ST. NICOLAS Starting things off on November 30 is the performance by the Vancouver Bach Choir of Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas at the Orpheum Theatre. The cantata will feature the Bach Choir and children’s choirs, the VSO School of Music Sinfonietta, pianists Stephen Smith and Kin Ming Wong, and tenor soloist Asitha Tennekoon.

“It’s literally based on the saint who is the inspiration for Santa Claus,” the choir’s music director, Leslie Dala, told the Straight in a phone call. “And we’re partnering for the very first time with the Sinfonietta, which is a very high-level youth orchestra. It’s kind of perfect because Britten wrote it for a number of schools celebrating an anniversary, so the premiere was actually performed almost exclusively by young people.”

GAZE JOINS VSO FOR TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS The next day, on December 1, the Vancouver Symphony kicks the holiday vibe into high gear with the first show of its Traditional Christmas series, which is hosted by Bard on the Beach’s Christopher Gaze and takes place at various Lower Mainland locations. December 1 will see two shows at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre; December 2 has a stop at Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre; December 3 has two performances at West Van’s Kay Meek Centre; December 4 brings two shows to New Westminster’s Massey Theatre; and then on December 18 and 19, the VSO returns to its home base of the Orpheum Theatre.

Other VSO holiday concerts at the Orpheum include The Nutcracker on December 9, with Gaze hosting selections from Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece; A Dee Daniels Christmas, featuring the Vancouver jazz diva, on December 10 and 11; a kids’ concert on December 12 featuring the Oscarnominated animated film The Snowman; and Home Alone in Concert, where the comedy classic is screened with a live performance of John Williams’s score by the symphony, on December 16 and 17.

And the Vancouver Symphony will carry on a VSO holiday tradition at the Chan Centre on December 17 and 18, when violin soloist Lara St. John leads the orchestra in a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

QUICK DIRECTS WELSH MEN’S CHOIR IN SING WE NOW OF CHRISTMAS On December 5, the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir, led by music director Jonathan Quick, will perform its Sing We Now of Christmas program at Massey Theatre, a joint concert with Winter Harp, where classical and Celtic harps combine with flutes, violin/fiddle, rare medieval instruments, percussion, poetry, and song. On December 7, the VWMC will be joined at the Surrey Arts Centre by flutist Paolo Bortolussi and mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater; on December 13 at South Delta Baptist Church, Bortolussi and soprano Skye Wilkinson will perform, along with members of the South Delta Secondary School Choir, who will perform their own set of carols. The final performance of Sing We Now of Christmas will take place on December 16 at Centennial Theatre, where Wilkinson, saxophonist Julia Nolan, and members of the Argyle Secondary School choir will join in.

DELISLE DELIVERS THE MAGIC OF YULE WITH THE UGC On December 11, the Universal Gospel Choir performs We Rise Again, The Magic of Yule at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Directed by Lonnie Delisle and featuring the UGC Band, the program includes seasonal favourites (“Joy to the World”, “Ave Maria”), inspirational pop anthems (“This Is Me”, “A Beautiful Noise”), soulful world music, and get-up-and-groove gospel tunes.

Bard on the Beach artistic director Christopher Gaze joins the Vancouver Symphony to host its Traditional Christmas series, with shows in Surrey, New West, and at three Vancouver venues.

SYMPHONY 21 JAZZES UP THE NUTCRACKER On December 15 at the Chan Centre, Symphony 21 presents a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite in its full orchestral glory, with additional selections from the ballet. Alongside this seasonal favourite, the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, a full-sized big band, will perform Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangements of the Nutcracker.

TURENEN CONDUCTS VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR IN WASSAIL On December 17 at Pacific Spirit United Church the Vancouver Chamber Choir under conductor Kari Turunen will offer Wassail, its holiday concert featuring English carols both old and new, as well as a performance of Benjamin Britten’s masterwork, A Boy Was Born.

“Britten was only a teenager when he wrote A Boy Was Born,” reads the event info on the VCC website, “an ambitious cycle of variations on a simple melody that guides listeners through many styles and characters from breathtaking beauty to explosive joy. The music showcases Britten’s precocious talent, skilled beyond his years.”

LICHTE LEADS CHRISTMAS WITH CHOR LEONI Also on December 17, and continuing on December 18 and 20, is the Chor Leoni Men’s Choir’s Christmas With Chor Leoni, which takes place at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.

Joining the choir in a program that includes such seasonal faves as “Deck the Halls”, “Winter Wonderland”, and “Hark,

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HOLIDAY ARTS Trace composer integrates tradition with the future

by Charlie Smith

It’s no small task creating music for an Indigenous origin story rooted in the cosmos. But that’s what Eliot Britton faced as the composer and sound designer for Trace, a multimedia contemporary dance show by Torontobased Red Sky Performance.

“There’s a lot going on conceptually with the stars and traditional knowledge— and dance and choreography,” Britton tells the Straight in a phone interview.

According to the University of Toronto professor of composition and music technology, job one was understanding the large-scale concept. Next, he says, was calibrating the emotional intensity of scenes for this Anishinaabe story. Then, he talked to the executive and artistic director, Sandra Laronde, as well as the choreographers and dancers, about their ideas.

“A lot of it is dealing with the logistics of what the dancers need to support the choreography,” Britton explains. “The material doesn’t start with me, necessarily.”

In many instances, he points out, the choreography was already well developed before he wrote the music.

“So I’m there to create something that supports that, and kind of blends in with the story elements,” he adds. “But a lot of it is about movement. It’s not so prescriptive as trying to explain a story—like a film.”

At other times, the music came first. As for inspiration, he was guided by sound worlds described conceptually by Laronde.

“Then I will go out into the world and really dig into related materials,” Britton reveals. “A lot of Trace is built up out of the sounds of my great uncle’s violin because I come from a Métis background on my dad’s side.”

The proud member of the Manitoba Métis Federation also drew on the material of Nelson Naittuq Tagoona, a throat singer from Baker Lake who integrates beat-boxing into his performances. Tagoona’s imaginative work has given birth to the term throatboxing. In addition, Britton wove in futuristic synthetic elements because Trace was not intended to be a presentation of something that looks or sounds old.

That’s in keeping with Laronde’s vision of elevating and expanding contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada.

One of Britton’s challenges was coming up with music quickly enough to meet the demands of an evolving stage production that integrates the human and natural worlds.

“So much of what I do is slow and meticulous and it has to be built one little piece at a time,” he says, “whereas dancers are vibrant, living creative beings that create things, and it all kind of comes together in the moment.”

To speed up the composing process, Britton relied heavily on technology to create what he describes as a “bio-organic sound”.

“If I didn’t have computers, I would be stuck behind a piano barking orders at performers in real time,” Britton says. “Then everything would probably be limited to what you could do in 1940.”

Being Métis gave him a distinct advantage because the Anishinaabe creation story was definitely not new to him. When he attended school in Manitoba, this was a big part of what students discussed in school.

In addition, his uncle gave him a book about American Indian myth and legends, which also included the creation story.

As a composer with a background in dance-music production and orchestral and instrumental music, he says there is no cooler project than working on Trace within the context of Canada in the 21st century. “I’m proud of the fact that I’m part of something that is connecting with people in a way that’s positive,” Britton says. “It isn’t just about always examining the past but is instead kind of really looking toward the future.” g

Touchstone Theatre Presents | A Flying Start Play In Association with the Firehall Arts Centre WORLD PREMIERE

BY ADAM GRANT WARREN

FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE

Trace is a contemporary dance show about an Anishinaabe origin story. Photo by Rob Divito.

DanceHouse Vancouver and SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs present Red Sky Performance’s Trace from Wednesday (November 24) to Sunday (November 27) at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

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Photo by David Cooper Pictured: Susinn McFarlen and Adam Grant Warren from previous page the Herald Angels Sing” will be violinist Cameron Wilson, pianists Tina Chang and Karen Lee-Morlang, and guitarist Keith Sinclair.

“It’s our biggest event of the season,” Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte told the Straight by phone. “I’m just so excited to bring people together for that time, and I think after this time apart from one another, it’s gonna feel particularly sweet. We’ve got a really fun program, and one with a lot of beauty and a lot of heart as well.”

Lichte pointed out that the choir’s version of “Silent Night” is not to be missed.

“Especially the way we do it,” he said, “where the choir typically surrounds our audience with candles and we sing that piece together. And there is again something about that connection that you feel at that time of the year. I’m so excited to do that, especially in our new space at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church. They’ve renovated that church—it’s been a three-year renovation—and the space was always gorgeous, but it is even more beautiful now. So having that celebration of the season in that room has always been a very special thing for me, and that song is, I think, the quintessential one for that experience.” g

Chor Leoni artistic director Erick Lichte is a big fan of his choir’s version of “Silent Night”.