PRAIRIE CELEBRATION
Eight of the 13 tracks that celebrate the Prairies were by Saskatchewan writers
Melissa Morgan, director and co-founder of the Prairie Chamber Choir, said a new CD of Prairie choral works will “showcase the artistry” of Saskatchewan.
With an impending deadline and a moment of desperation, Regina composer David L. McIntyre pulled a map of Saskatchewan out of his bureau for inspiration.
He had been commissioned to write a piece of choral music in honour of the province’s centennial in 2005.
What resulted was the names of 324 Saskatchewan towns and villages — from Abbey to Zenon Park — set to music.
“The sounds of the names of the towns themselves were the inspiration for the music all the way through,” said McIntyre.
He said towns such as Sanctuary paved the way for a more sacred sound, whereas towns such as Bredenbury and Biggar set a more boisterous tone.
The piece — intended to be sung a cappella — is one of 13 choral works on a new CD created to highlight the work of Prairie composers.
“It’s always great to feature who you are,” said Melissa Morgan, artistic director of the Prairie Chamber Choir, “showcase the pride, showcase the artistry, showcase the creativity that comes from our province.”
Raised in Regina, Morgan holds a doctorate and master of music performance in choral conducting, and a bachelor of music education.
Initially created as part of Morgan’s doctoral dissertation, the group decided to give itself a name and keep on singing. The Prairie Chamber Choir, now in its third season, performed at the Western Canadian Music Awards in 2016.
The choir recorded the album in March with the help of Christ Lutheran Church minister and musician Dennis Hendrickson. Equipped with a recording studio, Hendrickson helped record, engineer and edit the music and created the album art.
“Our vision and mission is to engage captive audiences with exceptional choral performances that promote these artists from the Prairies,” Morgan said. “The recording is just a way to celebrate and honour the composers from this region.”
Eight of the tracks were written by Saskatchewan composers. The remaining five tracks were written by composers from Alberta and Manitoba.
Morgan said choral music is more than just singing. It is also a way to share ideas and values from your community.
“What that does is it builds community and it builds teamwork,” she said. “It also, especially in children and students and kids that participate, but also adults, develops discipline and focus.”
For McIntyre, choral music is a way to expose people to the rich tradition of music in Saskatchewan — a tradition that is perhaps not well known.
He said the reason may be there aren’t a lot of recordings of music written by Saskatchewan composers.
“As a Saskatchewan composer myself, it’s great to have things recorded by people from my own province,” said McIntyre. “It’s always great when you feel supported and you can actually go and hear performances of your work by local groups.”
Morgan hopes the project will encourage more new Canadian music in this style and continue the tradition of choral excellence.
“This is something that we should value,” she said.
The choir is celebrating the release of its first CD, titled Wake The Grain: Choral Art Music From The Prairies, at its winter concert on Dec. 17 at Christ Lutheran Church at 2:30 p.m.
The concert will include works by Canadian, British and Latvian composers. For ticket information visit prairiechamberchoir.ca.