The combined choirs of Powell River and Pender Harbour along with the Chamber Orchestra - a total of about 100 people - squeezed onto the Raven's Cry Theatre stage last Saturday for a performance of George Frideric Handel's sacred oratorio, Messiah.
It was a successful, sold out event that set the bar a little higher for choral achievement on the Coast.
Just the weekend before, the same group performed in Powell River, attracting an audience of over 500 in a community that is home to a biennial choral festival and is noted for its love of music. In Saturday's show in Sechelt, all of the soloists were from the Powell River contingent. Most of the orchestra were from the Coast and they displayed great musical talent. The concertmaster for the event was young Neal Andrews who played violin and gave a dynamite trumpet solo towards the end of the concert, during The Trumpet Shall Sound. Also among the orchestra were many professional musicians and teachers including Blaine Dunaway and Katie Angermeyer. The piano (a small keyboard, presumably because of space considerations) was handled masterfully by Maryna Gray.
The combined concert was the decision of two artistic directors, Joe Hatherill, who leads the Pender Harbour Choir and who plays in several local bands and orchestras, and Walter Martella from Powell River, who has often appeared on the Coast as a trumpeter and as a pianist. Martella also teaches at the Powell River Academy and leads a boys' choir. Overall, the choral singing shone above the solo work. The highlight was the bass solo by a gentleman of great vigour, Steuart Ferguson. While the women soloists were also good - Pam Wadden was particularly lovely with her rendition of How Beautiful Are the Feet - both they and the tenor solo, Doug Lanigan, lacked some of the spark necessary to convey this very difficult piece of music. In fact, it seemed as if an attack of nerves circled the entire choir until they picked up the energy with a rousing Hallelujah chorus in Part 2. During the final segment, the vibrancy never left the group and was particularly prominent in the choral singing of such pieces as Worthy is the Lamb That was Slain that brought the two hour concert to a climax.
Master of ceremonies Kerry Mahlman told the audience that, traditionally, Handel wrote this piece to be performed at Easter, rather than at Christmas time. Hopefully, this will be the start of a new tradition for the Messiah and for collaborative choral singing on the Coast.
