The Penticton Tune-Agers are encouraging music lovers to join them on Sunday for a salute to Canadian music.
“I encourage people to come and bring singing voices with them be able to sing along lot of these songs,” said Peggy Whitley, member of the choir. “Some of the music is just the choir itself and some is just orchestra and then both of us working together. With all of the music the attempt was to have a Canadian theme.”
Whitley said expect songs like Rita McNeil’s Working Man, which made international charts when it was released in 1990 on the album Reason to Believe.
“That’s one thing about the Tune-Agers, there are a lot of choirs around but we have a mixture with the orchestra of instrumentalists and singers which makes us unique. It absolutely opens a door for us to be more creative,” said Whitely. “We have such a variety of music with this concert, some are melodies we already knew and some we have had to learn. It has been a lot of fun putting it together and I hope for the audience on Sunday.”
Of note, Whitely said one of her favourites they will be singing at the concert is called Canada North, which one of the members specially arranged.
“It was written specifically about Canada for kids in a Grade 2 class. I thought that was kind of neat and it is a fun song,” said Whitely.
Tuesday and Thursday mornings you can find the Tune-Agers choir and orchestra practicing in the Shatford Centre with their conductor Gordon Dawson and his assistants, Dorothy Kohn and Annabelle Redman.
The Tune-Agers welcomed Dawson in September 2013. Dawson is retired military and highly qualified through years of musical experience with the Air Force Bands from 1963-1994 both as a conductor and musician. He has worked in musical theatre as a writer, actor and director as well as an announcer and MC for radio and television for over 20 years.
The Tune-Agers salute to Canadian music concert is on April 6 at 7 p.m. at the Penticton United Church located on the corner of Main Street and Eckhardt Avenue. Tickets are $15 and available at the Dragon’s Den, 12 Front St. Or, get tickets from a member of the Tune-Agers. If you are interested in finding out more about the Tune-Agers, then contact the president, Lorraine Uberig at 250-493-7853 for further information.
