Historian Hugh Brewster has created a gripping new multi-media presentation saluting Canada’s Victoria Cross recipients along with the captivating stories of nurses, volunteers and ordinary citizens caught in the conflicts of wartime.
Valiant Hearts: Canadians in War Commemorated in Words, Images and Song will be performed by the JUNO and Grammy-nominated Elora Singers on Oct. 30 at 3:30pm in St John’s Church, Elora.
This special presentation will feature moving accounts of Canadians under fire in conflicts from the Boer War and the World Wars to those fought in Korea and Afghanistan.
“There are so many remarkable stories in Canada’s military past that most of us know very little about,” said Brewster, a Guelph native.
“When combined with music, they have a powerful effect. Choral music has the power to move people deeply, particularly when performed by an outstanding ensemble like the Elora Singers under the direction of artistic director and conductor, Noel Edison.”
Among the music showcased in Valiant Hearts will be the Boer War patriotic song Johnny Canuck’s the Lad, In Flanders Fields by Guelph’s John McCrae, Greater Love Hath No Man by John Ireland, a new setting to Laurence Binyon’s For the Fallen and the revered Remembrance Day anthem O Valiant Hearts.
Shaw Festival actress Brigitte Robinson will co-narrate with Brewster, and a screen show of archival images and footage will assist in making this presentation an unforgettable tribute to the valour of Canadians in war.
Hugh Brewster is an award-winning author of numerous books, including At Vimy Ridge, DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II, I Prisoner of Dieppe, From Vimy to Victory: Canada’s Fight to the Finish in World War I, and On Juno Beach.
In 2014 and 2015 he devised presentations about First and Second World Wars that were premiered at the Elora Festival during sold out performances.
Tickets for Valiant Hearts are available online at tickets.elorafestival.com or by calling 519-846-0331.
