New professional choir plans concert tonight

Luminos Ensemble, a new Island choir comprised of professional musicians, will present its debut concert, Heavenly Bodies: The Music of the Stars tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Park Royal United Church in Charlottetown.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students, and are available at the door, or at LuminosEnsemble.com.

In this program, Luminos Ensemble will explore humanity’s age-old obsession with the music of the spheres. Highlights include Renaissance master Claudio Monteverdi’s Sfogava Con Le Stelle; Eric Esenvald’s Stars, which also features tuned water glasses and Tibetan singing bowls; Canadian composer Kristopher Fulton’s Icarus, which paints the story of the Greek myth of the same name, through a series of musical vignettes meant to emulate a film; and David Bowie’s Space Oddity, arranged for choir by the ensemble’s founder and artistic director, Dr. Margot Rejskind.

People can learn more about this highly eclectic program by attending a pre-concert talk at Park Royal at 6:45 p.m.

Rejskind created Luminos Ensemble to fill what she saw as a cultural void on P.E.I., which until now has had only one professional-level choral ensemble, Sirens.

“I know that there is an audience for professional choral music on the Island,” she says, “and I’ve also seen a desire among members of the singing community for an outlet through which to perform at a high level. I have no doubt that within a short time, Luminos Ensemble will be demonstrating P.E.I.’s remarkable depth of singing talent to the entire country.”

Members of the ensemble include 15 of P.E.I.’s talented male and female singers.

Luminos Ensemble will also present three concerts for the 2017-2018 season, culminating in a performance of the Brahms Requiem in June 2018. Learn more about the ensemble and their upcoming season by visiting LuminosEnsemble.com and following them on Facebook:

facebook.com/LuminosEnsemble.