On February 26, take a well-deserved break from midterms and join the UBC Choral Union, University Singers and Eric Hamber Secondary Chamber Choir at the Chan Centre for their Bach to Spring concert.
Featuring music from many different time periods and styles, this concert sets the bar high by focusing on two movements from Bach’s B-minor mass, titled Mass for the World.
“These movements are notoriously fairly difficult,” said Kate Redford, singer in Choral Union. “The first one is a little more dramatic, grand and slower, and the other one is melismatic.”
The three choirs cover a wide spectrum of musical styles, ranging from baroque, to Estonian folk pieces, to pieces composed by UBC’s Stephen Chatman, professor at the School of Music.
Choral Union, which is the largest four-part choral group at UBC, boasts 120 members with varying levels of experience. For members from different faculties and year-levels, the focus on Bach’s work is certainly challenging.
“It’s quite remarkable and we’re quite proud because we have students who have never sung a Bach piece from a large work,” said James Sparks, interim director of Choral Activities.
Sparks, who handpicked the program for this concert, selected pieces with his singers in mind.
“There’s a variety of reasons why we pick repertoire, but picking Bach for this concert goes back to the basics of singing. I’m drawn to the lives of the singers and how to portray that to the audience.”
Bach’s B-minor mass features a bass melody, which is unusual in Baroque compositions. The movements from Bach’s Mass for the World tie into the theme of the final piece of the concert, which is incidentally the only piece to be performed by all three choirs.
“It’s a piece from Estonia, used for non-violent political change,” said Sparks. “It set up the conditions for an independent Estonia in 1991.”
Another notable modern piece is Past Life Melodies composed by Sarah Hopkins, which features unique indigenous overtone singing and chanting. The style is a far cry from Bach, but equally compelling.
With such a diverse program, there is surely something for everyone to enjoy as reflected in the diversity of the choir itself.
“The thing with Choral Union is that is makes everyone relate to something, whether it’s academically or intellectually. Finding that balance and making everyone feel like they’re able to contribute to their best ability is a larger text of why we do music and perform,” said Andrew Bortz, conductor and singer. “We all come from different perspectives and hopefully that ties into the concert — we have our own stories and we want to share that with the audience.”
“It’s definitely worth seeing for anybody. It’s just such a phenomenal group,” said Redford.
The Bach to Spring takes place on February 26 at 8 p.m. at the UBC Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at tickets.ubc.ca or in person.