Can You Hear Me?
That question can mean many things. The Guelph Chamber Choir will explore some of these meanings at its final concert of the season, Can You Hear Me? on April 12 at Harcourt United Church.
“With this concert, we wanted to choose music that was seeking to amplify some of society’s underrepresented voices,” explained the choir’s Artistic Director and Conductor, Charlene Pauls.
She continued, “The genesis was a couple of pieces that I had come across that I felt were very powerful, very uplifting, and I wanted to get them into the choir’s repertoire.”
The first half of the concert on April 12 will feature one of these pieces, “A Silence Haunts Me”, by American composer Jake Runestad. The lyrics in this piece are taken from the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter Beethoven wrote to his brothers but which was never sent, penning his despair over his increasing deafness, his thoughts of suicide, and fear that he would not be able to compose any more.
“This is such a powerful piece,” said Pauls. “It’s so moving, so emotional, so very well done. At the end, the choir just fades away and is just mouthing the words, while the conductor keeps conducting. That’s a real gut punch. Very visceral.”
The piece will be bookended by two of Beethoven’s works, one nearer the beginning and one nearer the ending of his career. Beethoven went on to write some of his most influential and incredible works after he became totally deaf.
Another piece that Pauls wanted to highlight in a concert giving voice to those who have none, is Canadian composer Chris Kovarik’s piece, “Towards Infinity (Oblivion)”. Kovarik will be coming to Guelph in March to workshop the piece with the choir.
Kovarik said about the piece, ““I came of age in a time and place where being different in certain ways was simply outside the realm of possibility. Being transgendered was not part of the daily experience of life the way it is for so many today. It wasn’t quirky, or strange—it would get you shunned, expelled, erased from society (as it would still for far too many).”
She continued, “Living in the closet for so long affected me in ways I’m still not completely aware of. But I am aware of some of the ways it affected my composing. It left me cold and aloof, and overly technical. Coming out is finally allowing me to be open and free in my work; to explore feelings, structures, textures, and styles that previously I would never have allowed myself. I finally have a desire to actually communicate with people through my work. And I want to share these feelings, and this story, with anyone who wants to listen.”
Again, giving voice to the voiceless.
The second half of the concert will give voice to the voices of today. Are we hearing our children, our youth, those who are being marginalized and oppressed in our world today? This half will feature the Guelph Youth Singers as well as the Guelph Chamber Choir. Songs in this half will include “I Forgive”, lyrics by Sarah Hejazi, music by Shireen Abu-Khader.
“We are bringing in Maryem Tollar, an Arabic soloist who is really incredible, for this piece about an Egyptian woman, writer, and activist, the brutality she suffered. The lyrics are based on her suicide note,” said Pauls. “The note says, I forgive the harshness of the world, the cruelty…It’s an incredible text. This piece really impacted me when I heard it in concert.”
The concert on April 12 will finish with two uplifting and hopeful pieces, one an American hymn equated with the Shaker and Quaker movements in America, and one, “Oye”, which means Listen, in Spanish.
“There are some pieces that are so joyful, that remind us to be hopeful, to keep caring,” said Pauls. “In Can You Hear Me?, I wanted to not shy away from the voices and reality that need to be heard. We will be balancing pain that is expressed with incredible strength, with powerful voices of hope!”
She finished, “I believe audiences will come away having had a full experience. Art can be powerful, joyful, and hopeful. This concert will show all that.”
Can You Hear Me? features the Guelph Chamber Choir and assorted guests and is happening April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Harcourt United Church.
Tickets, including special youth pricing, can be purchased online here.