Do you need a choir fix? The Quarantones, a men’s group directed by Denise Marquette, is Comox Valley’s newest choral group, singing together both in person and virtually since May of 2020.
The group will perform a concert of sea shanties and other songs about the sea on Aug. 21. Showtime is 2 p.m. on the outdoor stage at the beautiful Gardens on Anderton. Net proceeds will go to the Comox Valley Children’s Choir.
Whether your musical taste runs towards light opera, folk songs, sea shanties, East Coast or celtic, music there is something for every taste in this concert.
“With songs like The Wellerman, We Sail the Ocean Blue, Barrett’s Privateers, Sloop John B, Farewell to Nova Scotia, Sonny’s Dream and What Shall We do With the Drunken Sailor – to name a few – on the menu, people will be hard-pressed not to join in and sing along with us,” said Bob Udell, assistant director and arranger for the Quarantones. “And we hope they do, but we will also have an audience singalong during the show.”
The Quarantones are singing men drawn from a number of Comox Valley choirs, including the Island Voices Chamber Choir, Celebration Singers, Beach Street Players, and Men of Notes who have come together under the inspired leadership of the multi-talented Denise Marquette. As the name implies, the men were convened in response to COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing closure of all choirs that met indoors in the Comox Valley. The men work on a diverse repertoire of men’s choral music but in this, their first public concert, they focus on sea songs and shanties which have become so popular lately.
Net proceeds from this concert will be donated to the Comox Valley Children’s Choir, where the youth of our valley – the adult choristers of tomorrow - come together for the joy of singing. Tickets can be purchased at Bue Heron Books in Comox and Laughing Oyster Books in Courtenay.