What: Sea to Sky Singers spring concert
When: Friday, May 7, 7:30 p.m. & Saturday, May 8, 3 p.m.
Where: B.C. Museum of Mining (Friday) & St. John the Divine Anglican Church (Saturday)
Cost: $12 adults, $10 students & seniors
Since the B.C. Museum of Mining ceased 70 years of operation in 1974, the mill concentrator building has largely stood silent and empty, a reminder of a resource-based economy of days past. But this Friday night the impressive structure will resonate with the sound of song as a local choral group performs in the confines of the historic building.
The Sea to Sky Singers have been together for almost 15 years. Today, the group has grown to include almost 40 adult performers from the Squamish area, who put on two large concerts each year: one at Christmas time and one during the spring season.
"It started as a small group of people that wanted to sing together and grew large enough that they hired a conductor and that was Colleen Koop," explained choir director Veronica McPhee.
Koop stepped down from the position seven years ago, with McPhee stepping in to fill her shoes.
"We like to choose a wide variety (of music) to match sort of our personalities, but also the audiences that are coming to see us, so we have a lot of classical things, some jazz, some pop, some folk songs," McPhee explained.
But this weekend, the group is putting a different twist on their spring concert. Dubbed "Deep Longing," the performance is rooted in a concept that revolves around the concept of "longing" - longing for love, longing for travel. And the entire two-hour concert will be staged within the confines of the mining museum.
"I've been interested in having a concert there for a while, and so when I started of thinking of something that would work, I started exploring different themes that would kind of match the surrounding, so I wanted to do some mining songs and that kind of thing, and then I thought about all the things that happen when you're a pioneer and you have to leave your home," McPhee explained.
The choir then went on to develop the theme's breadth and depth from the perspective of the pioneer lifestyle.
"When you travel, then you invariably end up leaving someone or some place behind," McPhee pointed out.
Thematically, "longing" is what emerged, but musically, this concert is all over the map. While there is a lot of Canadian repertoire, they've just returned from a joint concert in Seattle and decided to also feature some American-composed pieces.
"There's different qualities to all the songs," McPhee explained. "One set is written by an American who is a professor at UBC, Stephen Chatman. He wrote a song, Cycle, so those songs are connected and they are all using text from a B.C. pioneer and miner, George Winkler, The Songs of a Prospector, so those are the ones that make the venue most appropriate."
While the other songs included in the performance are individual, distinct pieces, McPhee and the singers have managed to link them together under this one overarching theme of longing.
"There are some songs that people may recognize," McPhee added.
Expect to hear the popular jazz standard Ain't Misbehavin', and the big band swing hit, Chattanooga Choo Choo, echoing through the lofty space of the mill concentrator.
"And then there'll be some songs that people haven't heard before that will challenge them a little bit and open up their world, too," McPhee added.
In total, the concert will feature 13 choral pieces, plus additional solo performances.
"Some are more upbeat than others and some are more contemporary than others."
Colleen Koop returned to the group as accompanist shortly after stepping down as conductor and will be on keyboard for these concerts.
Of course, on top of the performance's meaningful theme, there's also the unusual venue for the Friday evening performance: the mill concentrator at the B.C. Museum of Mining.
Over the years, a number of musical events have taken place at the mine, and McPhee has caught the impressive acoustics and ambiance offered by the unique environment.
"It's such a piece of our heritage and that's I guess another commonality with the theme, is that a lot of the pieces that are Canadian really speak to our particular culture and our heritage, so it really matches that aspect, locally, here."
McPhee hopes people come out to the performance not only to enjoy the music but also to explore a part of history that is still on display right here in the corridor.
"I think more tourists see it than the locals."
The concert comes full circle - past, present and future - with the singing of a contemporary piece by Squamish resident Joanna Schwartz, called Light The Flame, which was inspired by the 2010 Olympic experience.
"It really speaks to what we have to offer, what is so excellent about being here in this area; so that kind of combines those two ideas of looking to the past to see where we've come from and looking to the future to see where we're going."
The mill concentrator's large, ambient space should lend itself well to the two-hour choral performance, but people are reminded to dress for cool, damp conditions. Tickets are available in advance at Billie's Bouquet and Highland Video, and they'll also be available at the door.
