Wendy Nixon Stothert, regional director of the BC Choral Federation, together with Safehaven: Refugee Sponsorship Group, present the Comox Valley’s benefit concert of the year, “Choral Musaic.”
Six choral ensembles are coming together on Monday, May 2 to celebrate the power and the emotion of human voices raised together to help bring positive change into the world. The concert starts at 7 p.m. at the Mark Isfeld Secondary School gymnasium and admission is by donation.
Hundreds of singers from the Celebration Singers, the Comox Valley Children’s Choir, the Co-Val Choristers, the Just in Time Singers, Letz Sing, and the SD71 Fine Arts E-Cademy are offering their talents to entertain, inspire, and inform in recognition of “Music Monday,” the national celebration of the musical arts in Canada.
The choirs will each perform several pieces, and then unite their voices under the guidance of renowned choral director, Brian Tate, who will direct the world premiere of his composition, Music Everywhere, which was composed especially for this event.
Brian Tate is an award-winning composer, as well as an accomplished and versatile musician, choir director and educator. Brian has twice received Vancouver’s Jessie Richardson Award for original theatre music, and his choral music is performed worldwide. In 2010, Brian founded and is currently the music director for Vancouver’s vibrant 100-voice City Soul Choir. He is known internationally for his lively choir workshops, excellent conducting skills, his gift for bringing out the best in choirs, and for his exhilarating and inspiring choral compositions and arrangements.
While the focus of the evening is definitely music, the benefit will be to more than the listeners, as all proceeds from this event will go to a newly formed refugee support group. Safehaven: Refugee Sponsorship Group is the coming together of four local, like-minded churches, along with members of our community here in the Comox Valley, wanting to make a difference in the world, even if only to one family. Born out of the images of bombed-out cities, desperate raft crossings of the Mediterranean, and the despair of overcrowded refugee camps due to the largest migration in human history, Safehaven’s current focus is on fundraising to support its initiative. With the estimated costs at $30-$40,000 for the first year for a family of four, this fundraiser concert could not come at a better time. The four churches forming Safehaven are Living Hope Alliance Church, Cumberland United Church, Comox United Church and St. George’s United Church.
Cheques will be accepted made out to St. George’s United Church with the memo line tagged “Safehaven” or “Refugee Fund”.
Please join us for an evening of extraordinary music and a celebration of the power of song to bring people together, even across continents and cultures. This will be a night that you won’t soon forget!