Another bite of the Big Apple

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This article was published 13/11/2023 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Flin Flon Community Choir will be one up on the Beatles after tonight.

That’s when the choral group performs at Carnegie Hall in New York, making it the third time it has graced the stage of the illustrious auditorium, one more than the Fab Four did during its career.

”Isn’t it odd to say?” says Crystal Kolt, who sings alto and is the choir’s director. “It is a little bit funny how many times we’ve had the chance to do this.”

Twenty-five members of the Flin Flon group will be part of a 230-member mass choir comprising singers from 23 companies from around the world to perform the première of Twilight Mass by Norwegian composer Ola Gjello, an evening produced by the classical music company Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY).

“It’s a truly, profoundly beautiful work, so it’s going to be an honour to be part of the première.”

Tonight will be the second time mezzo-soprano Rhonda Head has performed at Carnegie Hall, and the singer from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, near The Pas, couldn’t wait to see the 3,671-seat New York landmark once again.

“I’m always feeling pressure before I perform but it’s way more exciting because all the people that have graced the stage and performed there before, their energy is in that building,” Head says.

The Flin Flon Community Choir, which goes by FFCC International in the show’s program, was initially scheduled to perform the famous choral work Carmina Burana in April 2020 in New York, but the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled the show.

Kolt says DCINY began courting the Flin Flon choristers at the beginning of 2023 — “They didn’t even have the name of the work at that point,” she says — and it didn’t take long for 25 singers to sign up.

The choir didn’t receive the score for Twilight Mass until August, so that meant rehearsals twice a week, some done in person, others done via Zoom, for everyone to learn the piece’s complexities, which put a new spin on the famous one-liner, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.”

“Ola Gjello, one of the pieces he’s known for is Sunrise Mass, and it’s really exciting that it’s almost a prequel, if twilight comes before sunrise,” Kolt says. “We had people listen to the Sunrise Mass so they understood the type of harmonies, what the flavour (of music) that this composer is.

“It’s all a leap of faith but isn’t that life in general? We said yes and the adventure begins and we’ll see how it turns out.”

“We have the recipe of making things happen even though it shouldn’t be possible,” Kolt says.

Twilight Mass is sung in Latin, which should unite a chorus of singers who speak many different languages. The companies taking part come from from Poland, Germany, France, and yes, Flin Flon.

‘When someone is composing music, it doesn’t matter what nationality they are, you feel the beauty in the melody,” Head says. “Music is an international language. If I had composed in Cree, they’d feel the same energy.”

Kolt, who in June became director of culture and community initiatives for the City of Flin Flon, won’t be alone in New York. Her husband, Mark, their daughter, Katryn, and Kolt’s sister, Carla, are also in the chorus.

Head is bringing three Indigenous youngsters with her, perhaps the next generation of choristers, as VIPs to soak in the experience and watch the performance.

“They all auditioned for me. I wanted to know if they’re really passionate about singing and they all are,” Head says.

How does any musical group follow up the high of performing in one of the world’s most famous concert halls?

Sugar plums will replace the Big Apple by the time the choir returns to northern Manitoba, and like every Christmas season, it will be a season for singing.

For the Flin Flon Community Chorus, its holiday highlight will be a Dec. 2 concert at a hall with less history: R.H. Channing Auditorium in Flin Flon, but similar importance.

“Each experience is wonderful and unique in its own right so it’s never a challenge going back and forth,” Kolt says.

alan.small@winnipegfreepress.com

X: @AlanDSmall