WORLD PREMIERE BY VENEZUELAN COMPOSER
For 15 years, the accomplished Latin vocal ensemble Cantemos has been brightening the Toronto soundscape with music in Spanish, Portuguese, Latin and native languages of the Americas. Comprising members mostly from Venezuelan members of the Upper Canada Choristers, the ensemble – along with its parent choir – has commissioned and introduced many new works to its audiences.
Friday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m., the Upper Canada Choristers and Cantemos, conducted by Laurie Evan Fraser, celebrate the 15th anniversary of Cantemos in a concert titled Our Voices Together: Corazones al Unisono. Highlight is the world premiere of a new work commissioned from Venezuelan composer Cesar Alejandro Carrillo, whose music is often featured on Cantemos programs. (Details still to come.)
The performance takes place at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto. Tickets, $25, can ordered via Eventbrite or purchased at the door. Children 16 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Mask-wearing is strongly recommended. Information is available on the choir’s website, www.uppercanadachoristers.org, or by calling 416-256-0510 or emailing [email protected]
A live stream can be enjoyed at no charge, through the choir’s website or directly on YouTube. Donations are welcome.
With Hye Won (Cecilia) Lee as pianist, the concert features pieces created for the UCC and Cantemos through commissions and collaborations, along with a sampling of favorites from the Cantemos repertoire. Among them are two works by Cesar Alejandro Carrillo: La Rosa de los Vientos, written especially for Cantemos, to a poem by ensemble member Jacinto Salcedo.
Salcedo’s lyrics are also sung in Cantando Flores by Canadian composer and world music specialist Stephen Hatfield. There are also two selections by Canadian Steven Chatman – Voices of Earth (poetry by Archibald Lampman), the first work commissioned by the Upper Canada Choristers, and excerpts from another UCC commission by him, the Teasdale Love Songs (to poems by Sara Teasdale).
Also written for the choir by Canadians and on the program are Mark Sirett’s Two Songs of Peace and David Tomlinson’s Inspiration. Adding to the musical variety are Canadian Sid Robinovitch’s Noche de Lluvia, a choral arrangement by Liliana Cangiano of Astor Pizzolla’s Chiquilin de Bachin, a lively Colombian merecumbe, and Tleycantimo Choquiliya by Mexican-Portuguese composer and organist Gaspar Fernandes (1566-1629). To conclude, Blessing – Bendicion, written by the choir’s own Laurie Evan Fraser, Cantemos founder and UCC co-founder with Jacqui Atkin pays homage to traditions from the Main Choir and Cantemos. With texts from the Irish blessing and a traditional children’s prayer known throughout Latin America, this song highlights the commonalities between cultures.
Some of the Cantemos selections will be complemented by the projection of visual creations by award-winning artist Camila Salcedo.
The concert is sponsored by The Mills Team, Royal Lepage Signature Realty.
Laurie Evan Fraser is proud of having formed Cantemos in 2008 and of including it within the main choir. As she says, “The members, who are mostly from South America, have inspired the rest of us with a different cultural perspective. The more we learn about each other’s musical traditions, the smaller – and richer – the world gets.”