Encore! Women’s Choir has invited The Tidesmen men’s chorus from Nanaimo to appear in concert with them on June 4 at the Christian Reformed Church in Duncan starting at 7 p.m.
Be prepared to be royally entertained as these two talented groups give you their best in what is sure to be a super evening, called Twice As Good.
Encore! director Christine Dandy said last week that she’s really excited about sharing a show with the men.
“They’re really fun and they’re really good. And they’ve never been down to Duncan before.”
The Tidesmen sing in close harmony but don’t sound like an old time barbershop group. Their music has more of a pop vibe now, she said.
“They sing things like ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and ‘Ba-ba-Barbara Ann’; they’ve taken off in a new direction,” she said.
Encore! is doing mostly folk-type music for this concert.
“Our biggest problem is fitting all of the songs we have to sing into half of a program,” Dandy said. “We’re doing some really neat stuff. We’ve never sung anything by Eric Whitacre before; he’s a big star in the United States for writing music for choirs. Of course most of his stuff is written for SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) groups but there’s some he’s written for SSA 9first and second soprano and alto0. ‘The Seal Lullaby’ is one of them and I notice it’s becoming really popular.
“Then there’s a traditional camp song, ‘No Time’, which the audience will really like and we’ll sing ‘Changed Forever’, by Shari Ulrich. We’re also doing a song called ‘Stars’ by a Canadian called Sheldon Rose; it’s on the newest CD from Elektra [a renowned women’s choir from Vancouver].”
Encore! is also doing the American folk hymn ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’
“It’s a Kirby Shaw arrangement; we took it to Victoria to sing in the festival there and we won Best Community Choir,” Dandy said.
But they’re also moving into the pop/soul field, too, with ‘I Say a Little Prayer for You’ by Burt Bacharach.
“And with the Tidesmen, we’re singing an arrangement of ‘Loch Lomond’, done by Jonathan Quick of the Vancouver Welsh Choir. “That’s an arrangement I’ve known about for some time because we sang it at ChorFest six or seven years ago in Vancouver. It’s great: you can hear the Scottish soldiers marching along through the music. We’ll end the concert with that.”
But, before that, the Tidesmen themselves will sing the second half of the show.
“They have a theme, ‘Marooned on Harmony Island’, featuring lots of things on that theme. So I thought it would be better if we started the evening and they finished it because they have lots of funny stuff,” Dandy said.
As well, young Valley singer, Casey Heyd, who musical theatre fans will remember played Anne in the recent South Island Musical Theatre production of Anne of Green Gables, and who has spent the year as Encore!’s scholarship student, is presenting two solos in the show.
Organizers expect music lovers to pack the church, so, although it’s a big venue, you’d better get your tickets early and then get there early to snag a prime seat.
Advance tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for students and seniors, and $5 for children. At the door, tickets will be $20 each, so buy ahead. All choir members have tickets and they are also available at encorewomenschoir.com or call 250-715-1568 for more information.
