A thousand voices, one chorus!
Toi, moi, tout un monde a hymn of praise to song and the international French community!
Soon Alberta’s capital will be at the heart of a thousand voices, with choral singers from all over the world taking part in a fabulous event, the French choral singing festival Choralies internationales Edmonton 2012. The founding partners of the event, the Chorale Saint-Jean, the Alliance des chorales du Québec and University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean, are immensely proud to invite you to this extremely rare gathering, when Edmonton will be decked out in all its finery to welcome participants!
In the same vein as the Choralies and À cœur joie, the festival will concentrate particularly on communal singing. The thousand-voice choir will spend two hours together each day, rehearsing a variety of works of diverse origins to the delight of the singers who will present these at the closing ceremony in the magnificent Winspear Centre for Music, one of North America’s most beautiful concert halls. Classics like Jean Racine’s Cantique and Ma belle aurore will play alongside more contemporary works such as our superb theme song Toi, moi, tout un monde!
A dazzling array of workshops...
Le Requiem (Camille Saint-Saëns) – Conductor, Pierre Calmelet (Le Madrigal de Paris, Conservatoire de Boulogne). Saint-Saëns’ magnificent work is one of great lyrical beauty and its different movements are astonishingly diverse.
La Grand-messe (Gilles Vigneault) – Conductor, David Rompré (the Chœur les Rhapsodes and the Chœur de l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec). Created in 2008, this contemporary Quebec masterpiece, evoking the childhood of the great chansonnier and his faith in humanity will be presented by organ and small orchestra.
Elles s’appelaient Marie (France Levasseur-Ouimet) – Conductor, Laurier Fagnan (Chorale Saint-Jean, Campus Saint-Jean, Edmonton). In this moving sixteen-part suite, the Franco- Albertan writer and composer tells the story of Quebec migration to Western Canada at the beginning of the 20th century.
Treasures of the Renaissance – Conductor, Michel-Marc Gervais (University of California, Santa Barbara, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris). The singers will be charmed by this great master of chamber music who will be working on Renaissance masterpieces with an advanced-level a-capella choir.
Le Gloria (Poulenc) – Conductor, Robert Ingari (Université de Sherbrooke, Chœur de chambre du Québec). All week long you will have the pleasure of discovering and celebrating the wonderful world of Francis Poulenc.
Traditional African Music – Conductor, Scott Leithead (Kokopelli Choir Association, Edmonton). Get set for a pulsating session combining music and movement.
Acadian and Western Canadian Music – Conductor, Andrée Dagenais (Brandon University, Manitoba). The singers will be delighted to discover some treasures from the Western Canadian and Acadian repertoires.
Psalm 63 – Conductor, Pierre Barrette (Chœur de l’Art Neuf, Montréal). The singers will be fascinated by this contemporary work by Quebec composer, Enrico Dastous.
Songs by the Great Chansonniers! – Conductor, François André Ouimet (Chœur de l’Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, les Voix ferrées). The singers will have the great pleasure of performing the most beautiful harmonies by great French and Quebec chansonniers. Vigneault, Brassens, Gainsbourg, Leclerc, Brel, Léveillée and other famous names will be at the heart of the program.
Could there be a better setting than Western Canada to hold the Choralies internationales Edmonton 2012?
Edmonton, over sixty ethnic communities; the largest city park in North America with 160km of trails crisscrossed by the North Saskatchewan River; a majestic valley; unique arts districts, including Old Strathcona, close to the nerve centre of the event; the fabulous West Edmonton Mall with its 800 stores, 100 restaurants and 9 world-class attractions.
Alberta boasts five UNESCO World Heritage sites; 70,000 Francophones; 225,000 French- speaking Albertans; the mighty Rocky Mountains, just four hours away from the capital , stunning turquoise lakes, and much more.
Western Canada means wide-open spaces and endless blue skies.
For more information...
The website is now up and provides detailed information on workshops, concerts and how to register. The site’s address is www.choraliesedmonton2012.ca. Singers can also obtain information by e-mail from accueil@choraliesedmonton2012.ca.
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