When a handful of local aspiring singers signed up for a harmony singing class at Capilano College in 2003, little did they suspect they'd still be singing together more than 10 years later. They've enjoyed a trip to Cuba, numerous musical parties and forged lifelong friendships along the way.
The choir, originally founded by the teacher of the Cap College class, Dale Rasmussen, now comprises 35 people under the direction of Karla Mundy. Mundy, who has a special interest in roots music and especially Latin and Cuban music, led the choir on a trip to Cuba in 2011 where members sang with Cuban choirs and did workshops with Cuban choir directors. And, it should be noted, drank lots of mojitos.
"It was just an amazing experience," says choir member Linda Bates. "There were so many memorable times, but my favourite was when we met with an amateur choir made up of music teachers at 10 a.m. in a closed nightclub. We were having lunch together at noon, but after we sang for them and they sang for us there was still 45 minutes left, so the young teachers put on salsa music, each of them took the hand of one of us, and they taught us Cuban salsa dancing. By the end of the session we formed a long conga line and danced through the club, including the kitchen where they were preparing our lunch."
There will unfortunately be no Cuban songs performed at the concert on Jan. 30 (nor any mojitos), but there will be songs by contemporary
songwriters like David Francey, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Gillian Welch, as well as traditional songs. Mundy, who does almost all the arrangements, has a special talent for choosing lush, complex harmonies.
Mundy's arrangement of his songs caught the attention of awardwinning Canadian singersongwriter David Francey, who has asked Mundy to publish a book of arrangements for his songs.
Accompanying the choir will be jazz pianist Michael Creber and local North Shore musicians Tim Tweedale on dobro and Patrick Metzger on bass.
Sharing the bill is another of Mundy's choirs, Home Cookin'.
The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30 at St. Clement's Church in Lynn Valley, 3400 Institute Road. Suggested admission is $10 with all proceeds going to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
