-- a word from EKOSingers’ conductor, Paula Roberts

Welcome September! A new season. New music. New singers. New friends. I have been told more than once that EKOSingers is Edmonton's best kept secret. That is such a wonderful compliment but we'd rather not be a secret! We have vowed this year to find ways to let Edmonton get to know us better. ……so read on!

At one point, we called ourselves the “un-choir”, because that term seemed to describe us better than any of the standard choir descriptors. We are not strictly a pop choir, a jazz choir, a show choir, a classical choir, or even simply a choir! We look and sound different than any choir in town. We present most of our concerts on a theatre stage, so the visual component is important, and we love to perform. Whether we do an entertaining pop tune with a bit of choreography, or a powerful spiritual, we are serious about presenting every style as professionally as possible, and we like to have some serious fun doing it!

Thanks to our pianist, Charlie Austin, and various musicians from the Edmonton jazz community, our band is as much a part of our sound as our singers, and I have to say that this is a highlight for everyone.  When you sing with great players, they lift you to places you didn’t know you could go!  And it doesn’t bother us that some people come to our concerts because they want to hear the band!

So I am busy putting the final repertoire together for this season. Pouring over the brand new choral releases is exciting (at least for me…!) and has me singing Christmas music in July!  We have our plans for a trip to Victoria over the March spring break underway, and have arranged for our usual trek out to Battle Lake for our April retreat.

It’s time to sing!

EKOSingers - the “un-choir” - check us out!

It's been a few years since the last EKOSingers cabaret, and we're ready to put on another great show for you!   Join us Saturday night, March 11 at the Old Timers Cabin.   Featuring members of EKOSingers in small ensembles, accompanied by a hot band, led by our very own Charlie Austin. 

This is a show you won't want to miss!  Tickets ($30) are limited, and available only in advance through EKOS members (or contact info@ekosingers.com).  No tickets at the door.  Seating is assigned, so get your tickets soon for the best spots (although they're all good).

Updates via the Facebook event page.

Here's the details:

• Saturday, March 11
• Doors: 7:00 pm, Show: 7:30 pm
• Old Timers Cabin - 9430 - 99 St. (Scona Road)
• Cash bar.  Assigned seating.  Snacks included.
• Tickets $30 available from your favorite EKOSinger (or info@ekosingers.com).  

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A few photos from Cabaret 2011 to get you in the mood!

 
​Well that sounds like a headline from the Storybook News!  EKOSingers will have all the details at their May 29th shows at The ATB Arts Barns!  It involves blending an arrangement of the song about that farmer as sung by Ella Fitzgerald with a rendition of Green Eggs and Ham from the musical Seussical.  It’s fast and fun.  Good luck singing along when EKOSingers hit high gear and lists all the ways they will NOT eat Green Eggs and Ham.

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Paula Roberts, Director of EKOSingers, has a unique and clever knack for song selection.  This show will have the standards you expect like “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” to the unexpected – A Bobby McFerrin medley.  EKOSingers are flexible vocally and stylistically as they stretch into the rhythms of McFerrin and then groove to spirituals like “Run Mary Run”.  Paula went to music town and brought home a trunk full of entertainment that will appeal to audiences that appreciate musicianship and creativity. Stand by for accompanist and band leader Charlie Austin in a show that will take you to the Soul of the City.  
See details at www.ekosingers.com

​We all know that expression about not seeing the forest.  As a choral vocalist it’s easy to fall prey to that problem.  We focus on notes, tuning to other voices, enunciation and all the myriad of processes that are going on while we perform and we sometimes miss the “forest” – the message that the composer wants to convey. 

I type the lyrics to our songs as a method of memorizing them.  As I read over the lyrics of “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor – seeing them on the plain page as poetry – I realized what a beautiful work this is.  In six emotional verses he pleads for the children caught in war.  They are afraid; they long for the familiar; they know no politics and they only want peace.  Violence against children is evil.

Bestor wrote the piece in response to the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.  Having lived in the country as an expatriate he was familiar with the beauty of the place, the warmth of friends and the simmering enmity between ethnic groups.  He writes  in his blog that as he watched the conflict unfold ” Suddenly my friends were pitted against each other…Meanwhile, all I could do was stay glued to the TV back in the US and sink deeper in a sense of hopelessness.”   As an artist he found an expression of the feelings nearing despair – the song entitled “Prayer of the Children”.

The song was not widely performed at first. Now has been sun at memorials for the Columbine shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11 and the Sandy Hook CT school shootings it has gained a deserved recognition for its expression of the plight of children experiencing violence they do not comprehend. 

Sadly - this song remains relevant twenty-five years later as we watch the displacement of millions of refugees from Syria and in many other countries.  Masses of people seeking a peaceful place with their children in tow could be singing with us “Crying who will help me / To feel the love again in my own land / But if unknown roads lead away from home/ Give me loving arms, away from harm.”

The song ends with hope.  Perhaps the hope that children can muster in their innocence needs to be the inspiration for the adults of the world in response to the prayer of the children - “When darkness clears I know you’re near bringing peace again”.

EKOSingers will be performing “Prayer of the Children” with the Mill Creek Colliery Band at their Pops and Classics event Sunday March 6, 2016, 3:00 pm. Robertson Wesley United Church, 10209 – 103 St., Edmonton, Alberta.

​Tickets are available from EKOSingers, at the door, or in advance through Tix on the Square (Charge by phone 780-420-1757 or online.)  Tickets for all concerts are $20 (students/seniors $15). Children 12 and under are free. Special discounts are available for groups (for special rates, please call 780-431-2437).

I’ve often imagined having the chutzpah to walk up to the doorman of a sold-out music venue and say “I’m with the band” and have that velvet covered cordon drawn back with respect.  Members of EKOSingers might have that opportunity as we perform with the Millcreek Colliery Band on Sunday, March 6th.  Truth is we’ll be arriving early - probably by a side entrance – but we will indeed be “with the band”.

The Mill Creek Colliery Band is a traditional British-style brass band based in Edmonton. The band consists of an enthusiastic group of local professional and amateur musicians dedicated to promoting excellence in brass banding throughout western Canada.  British-style brass bands consist of only brass instruments and percussion.  (Unlike British-style fish and chips there is no newspaper wrapping). They have a history in the UK going back to the early 1800’s and are often affiliated with industry sponsors – especially miners.  In this tradition The Edmonton group has named itself after the collieries (coal mines) that were found along the river valley area in Edmonton in the early days.

The concert date is fast approaching and EKOSingers are having a few extra rehearsals as we acclimatize to the venue and rehearse with the band.  This is a new experience for the EKOSingers and we are excited to get it right.  Learning lyrics, our harmony parts and getting the right blend are all the pieces that will come together for the performance. The program will include jazz standards performed with the band and spiritual songs that are a staple in the EKOSingers repertoire. 

We’re hoping to see lots of the community, our friends and family there.  You’ll need to come in through the main entrance and wait in line unless, of course, “you’re with the band”.  

EKOSingers will be performing as guests of the Millcreek Colliery band at their Pops and Classics event Sunday March 6, 2016, 3:00 pm. Robertson Wesley United Church, 10209 – 103 St., Edmonton, Alberta.

Tickets are available from EKOSingers, at the door, or in advance through Tix on the Square (Charge by phone 780-420-1757 or online.)  Tickets for all concerts are $20 (students/seniors $15). Children 12 and under are free. Special discounts are available for groups (for special rates, please call 780-431-2437).

It felt a bit like our 15 minutes of fame as about 20 EKOSingers members joined other members of the Choir Alberta mass choir to sing “A Thanksgiving” by Bob Chilcott, with Grammy award-winning The King’s Singers.  The concert performance was the culmination of an afternoon workshop with the premier classical vocal group from the U.K.  

We got a brief insight into the method of these performers as they coached us on the parts we sang in accompaniment to their performance of the piece. We saw first how they use the vocal instrument like craftsmen working with fine jewelry.  They strived to form each sound to promote the unity of voices and to achieve the best quality.  

EKOSingers Director, Paula Roberts, who also participated in the workshop   noted “I was astounded, at first, to discover their plan of not having a conductor for the 150 voice workshop choir, but as things began to unfold, it was amazing how quickly every singer “tuned in” to each other and to the 6 King’s Singers. We actually pulled off a wonderful “unconducted” performance which was a new and exciting experience for us all.  (But, hopefully, we choral conductors won’t be out of a job any time soon!)”       

Their emphasis on the primacy of the ensemble over the desire to “shine” as a vocal performer was an excellent reminder to us as we strive for beauty in the vocal blend of our group.  We heard in the workshop and again later in performance how their group has become so finely attuned to each other that they are conscious of the sound, the silence and even the breathing of their fellow singers.  Their concert was filled with examples of singing as though they were one instrument and in other pieces how they sang in counter-point with the precision of an elegant machine.  

Being in the presence of such virtuosity was a great pleasure and inspiration to strive harder in our EKOSingers ensemble.

We  are excited to be sharing the stage this spring with The Mill Creek Colliery Brass Band.   Mark your calendars , and stay tuned for more information. 

3pm, Sunday March 6, 2016 at Robertson-Wesley United Church (10209-123 Street, Edmonton)​

Under the direction of Paula Roberts, hosted by Matt Alden, and accompanied by Charlie Austin, piano, with  Doug Berner, bass and Dean Pierno, drums, EKOSingers presents an afternoon of swingin’ Christmas tunes and familiar carols.  

We look forward to performing with special guests The Little Dickens Children’s Choir of Holyrood School, and The Studio 'B' Saxophone Quartet.

 2pm Sunday December 6, 2015  at Edmonton's City Hall.

Admission is FREE.  Donations for the Edmonton Food Bank gratefully accepted.  Complimentary "Hot Wassail" served to toast the season!