News
Stratford Concert Choir and Stratford Symphony Orchestra Create Harmonious Partnership
With a performance that is sure to delight music lovers, the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC) is teaming up with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra (SSO) on May 24 to present Vivaldi’s joyful Gloria. This final concert of the season will also feature two Bach cantatas.
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The SCC is keen to foster relationships with other arts organizations and, from when he was first hired, Artistic Director Stephane Potvin has wanted to hold regular events with the SSO. This concert will fulfill the program committee’s goal: to conclude the 2024/2025 season with an event featuring both choir and orchestra.
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Collaborating with an orchestra can not only enhance the voices of the choir, it can also create a richer and more complex sound. “When everything works, and all the elements click, it generates a powerful experience, punctuated by great generous sonorities on one end, and beautiful intimate moments on the other,” said Potvin.
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Leading both a choir and an orchestra can also be a test for the conductor, in this case Potvin, who will wield the baton. “The challenge is finding the balance between the clarity of the beat and expressiveness of the music, because choirs and orchestras require and respond differently to conducting gestures,” said Potvin. He must ensure that the choir does not over sing, or try to follow by ear, which can create a delay in sound. “Because of the positioning of the choir and orchestra on stage, I have to keep everyone together and make sure there is a balance,” he said.
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Included in that balance will also be five soloists. Ariel Harwood-Jones’s pure soprano voice is well known to the choir audience. She will sing the first soprano solo in the Gloria. For the duet, she will be joined by Stratford resident Brooke Dufton, who has been praised for her “beautiful tone and control.” Tenor Ryan Nauta currently sings in Calgary. Says Potvin, “Ryan has a beautiful voice, perfectly suited to the music of this concert.” Manitoban Nathan Dyck’s rich baritone voice is also known to the SCC audience from his solo performance for the Durufle Requiem.
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Also featured as a soloist at this concert will be alto Emma Heaton. As a master’s student at the University of Western Ontario, she is benefitting from the SCC’s initiative to provide opportunities to emerging singers. “I was impressed by her voice when I heard her audition in the fall,” said Potvin. “Since working with her in preparation for this concert, I have found Emma to be very talented.”
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For the choir, it will be a rare treat to have the harmonic backing of musicians from the symphony orchestra. “The strings and winds are much more related to the voice,” said Potvin. They can be lyrical, much more so than the piano, which is a percussive instrument. One feels enveloped by the sound of the orchestra. It is as if there is another choir supporting the voices.”
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Vivaldi Gloria, Saturday May 24 at 7:00 p.m. at Avondale United Church, Stratford
Tickets available online at stratfordconcertchoir.org or at Blowes Stationery, Stratford
Join us in song
Have you ever noticed how music can transport you to a different place, another time, or perhaps even an altered frame of mind? Listening to Gordon Lightfoot’s Sit Down Young Stranger album replays fond memories of early courtship days with my wife, Yvonne.
Any genre of music can work wonders this way. Stéphane Potvin, Director of the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC), remembers his first choir experience in college, learning a Mozart Mass, then going grocery shopping with his school mates and singing one of the fugues on the way to the store. “It was glorious”, he says.
Scientists, of course, have been busy figuring out an empirical, measurable reason for why we should enjoy music. Apparently there’s a neurological basis for all this. The human brain is hardwired for tunes. There are six neural centres that respond to sound. One of these is devoted exclusively to music.
Studies have also shown that endorphins and dopamine are released when we listen to music. Endorphins increase feelings of wellbeing and foster social closeness. Dopamine gives us highs when we do something pleasurable – chocolate, sex, drugs (legal, of course!) - you name it.
Here’s the most interesting take-away from all this research. If you listen to music, you get a high. If you perform music with others, such as in a choir, you get a greater high. If you sing in a large choir, you experience an even greater high. It’s like dopamine on steroids. So who needsdrugs? Or chocolate for that matter, although that might be going a bit too far. All you need to do is sing together. As one SCC member puts it: “I feel a sense of joy and connection that is hard to replicate”. Another says: “Sharing in the making of music with friends old and new…is good for the soul”.
Naturally this involves some practice and dedication but you are part of a supportive group under the guidance of an amazing director. There is work to do but there is also humour, banter, and immense satisfaction. You will be introduced to beautiful music you had no idea existed. When the songs come together there is a “wow” moment. “It feels like riding a wave”, as one choir member so aptly describes it.
Well, you are in luck. By sheer coincidence, the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC) needs more voices and is holding auditions in late May, early June and late August. These auditions are welcoming and non-threatening so there is nothing to fear; you don’t need to be a professional singer. So give it a try; there is little to lose and so much to gain. To find out more about the choir and to register for an audition go to: http://www.stratfordconcertchoir.org/join
As it turns out (yet another serendipitous coincidence!) there is a concert on May 25, 7:00 pm at Avondale United Church. Tickets are still available via Blowes Stationery or online at:
https://www.stratfordconcertchoir.org/performances So come check us out and enjoy an evening of great music while you’re at it. Maybe we’ll even see you at next choir practice!
