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Love is Christmas (Lower Sackville)
November 26, 2017 @ 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
$20The Aeolian Singers (www.aeoliansingers.ca) presents the first concert in their 2017-18 season under the new artistic leadership of new Artistic Director, Heather Fraser.
The choir is exploring ideas surrounding home this season – the celebration of it, the journey we are all on to find it, and the part we can play in being a welcoming community. Love is Christmas explores this theme in two concerts taking place on Saturday, November 25 at Grace United Church, Dartmouth (7:30 p.m.) and on Sunday, November 26 at Knox United in Lower Sackville (3:00 p.m.)
In Love is Christmas, the Aeolians will be sharing stories and music in an eclectic program of beautiful winter-themed and Christmas music ranging from Gordon Lightfoot to Benjamin Britten, with the East Coast’s Celtic roots mixed in, while exploring what it may mean for those new to our communities who are searching for renewed stability and peace. The concert incorporates a dramatic reading of Shiny and New by Newfoundland playwright, Robert Chafe, narrated by Karl Fenton. Stephen Dempster, Guitar and Shimon Walt, Cello, will join the concert as guest musicians.
The concert is designed to give you some pre-Christmas respite from the hustle and bustle with uplifting texts of love and peace. Take a break from the “busy-ness” of the holiday season and listen to a funny, heart-warming tale of a community welcoming a new immigrant family right at Christmastime.
Heather Fraser, who was appointed as the choir’s fourth Artistic Director commencing with the 2017-18 season is a native Nova Scotian, who is immersed in the contemporary choral music world. During the 2016-17 season she undertook a self-directed intensive study period with top choral conductors in the US and Canada, and she is also currently Artistic Director of the award-winning Annapolis Valley Honour Choirs. She described the Aeolians’ 2017-18 season as “inspired by the current state of world affairs, and how we as artists need to perpetuate a culture of conversation, openness, welcome and togetherness.”
Now in their 42nd season, the Aeolian Singers (www.aeoliansingers.ca) began in 1976 under founding director Claire Wall as a program of Dartmouth Continuing Education. Since then, Jacqueline Chambers, and most recently, Janet Gaskin also conducted them. The Aeolians are champions of music for women, and over the years have commissioned many new works by a range of Canadian composers, including music by singer/songwriters Susan Crowe, Connie Kaldor and the late Raylene Rankin. They’ve shared the stage with a who’s who of musicians in their innovative and moving programs, and made three recordings, including the Canadian premiere of breast cancer oratorio, Where I Live, which they subsequently recorded, and performed with Symphony Nova Scotia and throughout Atlantic Canada, the U.K. and Europe. The choir is now under the artistic leadership of conductor Heather Fraser. Halifax pianist Diana Torbert accompanies the Aeolians.
The Aeolians’ season runs from September-May, and they’re excited that many new singers have joined returning members this fall. Stay up to date on Facebook, or visit the choir’s website, www.aeoliansingers.ca to purchase tickets.