Heralding the warmth of spring, the West Ottawa Ladies Chorus, directed by Robert Dueck, is presenting an evening of choral music that moves, lulls and soothes. Invited to join them for select numbers are the Carleton Place Offbeats, a Vocal Jazz Ensemble. The walls at St. Paul’s Anglican Church will echo with blended soprano and alto renditions of a variety of music chosen to please the most astute audience.
Opening with “A Garden of Music” the first set welcomes the coming of spring, a much longed for event in the Ottawa Valley. William Wordsworth never experienced a Canadian winter but he knew, as we do, the joy of seeing crowds of daffodils announcing warm days ahead. His famous poem has been translated to song. Reminiscent of madrigal style, ‘Daffodild’ uses “fa la la” passages to enhance the sweet, lyrical feeling. “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats o’er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd of golden daffodils…” Bird feeders are alive with our feathered friends returning and the chorus celebrates their arrival in ‘ We Celebrate the Birth of Spring’ and ‘Sing Joyous Bird’, bright and sprightly numbers.
Travel is now on the minds of many as the ice and snow disappears and the West Ottawa Ladies Chorus will take the audience on an excursion across Canada from the Maritimes to the west coast with selections by Canadian composers that highlight our waterways. ‘All the Little Rivers of Canada’, written by Vancouver composer Larry Nickel is upbeat and fun and will have the audience moving with the beat. The lure of the Atlantic Ocean is often captured in poetry and music as featured in the ‘Cape Breton Lullaby’ and ‘Away from the Roll of the Sea’—both crowd pleasers. The Carleton Place Offbeats, under the direction of Margo Smith, will delight the audience with their swing and jazz numbers that will have them toe tapping and smiling. Peter Brown’s fingers will fly across the piano keys as he treats the audience to a jazz solo.
No concert celebrating the season of renewal would be complete without the delights of nature awakening around us and the feeling of love in the air. No song expresses it better than ‘It Might as Well be Spring’, a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic from “State Fair”, a jazz piece that really swings over a pulsating samba groove. The chorus will complete the evening with ‘What a Wonderful World’, the Louis Armstrong’s inspirational ballad of hope for a better world.
Save the evening of Saturday, April 30th for a very special performance at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 20 Young Rd. Kanata starting at 7 pm. A silent auction beginning at 6 pm will feature items for the most discerning buyer. Tickets are availble at Gaia Java, 1300 Main St., Stittsville; Kanata Barbershop, 2 Beaverbrook Rd., Kanata; Kanata Cleaners, 1029 Teron Rd., Kanata; Marks’ Cobbler Shop, 98 Gore Street East, Perth and Graham’s Shoes, 139 Bridge St., Carleton Place. Inquiries westottawaladieschorus@gmail.com