Chor Leoni Begins 31st Season With Annual Remembrance Day Concert in November

Chor Leoni begins their new season with We Sang Our Songs, the ensemble's 31st annual Remembrance Day concerts, on stage at St. Andrew's-Wesley United (1022 Nelson St), November 10 at 7:30pm, and November 11 at 2pm and 5pm.

We Sang Our Songs offers a moving program of music and readings featuring diverse perspectives on war and injustice. Highlights include works by Gustav Holst, Arvo Pärt, and William Grant Still. The 65 voices of Chor Leoni will also sing Mykola Lysenko's "Molytva Za Ukrainu" (Prayer for Ukraine), and world premieres by composer Stacey Philipps and the choir's Composer in Residence, Don Macdonald.

For 30 years, Chor Leoni's Remembrance Day concerts have created important moments of community contemplation and reflection. This powerful collective experience is one of the choir's most cherished traditions and has resonated with audiences across Canada.

"This year's program goes beyond simply lamenting the atrocities of war and explores the many aspects of peacemaking," says Artistic Director Erick Lichte. "The works of the concert and the readings provided by members of the Chor Leoni community bring together the idea that the hope for peace in the world goes hand in hand with the hope for equity, respect, and love between people."

While a number of the pieces of the program will feature the choir's acclaimed a cappella sound, audiences will also have the opportunity to hear the voices of Chor Leoni accompanied by St. Andrew's-Wesley's new Steinway Model D piano, as well as the newly restored Casavant organ, played by Tina Chang and Jane Kim, respectively. The choir will once again be joined by Katherine Evans on trumpet.

"This Remembrance Day, we celebrate all those who fought abroad and domestically for a freer world," says Lichte. "Through music, we remind ourselves that in order to truly honour those that fought for freedom, we must continue to fight for freedom at home and in the world, lest their sacrifice be in vain. We honour all who gave of themselves, who served their country and their humanity, in the hope for peace."

Both haunting and healing, We Sang Our Songs offers the opportunity for audiences to gather as a community to contemplate, reflect, and dream of peace.

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