The BC Choral Federation is thrilled to announce the first Seniors’ Chorfest since the 2019! Mark your calendars!
Dates: Wednesday, April 9 & Thursday April 10, 2025.
Location: White Rock Baptist Church (1657 140 St, Surrey, BC, V4A 4H1)
Clinician: Erica Phare-Bergh
This special event will take place in White Rock, hosted by EnChor Choir. Every two years, passionate choristers unite for this event, which offers a day and a half of wonderful music, choral activities, and time to socialize. Choirs (or partial choirs) register as groups, but please note that individuals can also participate on their own! Keep an eye on our BCCF website for updates and announcements. Registration will open in the new year.
Here’s a welcome note from our host choir:
“Colours of Spring – Seniors’ Chorfest 2025
The B.C. Choral Federation and your choral hosts, Vancouver’s EnChor Choir, invite all interested choirs (and individuals) to participate in the 2025 Seniors’ Chorfest event to be held at the White Rock Baptist Church in Surrey, BC, on Wed Apr 9 – Thurs Apr 10, 2025.
EnChor is busily preparing to welcome you all to celebrate the season with us as we join our voices in presenting the “Colours of Spring”. This promises to be an exciting musical opportunity for great singing, socializing and skill development under the guidance of gifted clinician Erica Phare-Bergh. Celebrated for her leadership, Erica has directed acclaimed choirs across Montreal, Calgary, and Victoria, BC. Known for her passion for building cultural connections through French choral music, she directs three intergenerational Voices in Motion choirs for those with Alzheimer’s. Phare-Bergh is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator at major festivals and events, including ChoralFest and Podium.
EnChor is a 55+ SATB ensemble of 60 voices under the direction of renowned choral conductor Morna Edmundson. All the members of EnChor are lifelong singers who combine their love of singing with a great depth of choral experience. Our ensemble performs two public concerts a year, combined with a number of outreach events in the community. EnChor and many of its current members have been closely involved in previous Chorfest events and we look forward to hosting you in April as we meet, mingle and make music together. “
Clinician
Erica Phare-Bergh has her M. Mus. in Choral Conducting from McGill University. A native of Montreal, she directed numerous choirs there from 1988-2010, including the Vanier College Choirs and the McGill Conservatory Choirs. She married and moved to Calgary in 2010, where she directed the choirs at William Aberhart High School, as well as Westwinds Green Choir, Savridi Singers and taught Music and French with the Calgary Board of Education. She is in demand as an adjudicator and presenter and was the guest conductor for the 10th Anniversary of the CBC-McGill Youth Gala.
Repertoire
Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) – Sherryl Sewepagaham (2:20)
Published edition: Silent Dawn catalogue # SD2303 SATB
Sherryl Sewepagahm’s beautiful and haunting Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) was inspired by a Northern Alberta vista. “Cree beliefs teach that the Cree people are chosen to be the caretakers of the sacred land. It is important to know the land and our relationship to it so we can better understand how to share and care for it,” Sherryl writes. The strong drum beat represents the lands natural rhythm.
Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) was first debuted in February 2019 by the University of Saskatchewan’s Greystone Singers, directed by Dr. Jennifer Lang. This is a powerful way to begin a concert about spring, new life and caring for the land.
Here is the translation of the Cree text:
Listen to the Land
We must take care of it together
It teaches us many things
Ce mois de mai – Clément Janequin (1:30)
Manuscript edition by Erica Phare-Bergh (available from the BCCF) SATB, unaccompanied
First published in 1529, by editor Pierre Attaignant in his anthology entitled Trente et une chansons musicales a quatre parties (Thirty-one Musical Songs in Four Parts), Ce mois de mai is a spring song about young love.
Mountain, Sea and Sky – Joanna Schwarz, arr. Larry Nickel (4:22)
Published edition Cypress Choral Music catalogue # CP 1071 SATB
This song perfectly depicts West Coast wildlife and BC’s majestic landscape. Joanna Schwarz’s lyrics describe nature’s paradise as it speaks of eagles, salmon, singing rivers, and the beauty of Howe Sound and Mount Garabaldi. This song hearkens back to Nitohtamok Askîy (Listen to the Land) as we reflect upon the beauty of creation that surrounds us.
Winter Awakening – Robbie Smith, arr. Erica Phare-Bergh (4:05)
Published edition Cypress Choral Music catalogue # CP 1961 SATB
Robbie Smith was a prolific and gifted Nova Scotian songwriter who died too young. His colleague, Kathleen Glauser (Naming the Twins) has done a herculean job getting his music out to choirs to perform and audiences to enjoy. This arrangement was one that she commissioned through Choral Canada. I chose to arrange this song from among his many works as I love the imagery, its Celtic feel and the hope that new life brings in spring.
Here Comes the Sun – George Harrison, arr. Erica Phare-Bergh (2:45)
On-line sheet music edition (pending) SATB
Released in 1969 on the Abbey Road album, Here Comes the Sun was written during a tough time in Harrison’s career. He wrote the song at the country house of his friend Eric Clapton, where Harrison had chosen to play truant for the day to avoid attending a meeting at the Beatles’ Apple Corps organisation. The lyrics reflect his relief at the arrival of spring (after a particularly cold winter) and the temporary respite he was experiencing from the band’s business affairs. You can hear the influences of East Indian music in the rhythms. It was also one of the first songs to be recorded using a Moog synthesizer.