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Coquitlam choirs shine a light on Sweden

A procession of choristers in white robes with green garlands on their heads will fill the stage at Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre to start their holiday concert on Sunday.
Coastal
Coastal Sound Music Academy

A procession of choristers in white robes with green garlands on their heads will fill the stage at Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre to start their holiday concert on Sunday.

The Coastal Sound Music Academy choirs will mark the festive season this year with a nod to Sweden, which on Dec. 13 honours St. Lucy — the patron saint of light.

Diana Clark, the academy’s artistic director as well as the children’s choir director and Con Brio co-director, said she wanted a Swedish twist for the Comfort and Joy concert after the choirs had studied the Scandinavian language in the lead up to their IKEA show. 

The academy brought in a Swedish speaker to help the choirs with pronunciation. As well, the choirs listened to recordings of Sankta Lucia.

Clark said she has also wanted to use the academy’s Swedish crown, which has been tucked away for years. With the IKEA invite “I said, ‘This is the perfect excuse to learn all that beautiful Christmas and winter Swedish music.’ The two things happening at the same time made perfect sense to integrate it all into our annual show.”

Best of all, Clark said, the academy has a singer named Lucy who will fill the highly coveted role of Saint Lucy; however, rather than wearing the traditional crown of candles, she will have battery-operated lights, Clark said.

But Sweden isn’t the only country the choirs will showcase. An Austrian carol will also be highlighted as well a French version of Angels We Have Heard on High, featuring the sounds of cellist Ethan Fiorito-Gross of the Coquitlam Youth Orchestra.

Meanwhile, the academy’s new boys choir — under the baton of Deanna Gestrin — will perform. “I think boys have discovered that it’s really cool to sing,” she said. “TV programs like Glee, The Voice and American Idol highlight how great of an experience it is: It connects and people are really hungry for that.”

Tickets for Comfort & Joy on Dec. 11 are $20/$15/$10 by calling 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca. The show at 3 p.m. features Con Brio, Con Bella, Sources, Children’s Choir and DeCoro while the 7 p.m. concert features the Children’s Choir, Youth Choir and DeCoro.

 

Coastal sound music academyjcleugh@tricitynews.com