An April Evening
There is little so sublime as the freshness of an April evening. With the passing of winter, spring once again brings us promises of renewal and rebirth. Trees and flowers bloom, animals give birth, and our hearts are filled with hope, peace, and joy that life does go on.
The Cape Breton Chorale gives musical voice to these sentiments on Sunday April 15th at 7:00 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church on Bentinck Street in Sydney. The program of sacred and secular music is produced by Sister Rita Clare who will share the baton with Rosemary McGhee. Paula Jane Francis provides organ and piano accompaniment.
For this presentation, the Chorale has as its guests the piano duo of Katherine Fraser and Emily Hatcher, and the woodwind trio All Sorts Consort (Laurie Gorman, clarinet; Richard MacAulay, flute; and Barb Stetter, oboe)
Sounds of Christmas
The Cape Breton Chorale once again presented its traditionalChristmas concert on Sunday, December 4, 2011, at St. Andrew's United Church, Bentinck Street, Sydney, NS.Entitled "Sounds of Christmas", the music was an eclectic choral introduction to the holiday seasonchosen to engage the audience in a broad emotional spectrum. The program was designed to evoke not only inspiration and meditation but also fond remembrances of Christmases past and joyful celebration of continuing blessings of family and friends. Several opportunities for audience singalong participation were included.
The program was produced by Sister Rita Clare.The Chorale was under the direction of Rosemary McGhee with Paula Jane Francis providing organ and piano accompaniment .
For this presentation, the Chorale was joined by the Seton Elementary School Choir directed and accompanied, respectively, by Chorale members Paula Jane Francis and Mary Jane Ross. The program also included selections by the woodwind trio All Sorts Consort.
In Joyful Song
The Cape Breton Chorale's spring program offered a full spectrum of colors from songs of praise to arrangements of folk songs and nursery rhymes. It included songs of love, a medley of well known songs by Allister MacGillivary, instrumental selections and the resounding Freedom Trilogy by Paul Halley, exploring the extensive range of the Chorale’s repertoire.
The joy of Easter and the awakening of spring were celebrated in John Rutter's Praise Ye the Lord, Gustav Holst's Psalm 148 and the well known Anthem for Spring from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana. The program moved through much-loved songs like Loch Lomond and The Turtle Dove to songs by Gordon Lightfoot and Andrew Lloyd Webber and evoked memories of childhood in whimsical arrangements of Old MacDonald, Teddy Bears' Picnic and other childhood favorites.
The concert proceeds went to the Sister Rita Clare Music Scholarship fund. The scholarship is awarded annually to assist a secondary school student from the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board who is planning to pursue studies in music or music education at a recognized post-secondary institute.