Spring concerts in the Valley

Fans of choral music take note - the Madrigal Choir and The Avalon Singers will both be present-ing spring concerts in the coming weeks with two very different repertoires. The Madrigal Choir will be Broadway Bound, figuratively speaking, with a concert brimming with song selections and highlights from over a dozen Broadway musicals. The program will feature such well known favourites as Porgy & Bess, The Sound of Music, and the Music man, as well as more recent numbers from Newsies and Razzle Dazzle. The Choir will be presenting their concert in both Hemmingford and Ormstown. The first of the two performances will take place at St-Luke’s Anglican Church in Hemmingford, starting at 8 pm on May 18. The second will take place at the Saint-Malachie Catholic Church in Ormstown, on May 19, at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 per person for each concert. Refreshments will be served following the concert. As well, any food or monetary donations given at the door will be donated to local food banks. Avalon Singers present the Fauré Requiem The Avalon Singers will be welcoming the coming of spring with their interpretation of the Fauré Requiem at Grove Hall in Huntingdon on May 26. The concert will open with a variety of madrigals from the French Renaissance as well as two songs by Romantic composer, Camille Saint-Saëns, and a song by his famous student, Gabriel Fauré. These madrigals and songs celebrate love, the beauty of Nature and the return of Spring. There is even a song about a remarkable husband who does housework and feeds the chickens. In the second half of the concert the choir will perform Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D minor composed in the late 1800s. Fauré drew inspiration for this beautiful mass for the dead from the tunes and rhythms of Gregorian chant. The requiem consists of seven movements and ends with 'In Paradisum', a movement not found in the standard requiem. With this final movement, Fauré invokes a vision of paradise sung ethereally by a chorus of sopranos. Scott Bradford, will accompany the choir on the piano for this concert. The concert will take place at 8 pm. Tickets are $20 and may be bought at the door or in advance from choir members.