World of Music Concert

Today was probably the most grueling day for EnChor. It began with a half-hour warmup at 8:30 am followed by a "mass adult choir" rehearsal of Don Nobis Pacem for and hour then an hour of sectionals on the same piece. After a half-hour lunch break we started rehearsing three joint numbers for the evening's concert. Then EnChor had an hour to rehearse its program for the evening.
The concert featured EnChor, the Newfoundland Symphony Philharmonic Choir and the Indonesian Children's Choir. Again, EnChor was honored to be included in the opening concert of the "World of Music Series".
The joint numbers were chosen by the directors of each of the three choirs who then had to teach them to the other choirs. That took one and a half hours of rehearsal. EnChor chose "We Rise Again and the symphony folks offered "Cape St. Mary's", an a cappella arrangement of a traditional Newfoundland favorite. By far the most challenging piece was the folk song selected by the Indonesian Children's Choir--"Sin Sin Sibatumaningkam". The lyrics tell of a traditional Indonesian courting ritual, but the sheet music is full of confusing repeats and the tempo approaches warp speed. The men in the combined choirs basically get a free ride. Their role is a repetitive series of percussive notes in a harmony that easy to fake. Bravo to the EnChor (and NL) women who did their best to sing out the challenging lyrics in their parts.
The piece begins with a haunting flute solo followed by an drum tattoo that launches the song (and dance). The flutist/drummer's name in English is "Tarzan". He is pictured below in rehearsal.






The directors of the Canadian choirs plus a couple of choir members became fully involved in the ritual. The photo below was taken in rehearsal, but you should try to picture what the scene looked like when the Indonesians were in full costume and the shawls the central players were exchanging are made of richly decorated fabrics.







A surprise and delight for all of us was an award given at the end of the concert. Our own Diane Loomer was given the "Festival 500 Ambassador" award for her contributions to the Festival since its founding in 1997 and to choral music in Canada in general. She had no idea she had been selected for the award. Only one other person has been honoured in this fashion. The photo below shows here with Doug Dunsmore, the Director of the Newfoundland Symphony Choir and one of the three artistic directors of Festival 500.












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Location:St. John's