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Pro Coro embraces Ukrainian culture

On the heels of Ukrainian Christmas, Pro Coro Chamber Choir travels to The Heart of Kyiv this coming Sunday at MacDougall Church.

On the heels of Ukrainian Christmas, Pro Coro Chamber Choir travels to The Heart of Kyiv this coming Sunday at MacDougall Church.

The 16 lush a cappella voices will be joined by the Ukrainian Dnipro Ensemble for a two-hour concert under the baton of guest conductor Mark Bailey from Yale University’s Davenport College.

A world-renowned expert in 17th- to 18th-century Slavic music, Bailey is also a friend of Pro Coro conductor Richard Sparks, and was invited to share his broad experience with the choir and the Edmonton community at large.

One of the program highlights is Dimitry Bortniansky, an 18th-century Ukrainian composer that flourished creatively in the court of St. Petersburg. He left a prolific legacy of hundreds of sacred works, operas, sonatas and liturgical music.

According to online sources his Ich bête an die Macht der Liebe was even borrowed by the original Star Trek creators for the episode >Whom Gods Destroy as a soundtrack to which Starfleet Academy students march to their graduation.

“He survives as one of the great names of the Ukrainian Orthodox tradition and the way he writes for choir is very singable and absolutely beautiful,” says Pro Coro associate conductor Trent Worthington. The St. Albert tenor is one of four singers from our community that includes Carol Kube, Catherine Kubash and Denise Littman performing tomorrow.

Much of Bortniansky’s music was rooted in the church’s historic chants dating back to the medieval era. “Bortniansky has taken the feeling of the chants and put it into a polyphonic setting. We not only hear the traditional chant, but we also hear what was considered modern at the time.”

But trying to read the Cyrillic alphabet was next to impossible and the choir studied translated texts to learn Ukrainian.

“Most of us sing in French, German, Italian and Latin. They are familiar texts and have immediate meaning. This was one more step removed and we had to work on the emotional connection,” Worthington explains.

There’s been a whirlwind of activity surrounding Bailey’s arrival. “For Pro Coro and our audience, it’s going to be unique. This is repertoire we rarely sing, and the chance to sing it in concert rather than a church really highlights the music.”

Preview

The Heart of Kyiv<br />Pro Coro Chamber Choir with Ukrainian Dnipro Ensemble<br />Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2:30 p.m.<br />MacDougall United Church<br />10025 - 101 St.<br />Tickets: $30/adults; $25/students, seniors<br />Call 780-428-1414 or go online to: www.winspearcentre.com

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