Lift Up Your Voice

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Sunday, May 24th, 2015
2:30 PM to 5:00 PM

This May Island Soul Choir is doing something they’ve never done before: they’re teaming up with another choir from the mainland, to create their first two-city concert series.

Lift Up Your Voice is a joint presentation of Island Soul Choir and Rhythm’n’ Roots, both under the direction of Karla Mundy. The collection of powerful melodies and lovely vocal arrangements included in this concert series brings home how singing for the pure joy of singing can lift up our spirits as well as the spirits of others. Ms. Mundy’s selections also remind us just how lucky we all are to live here in peace and harmony.

The first concert in the series will be held on Saturday, May 23 at Unity Spiritual Centre in Vancouver; the second, on Sunday, May 24 at The Port Theatre in Nanaimo. Both concerts will be at 2:30pm and promise to be a joyful and inspirational way to spend a weekend afternoon.

Aside from having Ms. Mundy as their conductor in common, the two choirs are both about having fun, embodying the music as they sing powerful songs drawn from diverse vocal traditions found around the world.

Island Soul Choir is a non-auditioned community choir that draws its members from all over Vancouver Island, from Victoria to Port Hardy, as well as Gabriola, Salt Spring and Quadra Islands. It is truly an all-Island choir. Their repertoire covers gospel, spirituals, world music, blues, pop, soul, R&B… basically any type of music that touches, moves or inspires the soul. Members don’t necessarily have any prior choir experience — they may not even know how to read music — they just want to sing. With the size of the choir now at an all-time high, with 170 members and many of them experienced singers, there’s definitely safety in numbers for newcomers to find their singing voice.

Given that Ms Mundy lives in Vancouver, Island Soul Choir rehearsals are scheduled only five times per session about a month apart, unlike traditional choirs that rehearse weekly. The current Spring session marks the successful completion of the choir’s 8th year in spite of (or maybe more due to) this unorthodox format.

Rhythm’n’ Roots is a joyful, adventurous and soulful community choir based in East Vancouver. This auditioned group meets every week and enjoys multiple performances and workshops every year. The singers learn their music both by ear and from written scores, and sing in many languages (including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, and Yoruban). The choir evolved from a small East Van choir called EDNA that began back in 2008, into Rhythm’n’ Roots in 2013. They are still thrilled to be expanding into this new choral venture two years later!

Tickets are on sale through the Port Theatre Ticket Centre. FMI visit the choir's website at www.islandsoulchoir.com or www.theporttheatre.com.