Tapestry Singers invite you to ‘Be Our Guest’

Be the guest of the District 57 Tapestry Singers for their school year’s finale concert.

The title of this special event is Be Our Guest, named for the popular choral singing tune from Beauty And The Beast.

It also tips a hat to the many special guests who will join the school-aged choir on stage for these two performances coming up next week. The local VIP musicians include Barb Parker, Curtis Abriel, José Delgado-Guevara, and Rob Hanigan.

Tapestry Singers is a district-wide choir led by founder and artistic director Carolyn Duerksen, with the ongoing help of piano accompanist Maureen Nielsen.

The ensemble is divided into two subchoirs. The Junior Singers is a collection of 29 voices from Grades 4-7 while the 26 Senior Singers come from Grades 7-12.

“They are very active within the Prince George community, singing at local sporting events, care homes, and special events,” Duerksen explained. “They continue to collaborate with local musicians and enjoyed their fourth collaboration with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and their new Artistic Director, Michael Hall, last Oct. 22. That concert also marked Tapestry’s first collaboration with The Khast’an Drummers.”

The Senior Singers travel beyond Prince George each spring for a developmental field trip. They have attended festivals in Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle, Whistler, Banff, and Sun Peaks, where they have consistently received a Gold Standing.

According to Duerksen, this upcoming concert “celebrates the joyful young voices of both the Senior and Junior Tapestry Singers. Selections will range from contemporary to traditional and offer something for everyone.”

She hinted that some of the familiar melodies will include On The Sunny Side of the Street, Peace Like a River, Let It Shine, Un Canadien Errant and the title song from the Disney movie.

There will also be lesser known melo- dies with titles like Thanks And Praise, I Want Two Wings, Love Divine, and Bandyrowe that were selected to surprise the audience and show off the choirs’ talents.

“Several selections feature choreography by one of Tapestry’s Senior singers, Ellie Prendergast, and local dancer and educator Kristen Helfrich,” Duerksen said.

The ensemble will do this show twice on one day, to allow maximum audience opportunity. Be Our Guest will have a 2 p.m. matinee plus a reprise performance at 8 p.m. on Saturday, at St. Michael’s Anglican Church downtown.

Tickets are $15 (free admission for those five and younger) available while supplies last at the Studio 2880 Gift Shop.