Robert MacDermid & John Goldsmith
Nonsense and Nursery Rhymes,
Concert by 17 Voyces Choir;
St. Matthew’s Church in the Glebe,
Saturday, 4 March 2023 @ 7:30 PM
For the 17 Voyces Choir, if it’s not one thing, then it’s another. Known for the success of its large multidisciplinary productions; the ensemble has staged rarely
performed operas such as John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, Telemann’s Don Quixote, and Ager’s Casanova.
Under the direction of founder Kevin Reeves, what began as a choir specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music, eventually expanded to encompass works from all eras – including pop and jazz.
The small size, the clarity and quality of the choir, and the repertoire, much of it lesser known because of its difficulty, are what make Seventeen Voyces unique to music lovers. The composition of 17 Voyces Choir (you’ll not be surprised to learn) is approximately 17 voices – the number is variable. For the last 25 years, the choir has presented concerts of an unusual mix of repertoire.
But there’s more to the choir than meets the ear. Reeves is (also) an award-winning filmmaker, so the Voyces have annually presented a highly popular series of silent movie classics, accompanying them with an imaginative and improvised blend of live music – vocal, instrumental and in recent years, with the incomparable Matthew Larkin on organ.
(L) The Owl and The Pussycat are among the nursery rhyme characters sharing the stage with guest soprano,Whitney Sloan (R). Photo Supplied
These really popular evenings have included such classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, and Ben Hur. This season, the Voyces presented the film classic, Peter Pan at Southminster Church in the fall, sang a Christmas concert with 13 Strings at Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre, and a special Christmas concert at Lord Lansdowne.
The Voyces’ next concert – Nonsense and Nursery Rhymes, will feature the choir, a wind quintet and guest soprano Whitney Sloan, in a series of songs featuring well-known ditties and contemporary compositions, with several composed by Kevin Reeves, and New Opera Lyra Artistic Director, Andrew Ager. Sloan, who has moved to Ottawa recently from Edmonton, has been praised for her clear, lyrical voice and ability to take full advantage of both the light and shade in a score (Opera Canada). She is an avid performer with a passion for communicating the narratives of the operatic and concert genres as well as the musical intimacy of art songs and small ensembles. She will sing a Reeves composition entitled As Soon as Fred Gets Out of Bed, The Ragwort by Sir Arthur Bliss, and Aaron Copland’s I Bought Me a Cat.
According to choir member Robert Macdermid, “this is not your normal voice choir concert. Think Dr. Seuss or Jabberwocky, trumpery, or balderdash. Music too can be nonsensical, harmony and form upended and distended with humorous and perplexing results.”
“The main work is called My Briefcase, by English composer John Kilpatrick, written for choir and wind quintet. It is autobiographical because the composer actually had his briefcase stolen and decided to write about it.”
Expect the unexpected and be entertained…because it’s all Nonsense.
To purchase tickets, go to: https://www.seventeenvoyces.ca/concerts/
