It should sound good
Sunday event featuring Coro Cantabile, Paul Gatchell and other Cape Breton performers
A church that can hold up to 500 people seems a little out of place in this tiny Richmond County community.
But for Jim McNeil, director of the Coro Cantabile women’s choir, Calvin Presbyterian is a great place to hold a concert, thanks to amazing acoustics.
“The sound in there is the best you’ve ever experienced,” said McNeil. “It really is that good.”
The church was built in 1910 and thanks to money raised from previous concerts and grants, it’s been maintained to this day.
“We raised, along with a significant grant from the county, enough money to paint the inside of that big old church and it looks absolutely fabulous,” said McNeil.
For the past few years, Coro Cantabile and guests have been holding concerts there, partly because of the great acoustics and partly because of a family connection to the historical venue.
The great-grandfather of McNeil’s wife Joan, Kenneth Allan MacLeod, designed the church and it explains why he knows so much about the structure.
“The Kirk and the Free Church had nothing to do with each other and they were all Presbyterians,” he explains. “The Free Church sat on one side and the Kirk sat on the other. Because the Kirk had more money and put more money into it they’ve got a wider step and a higher steeple. There’s two steeples on it, a little one and a big one. Never would the twain meet — you sat on your side and you walked out without speaking to the others.”
McNeil is hoping for a friendlier crowd this Sunday when his 12 to 15-voice female choir present an eclectic program of sacred and secular music at 3 p.m. Also performing will be Paul Gatchell, Doug Johnson, Barb Stetter and Brady Doyle. Admission is by freewill offering at the door.
“They’re growing every year. Last year we had about 400 in there,” said McNeil. “That’s more than I can draw in Sydney.”
Money raised from the concert will go back into maintaining the church.
If you’re hungry afterwards, there will be a separate event, a turkey dinner with dessert and coffee for $15 at the Loch Lomond Community Centre put on by the Loch Lomond Volunteer Fire Department.