Celebrating fandom in song

East Kildonan

A heroic journey begins with a first step — or in this case, an opening note.

Incantatem, Winnipeg’s self-described choir for “nerds and geeks,” will perform its annual spring concert, Journey to the Center of the Nerdiverse, on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 at John Black United Memorial Church (898 Henderson Hwy.).

The 24-voice audition choir draws inspiration from fandoms devoted to the likes of Disney, Pokémon, Harry Potter, The Legend of Zelda, and more. This show’s program will feature choral arrangements of familiar themes and songs from across fantasy, gaming, film and television. Not only that, organizers say the show also reflects on why these stories matter by way of original arrangements created from within the choir.

“I think this time around our approach is more personal,” musical director Sara Jane Schmidt said. “A lot of our audience members are friends and family of the choir, who come regularly and faithfully. Not all of them are geeks and nerds, so we thought – the choir, not mine – that we would share with the audience what it is about these fandoms that really resonates with them. To give them a window into that world, to invite them in and make those connections.”

The program includes 15 songs, as well as some light dramatic touches and short monologues from choir members by way of introducing some of the numbers.

“We ‘voluntold’ members of the choir who usually don’t speak up as often to write a piece, to say what it is about, say, anime, that has been important in their life,” Schmidt explained. “So they’ve written pieces that just share what the meaning is of the genre, and how the particular song has affected them or represents what they’re talking about. I think it will really engage the audience.”

Schmidt, who has been with the choir since 2017, comes from a choral, classical and worship music background. Still, it did not take her long to appreciate the musicality of the songs the choir chose to highlight in its performances.

“I’ve just been continually amazed and gobsmacked by the beauty and the range of the music among the geek and nerd genre,” she said. “Had I not joined this choir, I would not have known this. There’s so much that’s just phenomenal, musically. We work hard to develop it and make it sound as best we can.”

While some songs might be familiar to audiences, the repertoire for the concert also includes some deeper dives, which may just surprise and delight those in attendance.

“One that is a highlight for me is the suite of songs from the video game The Hollow Knight,” Schmidt said. “I don’t play any video games, so this is Greek to me. But as we listened to the songs, and worked on our choral representation of it, it really came together and it is just beautiful.”

The choir will sing in Latin, Japanese, English, and also perform instrumental numbers, such as the Mission: Impossible theme song, a cappella.

“The range in styles is really wide,” Schmidt said. “As far as choirs go, maybe some choirs do a geeky number here and there. But I don’t know any choir that does what we do.”

Prairie Solar Cafe will be on hand offering pastries and other snacks during intermission both evenings, along with some of the choir’s favourite vendors. Crafters from the choir will also be selling some of their wares.

Showtime on both nights is 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7. Tickets are $15, or $12 for children 12 and under, and can be purchased at zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/journey-to-the-center-of-the-nerdiverse