There was a good reason why soprano Elizabeth Currie was teamed up with the Choralations Children's Choir in a pleasing double feature concert presented by the Sunshine Coast Music Society at St. Hilda's last Friday. Currie, who has studied music from an early age, sang with Choralations years ago, and though she is now at the University of British Columbia, she has not forgotten her vocal roots.
Currie studied violin, piano, and later, took voice classes under local teacher and former Music Society leader Lin Vernon who inspired her to continue singing at the university level. Currie now hopes to audition for the master's program in vocal performance. She appeared on the Coast most recently last November as a soloist during another Music Society presentation, the 40-member University Singers concert.
Currie appeared relaxed and confident as she launched into selections by Mozart in Italian, Gabriel Faure in French, Patrick Doyle, a contemporary Scottish composer, and Robert Schumann in German - all with Tom Kellough at the piano. During the second half she included another well-executed German piece, An Die Untergehende Sonne, by Franz Schubert, translated as an ode to the setting sun.
Also delightful was a John Duke art song composition, Loveliest of Trees, that draws from the poem by A.E. Housman in A Shropshire Lad.
My only critique of Currie's stage presence was that whether the artist was singing of nature, love or tragedy, she maintained the same facial expressions and gestures throughout the recital. In fact, she looked as if she was thoroughly enjoying her performance, making it a pleasure to watch, and generating a positive audience response.
The Choralations Children's Choir has a few new faces in it this season. Director Janice Brunson took the 24 members of all ages, from kids to teens, through a repertoire that included Bach, Purcell and Brahms.
One of the highlights of the show was the excellent harmony on Two Native American Songs with an interesting arrangement by Barbara Sletto. Valerie Rutter accompanied the choir on the piano, but played her recorder during this selection and the result was haunting and lovely. The smaller group, the Choralations Teen Choir, made their closing number shine with a rendition of Magnificat.As a showcase for local youthful performers, this evening was a great success.
