Last Friday, I saw the Mount Royal Kantorei Choir perform at the Bella Concert Hall, their first solo concert post-COVID. It was my first time seeing them perform and I had little expectation on what this choir would look like, let alone sound like. I must say, I was happily surprised to see a mixed community choir with over 80 members sing (with great skill and ability) a vast and expansive repertoire that included everything from Thomas Morley to a new Jake Runestad commission. I was even more happily surprised to find them present a concert that not only included interesting music, but also kept me engaged throughout the entire nearly two hour length. Too often do choirs sing technically challenging or serious repertoire but fail to realize that the audience often cannot bear to listen to same 'choral ahhs' for many hours without end.
What the Kantorei Choir had was an abundance of contagious energy, of musical oomph, that forced the audience to pay attention, and follow along with the story they had to tell. Personally, as much as I enjoy choral music, it is rare for me to attend a choral concert that can transmit such an energy to keep the audience engaged for the entire concert.
I have included the program from the concert, mostly as an archival habit, but also for you to browse if you want to draw your own conclusions.
What does it mean to transmit such an energy?
Basically just two things. Their tone and their diction. And I find that they come together as a set. Since Kantorei is a community choir, I did not expect King's College choir sounds to spring forth from their lips. They delivered a sound that, although not professional trained voices, added great colour and expression to their pieces. The pop-esque sound (non-discriminatory) that they produced traded the traditional choral sound for lots of energy. And the repertoire called for it! Pieces like Fire from Elements by Katerina Gimon needs that energetic sound. From my point of view, a lot of the enjoyment of this choir comes by them producing different sound than what I am used to. Perhaps I've been listening to too many church choirs. Sure, they might not blend as perfectly as professional choirs, but they don't need to! Their unique tone cuts past what traditional audiences might consider to be flaws in their sound. Even pieces such as the Morley did not suffer as one might expect; they sung it with such joy that they found the 'spring' that so much Renaissance choral music requires.
Furthermore, their vernacular sound production allowed for vernacular diction. A choir that size (over 80 members!) with clear diction is basically unheard of. And I can happily say that I could easily pick out the text. There's a reason why they didn't provide the text in the program! A piece that would've been a mess if it wasn't for their immaculate diction was Would You Harbor Me? by Ysaye M. Barnwell. The homophonic text setting was as clear as reading the words off a page. Every word drew you closer to hear the next. And since the text was so powerful, they for sure could not afford to drop a single word.
I hope I get to hear the MRU Kantorei Choir perform again. Their unique sound transmits a contagious energy; I hope they never change. Truly a gem in the Calgary choral scene.