Paying homage to our fine-feathered friends, international award-winning choir Nove Voce presents Birdsong at Knox Performance Centre on Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m.
Performing music featuring bird names and sounds, Nove Voce will showcase an all-Canadian program with the only exception being the famous Beatles song Blackbird.
Featured composers include Laura Hawley from Edmonton, Don Macdonald from Nelson and Stephen Hatfield from Vancouver Island.
The pieces range in style and genre from the hauntingly beautiful Stone and Sand and Sea and Sky by the Rose Vaughn Trio to the super fun and spicy Las Amarillas, a Mexican folksong about the Calandrias (mockingbirds).
Four pieces, including Kingfisher, Magpie, Raven and Wren will be premiered in the North during the concert.
These were all part of a commission by Elektra Women’s choir and are based on Robert McFarlane’s poetry in his book The Lost Words. These poems are all based on words depicting nature that were removed from the Oxford Junior dictionary because children did not use them any more.
These were replaced with words like attachment, blog, broadband, cut-and-paste and voicemail in what seemed a powerful statement that the great outdoors was being displaced by the indoors and virtual realm demonstrating the increasing divide between childhood and the natural world.
During Birdsong several guest artists will be showcased including, Maureen Nielsen on piano, Jose Delgado on violin, Anna Scarpino on flute and piccolo, Paul Mulligan on clarinet and Naomi Kavka on cello.
Tickets are available by visiting www.eventbrite.ca/e/birdsong-tickets.
