Copyright 2000 by Edward Willett

The University of Regina Chamber Singers invites everyone to the CBC Galleria on Tuesday, May 16, for a most unusual concert.

The U of R Chamber Singers are one of the best choirs in the country, and on Tuesday they’ll have the opportunity to prove it in front of a national audience, as they take part in a live broadcast from the CBC Galleria to determine the winners of the CBC Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs 2000.

On May 17, it will be Juventus’s turn to do the same.

Directing the Chamber Singers, as she has for 15 years, will be Kathryn Laurin, Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Regina.

Although the majority of the singers are university students, the choir really represents the entire city, because a number of people from the community are also members.

"We’re an eclectic group of singers of auditioned singers," is how Kathryn puts it. She feels the community component, the "town and gown" relationship, is important. "It exposes the students to some music professionals in the community, and I think that’s good for them."

Despite its name, the group is a bit larger than a typical chamber choir, and, with 35 singers, is actually competing in the mixed choir category of the CBC competition. However, Kathryn says, the type of music the choir sings is really geared for a chamber ensemble. "We specialize in a cappella music," she says. "And a lot of the repertoire demands precision singing."

Kathryn admits that the limited rehearsal time the choir has (just one session of not quite two and a half hours per week) is a challenge. "For the quality of repertoire we are doing, most other groups would be rehearsing at least twice, if not three times a week," she says. "It says a lot for the level of musicianship in the group. They have to learn fast, or they just won’t keep up."

Just how good the University of Regina Chamber Singers are was proven in 1997 at the International Eisteddfod in Wales, a kind of "choral Olympics" featuring choirs from 10 different countries. When the competition was over, the Chamber Singers had won first place in the chamber choir category.

Despite that international victory, the choir has yet to win the annual CBC Radio Amateur Radio Competition, though it has placed second twice. "Considering the caliber of choirs, I’m very pleased with having come second," Kathryn says. She points out that the U of R Chamber Singers are often competing against choirs from other universities with much larger music programs.

This year the competition is structured differently from previous years. In previous years, each choir simply submitted a tape. This year, each choir submitted a tape (98 choirs in all, competing in 10 categories), and the semi-finalists were chosen on the basis of those tapes, but the final decision will be made during the live broadcasts on May 16 and 17.

That’s added an extra challenge for the choir, Kathryn says. "Once you make it past the first round, you have to compete with new repertoire, which complicates the situation."

For the tape, each choir had to have perform one Canadian composition and one piece in French, and had to show as much variety in style and character as possible.

For the May 16 concert (which, since it has to air live on the East Coast at 8 p.m., will begin at 5 p.m.), each choir has only eight minutes. "We have six minutes and 50 seconds of music," Kathryn says. While she hopes lots of people will attend the concert, she says because of the time constraints, clapping will only be allowed at the beginning and end—not between songs!

The three songs the Chamber Singers will perform were chosen to illustrate different genres and styles and show off the ability of the choir. They are To Daffodils, words by Robert Harrick, music by Benjamin Britten; O Nata Lux, a setting of a traditional Latin sacred text by Morten Lauridsen, and Reggel, by Györgi Ligeti, after a poem by Sándor Weöres.

The other semi-finalist in the Chamber Singers’ class is the Capilano College Singers from Vancouver, conducted by Lars Kaario. "I’ve heard them sing, and they are very, very fine," Kathry says.

The Regina youth choir Juventus will compete in May 17. It’s a coup for Regina to have two choirs in the finals, Kathryn says. "The producers in Toronto were commenting on how unusual it is to have two choirs from Regina in this competition," she says. "There are only six centers across the country that have finalists, so to put Regina on the map in that context I think is pretty good."

For her part, Kathryn is pleased just to have made the semi-finals. "I’m happy right now. If we come second, I’ll be smiling." And if the choir comes in first? Kathryn laughs. "I’ll have to lie down, I’ll be so excited!"

Posted February 3, 2004