We at Phoenix Chamber Choir have curated a unique experience exclusively for students, based on our 2021-2022 season, Emerge. This hour-long condensed concert encounter is designed to be shared in class and educates your students about choral music and modern composers and is offered in both French and English.
Auditions for most voice parts are now closed, however we are still accepting auditions for Tenor 1 and Bass 2.
Auditions will remain open for these voice parts until the positions are filled, or until the start of our season. Please read below on how to prepare and submit your audition video.
Frédéricka Petit-Homme joins Phoenix Chamber Choir as the soprano soloist in the world premiere of Nou La. Haitian-Canadian Petit-Homme was a part of this project from its start in 2020. Nou La’s composer Sydney Guillaume, Phoenix artist director Dr. Nicholle Andrews and Frédéricka Petit-Homme met in 2020 over video conference to have an honest conversation about marginalized communities and how the Phoenix Chamber Choir could use their platform to make a difference and stand with those whose voices have yet to be heard. They specifically spoke at length about Haiti and Haitian immigrants abroad, and these ideas will be voiced in Guillaume’s work. The text of the piece was written in collaboration by Sydney Guillaume, Frédéricka Petit-Homme, and bass-baritone Lloyd Reshard Jr. Phoenix is thrilled to have Frédéricka with us for the premiere of Nou La on May 7.
Tell us a little bit about yourself; introduce yourself to our audience.
I’m a lyric artist and love making music in community.
Tell us about your connection to the piece Nou La. How were you selected for this solo and what makes it important to you?
Nicholle had a big dream, next thing you know I’m on a jet plane.
How have you prepared to sing this solo?
Feel the rhythm, baby.
Are there things you have learned or noticed as you’ve rehearsed?
Kinda stressful preparing a Premiere-lol.
What do you hope the audience will experience while listening to the premiere of Nou La? What questions or emotions do you hope it will raise?
I hope the audience embodies the contagious rhythm, the lilting melody and powerful message of Nou La. I hope the piece bridges the gaps that separate communities.
A fun question that we ask everyone: what are you listening to right now?
A whole lot of music! lol Any and everything from plainchant to contemporary opera. 80’s pop never disappoints.
Anything else you want to share about yourself, the piece, or the upcoming concert.
Very excited to be working with Nicholle, Sydney and the Phoenix family. Let’s do this!
Phoenix’s final concert of the season, Evolve, is a celebration of finally experiencing the beautiful and important compositions that have been halted during the past two years. This spring concert also marks the beginning for new talent and unique voices being introduced into the choral community, such as that of Timothy Cunningham. Cunningham is a talented young composer and recent graduate of the University of Redlands, where Phoenix Artistic Director, Dr. Nicolle Andrews, is the Director of Choral Studies. Having won the Choral Composition Competition during undergrad in 2019, Cunningham was initially commissioned for Phoenix’s 2020-2021 season to share his piece entitled To Tsampasin. Inspired by medieval chants and Pontic folk songs, Cunningham’s piece meditates on the theme of survival using striking harmonies and rich melodies that invoke a sense of urgency and awe. We share this interview with you to welcome this upcoming composer, and to encourage you to join us in hearing Timothy Cunningham’s piece at our final concert of the 2021-2022 season.
Tell us a little bit about yourself; introduce yourself to our audience.
I’m a recent graduate of the University of Redlands, where I studied Music Composition and Mathematics. During my undergraduate studies, I had many wonderful opportunities to have my works performed both virtually and in-person. My favorite aspect of studying music has been all the exciting collaborations I have been fortunate to have been a part of. Working with other composers, directors, and performers has been deeply fulfilling and inspires me to continue to pursue a career in music.
Phoenix’s Season of Premieres is an introduction to new compositions and unheard voices, as well as a true investment in emerging composers, such as Katerina Gimon. With her dynamic, eclectic, and poignant compositions, Gimon has become a distinctive rising composer, improviser, and vocalist in contemporary Canadian composition and beyond. Originally commissioned for Phoenix’s 2020 -2021 season, we are so excited to finally premiere Gimon’s piece entitled “Through the Storm”. A composition originally focused on environmental distress now brilliantly yields a poignant message of hope in our current moment, after having weathered the past two years. We share this interview with you to introduce Gimon as a vital addition to the final concert of Phoenix’s 2021-2022 season: Evolve, in hopes that you might join us in witnessing her magic.
Now that it’s been two years since you thought Through the Storm would premiere, what have you learned about music composing and/or performing that you didn’t know in February 2020?
I learned that in a world of change we all need art now more than ever! Although it’s been a tough two years, it has been remarkable to see how the musical community has come together even more because of it, which is similar to the inspiration behind Through the Storm. (Even though it was written in late 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic).
Phoenix’s last concert of this “season of premieres” will be a moment of closure and remembrance, to finally showcase three beautiful works originally commissioned by Phoenix in 2020. One of these pieces is Hatian-American composer Sydney Guillaume’s piece entitled “Nou La,” which encapsulates the loss and unrest of the past two years, capitalizing on the cultural, racial, and social injustices felt worldwide. Guillaume’s piece is a defiant message of resilience, lifting up silenced voices to remind the world of “Nou La” which translates to “We are Here”. This interview with Sydney Guillaume adds so much richness and meaning to an already significant piece. Please join us for this powerful premiere at our Spring concert: Evolve, happening in person in Vancouver on May 7 or virtually May 14-21.
Tell us a little bit about yourself; introduce yourself to our audience
Sydney Guillaume: I’m originally from Haiti and moved to the United States with my family when I was young. I started music lessons (piano) in Haiti and continued in Miami. After writing my first choral piece when I was in college, I realized that I could use this platform to showcase a more positive image of Haiti and elevate the Haitian Creole language.
(View Sydney’s full bio here)
Singers are busy preparing for our final concert of the season, Evolve, taking place on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 3 PM at Pacific Spirit United Church. Evolve will take listeners on a journey through history. Three world premieres (yes, three!) by composers Sydney Guillaume, Katerina Gimon, and Timothy Cunningham have all been long-awaited and we are elated to finally have an opportunity to perform them live. The repertoire will demonstrate the role and importance of music throughout history and how composers have paved the way to challenge the performers, the listener, and society at large. This concert is bound to be one for the Phoenix ages and displays so much of our growth and goals as we close the curtain on our fourth decade of singing together. We hope that you’ll join us whether in-person in Vancouver on May 7 or virtually beginning May 14.
For tickets, visit our concert page.
We announced in January that Emily would be moving on after over 3 years in the position and we could not be more thrilled to have found an excellent fit to replace her in Ashley. She has substantial past choral and musical experience and will be a wonderful advocate and liaison for us. We are eager for our entire Phoenix family to get to know Ashley better, but we asked her a few questions so that we could introduce her to you all.
What role has music played in your own personal development?
Music has touched just about every aspect of my personal and professional life. As a kid, my mom taught me and my sisters to sing and my dad introduced us to a wide range of musical genres. I grew up on Long Island, NY, and sang at home, at church, and in school choirs. I studied Music Composition at Stanford and NYU and began my career in fundraising for the arts. I worked on special events at Carnegie Hall, where I helped put on large gala fundraisers until I left the east coast for the best coast. My husband and I moved to Seattle, where I worked for University of Washington’s performing arts center and Providence Hospital, all the while singing in choirs. We moved to Victoria when our first daughter was one, and decided to stay home with her. In Victoria, I joined a choir and started my own non-audition women’s pop choir. It was my first time conducting a choir, and I absolutely loved it. Read more
Phoenix’s 2021-2022 season is called, Emerge: A Season of Premieres, as we wanted this year to represent various forms of new beginnings and to be able to commission several premieres from talented composers and introduce them to the Phoenix audience. One of those composers is Laura Hawley, whose piece O the Snow, we had the privilege of premiering at our December 11 in-person performance of “Lux.” We are sharing our interview with Hawley now in hopes that this inspires you and your household to tune into the digital broadcast of “Lux” beginning Saturday, December 18 and running through New Years Day 2022.
Phoenix as a community values giving back and doing our part to ensure our whole community is thriving.
Because of this, we are partnering with First United Church Community Ministry and Atira Women’s Resource Society to provide new, unopened socks and personal hygiene items for folks in our city who may need them this winter.
Atira has been on the front lines of the fight for gender equality and supporting women and children affected by violence for over 35 years. They offer housing for women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and across the Lower Mainland, as well as integrated programs such as outreach, family care, and education in order to empower women and work to end all forms of gendered violence.
When you bring an item to donate at our Christmas concerts, you are providing a basic need for the women and children Atira serves. Thank you!
Please visit atira.bc.ca to learn more.
First United Church is located in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where their team meets everyday needs including housing and shelter, meals, advocacy, and holistic programming. Their vision is to see a neighbourhood where everyone is celebrated and all people can thrive, and Phoenix is excited to be joining the wonderful team at First United in that this winter.
Donations at our concert will go to the many individuals First United serves throughout the year.
Learn about First United’s programs and work at firstunited.ca
Like we mentioned, socks are a tremendous need for various organizations and shelters during the winter months in particular, but socks also have a newfound special meaning in our #PhoenixFamily.
We discovered Nicholle Andrews, our artistic director, prefers to conduct without shoes! While it might be silly, this small, personal habit though has inspired us to give back in a special Phoenix way around our Christmas concerts. As a reminder: anyone who bring socks or a personal hygiene item for our service project to our concerts will receive a free raffle ticket as a thank you from Phoenix!
And oh, yes, we will all be singing in our socks at our concert. Feel free to join in on the fun by wearing your festive footwear as well!