Together Again!

High Spirits Returns with a Spring Concert on June 5th

Nearly two and a half years after our last in-person concert, High Spirits Choir is BACK and so excited to be able to share our music with you! We’re calling it “Together Again.” It’s a celebration of resilience and the uplifting power of singing together, despite the losses and hard times we’ve all been suffering through. 
 
We will be singing in person at a new venue, St. Philip’s Anglican Church, 3737 West 27th Avenue (just west of Dunbar), 3:30 pm on Sunday, June 5. To provide the safest possible event for everyone, singers will all be masked and vaccinated; we request the same of audience members. We will also be livestreaming the concert, so there’s an option to join us remotely from anywhere on the globe. 
 
Also for safety reasons, we’re presenting a slightly shorter program, with no intermission. But you can expect the wide variety of musical styles and moods that High Spirits is renowned for.

Here's a peek at some of the highlights:
 
From the jazz world, Rodgers and Hart’s “I Could Write a Book,” in a swinging arrangement by Darmon Meader of New York Voices. Your toes won’t stop tapping!
 
“El Cumbanchero” by Rafael Hernández Marín – a classic of Latin American dance music, full of catchy rhythms and wild percussion. Your hips won’t stop swaying!
 
Two traditional spirituals, “Wade in de Water” and “O! What a Beautiful City,” in powerful choral arrangements that just may blow the roof off St. Philip’s.
 
One of our favourite modern choral composers is William Hawley. His “O Magnum Mysterium” (based on a traditional text/chant on the birth of Jesus) is ethereal and passionate, built from shimmering cascades of voices. 
 
“Goodnight, My Angel,” a lullaby by Billy Joel, and “Take Me Home” by Pentatonix are both touching and tender – for loved ones here and those who are no longer with us. 
 
The sopranos and altos of the choir will present a powerful anthem, “Signs” – with words taken from the January 2017 women’s march, no less topical and urgent today. On a lighter note, the tenors and basses will soft-shoe us back to the doo-wop era with “Sh-Boom.” 
 
It’s going to be a great afternoon and we hope you can join us!
 
Tickets are $25, available online
at www.highspiritschoir.ca/togetheragain or at the door. 

[posted May 24th, 2022]