The Elora Festival Singers are presenting their annual Soup Concert on Jan. 25 to help beat the winter blahs.
The troupe first began the concerts to offer something different and less formal than regular evening concerts. Enjoying a light lunch prior to the concert brought a social element to them. And, because the lunch always consisted of soup, the term Soup Concert was coined.
There was a talk about the music prior to the performance, and those performances were impromptu and never rehearsed.
Times have not changed too much, but now there are rehearsals. There is also a learning aspect to the afternoon. On Jan. 25, Cross Border Shopping will offer the works of Canadian and American composers, with two composers Eleanor Daley and Peter Tiefenbach present to talk about their compositions, their writing process, and the messages they are imparting through their music.
A prolific composer, Daley has over 80 published choral compositions and is commissioned extensively throughout North America.
Tiefenbach has enjoyed a career as a performer, composer and broadcaster, and has written numerous commissions including many for the Elora Festival Singers.
Howard Dyck, the former host of the CBC radio shows Choral Concert and Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, and recipient of the Order of Canada, will also be on hand to discuss the American composers whose works will be performed, including Morten Lauridson and Eric Whitacre.
“The selections we will be performing are from some of the finest Canadian and American choral romantic composers of the 21st century,” said artistic director of the Elora Festival and Singers Noel Edison. “I have actually recorded music by all of these composers at one time or another. This concert is sure to fill you up, both body and soul.”
Cross Border Shopping is at St. John’s Church, the corner of Smith and Henderson Streets in Elora. Lunch starts at 1:30pm and sells out very quickly. The concert begins at 3pm.
Tickets are $35, or $25 for the concert only, and can be purchased at the Elora Festival office, 33 Henderson Street in Elora, by phone at 519-846-0331, or toll free 1-888-747-7550, at www.elorafestival.com.
