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Performers Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, directed by Diane Loomer Reviewer Melanie Ewan |
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Noble Peace, performed by the Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, was a moving and fitting tribute to the men and women who have spoken for and acted in the name of Peace. This highly acclaimed local choir, directed by Diane Loomer, put on two performances in Vancouver this past Remembrance Day, demonstrating once more their seemingly effortless ability to convey thoughts and feelings through music. The concert was quite unique in that between each carefully chosen piece were excerpts from the speeches of past Nobel laureates such as Rudyard Kipling and Martin Luther King Jr. Words about peace, love, and sacrifice filled the room and seemed to dance among the harmony of the chosen songs, each of which held equally powerful messages of remembrance, mercy, grace, and glory. Of special note to me were the songs Newton’s Amazing Grace and Nimrod. The first is the story of John Newton, writer of Amazing Grace, and the second is a work by Sir Edward Elgar, which, although was written as a reflection on a conversation between friends, has become a piece to be used throughout the world in the name of both sorrow and honour. Chor Leoni sang these songs, along with the rest of the pieces, with a perfect combination of strength and beauty. As The Last Post rang out and we stood in our own personal moment of silence, I couldn’t help but let all that I had heard throughout the programme wash over me. I thought of the words which the choir had sung first, “they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not wear them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” (For the Fallen, written by Laurence Binyon). . © 2010 Melanie Ewan |
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