Youth choir at centre of musical crossroads
CONCERT: Annual Indiekör show brings together pop/rock and classical genres performed by award-winning ensemble
Indiekör
Where: Vogue Theatre When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tickets and info: $13-$23, voguetheatre.com
Combine the Coastal Sound Youth Choir with modern pop/rock music and you get something kind of like a peanut butter cup: two ingredients that combine for a tasty popular treat.
Primarily a classical operation, the award-winning 65-member group of 14- to 22-year-old singers busts out of that shell once a year for its Indiekör show.
The show will be held Sunday at The Vogue.
“It’s interesting. I know a lot of bands in the indie scene that struggle to fill venues and lots of choirs that struggle to fill venues as well. And for some reason putting the two together has really made it an exciting thing for the community,” said the choir’s conductor, Carrie Tennant.
It’s also pretty exciting for the young singers that take to the stage for two hours of mostly pop/rock songs mixed with some classical and world music.
“Last year we were at The Vogue for the first time,” said Tennant. “You can just imagine these 65 singers who had gone to shows at the Vogue, they’ve seen their favourite bands there.
“Then they are backstage. It was such a magical night. To walk out on to a stage and people are cheering and screaming. That just does not happen at a choral concert.”
The idea for this type of program was hatched after the group was lucky enough to receive some extra funding four years ago.
Tennant, who plays keyboards in the indie-pop outfit The Salteens, decided to build a show. And as they say, build it and they will come. Tennant reports that the previous shows have not only proved to be PR successes but great educational tools as well.
“The interesting thing for all of us doing this show is younger kids show up because we are doing a Hey Ocean song, then they end up getting excited about the Monteverdi piece we sang,” said Tennant.
“They are like, ‘Who was that?’ Then fans of classical choral music will come, then leave and look up local bands like Wood Pigeon because it was a beautiful song.”
The program consists of close to 20 songs. Tennant picks the classical numbers and the members of the group submit requests (around 200) via the group’s Facebook page.
But at the end of the day she is still the boss and sees the modern set as a chance to expand her choir’s musical knowledge.
“Frankly I always throw in a couple of songs I think they should know from the world of pop music,” said Tennant.
“For instance we are doing two New Pornographers songs and those were something they didn’t suggest, but they are totally loving it.
“These singers have great taste in music but sometimes again people go into their own smaller world, so it’s our job to expose them to as much music as possible.”
To give you an idea of the breadth of the program, here are just some of the artists whose work will be performed: Stars, Bon Iver, Sergei Rachmaninoff, The New Pornographers, Patrick Watson, Claudio Monteverdi, Hey Ocean, The Zombies, Imant Raminsh, Florence + the Machine and Dan Mangan.