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Chorus backing up opera

An Okotoks chorus is lending its voice to a variety of opera scenes at a Calgary concert this weekend.

An Okotoks chorus is lending its voice to a variety of opera scenes at a Calgary concert this weekend.

About a dozen members of the Foothills Philharmonic Chorus are joining forces with the Calgary Concert Opera Company to provide the back-up vocals for its performance at the Calgary First Baptist Church June 18 at 7 p.m.

The chorus collaborated with the opera company last year in the production La Gioconda and this year will perform scenes from such operas as Carmen, Don Giovanni and Rigoletto.

“It was the first experience for myself conducting opera so it was a little bit different than choir because it’s musical theatre,” said Foothills conductor Tim Korthuis. “There’s plots and there’s interactions between soloists and the chorus so it’s almost conversational. They are responding to what’s going on around them so you want to maintain that throughout the whole presentation.”

To prepare the well-known Italian and French songs for this weekend’s performance, Korthuis let those chorus members who are fluent in those languages take the lead.

“I leaned on those who have experience in that,” he said. “The nice thing about singing with other singers that are experienced with that is it corrects your pronunciation.”

Korthuis said it also helps that the pieces are well known.

“The thing about this concert especially is they are such well-known pieces that as the chorus started singing it they recognized it,” he said. “Once you hear it in the full context you’re like, ‘I know that song.’”

The partnership also increases exposure for the two-year-old Foothills Philharmonic Chorus and expands its musicianship, said Korthuis.

“The more styles you tackle and work on the more benefits you have across the board,” he said. “As this becomes a more regular partnership, maybe this will lead to creating a Foothills opera company.”

Barbara King, co-owner of the Calgary Concert Opera Company, said the collaboration with the Foothills Philharmonic Chorus was so successful last year that they agreed to join forces again this year.

“The audience absolutely loved it,” she said. “They were asking for them to come back and for both of us to keep performing together.

King said the Foothills Philharmonic will do more than create a full sound for the performance.

“They become a character in the opera,” she said. “In our upcoming production the Foothills Philharmonic Chorus will be singing as soldiers, factory workers and gypsies in Carmen, Hebrew slaves in Nabucco and guests at a party singing The Drinking Song from La Traviata.”

King said the chorus connects with the soloists and comments on the action in the story line.

“Each one they do they put something different into it,” she said. “I tell them to really think about the characters they are supposed to be so they can put something into it. Facial expressions are huge.”

King said this weekend’s concert is more about the music than acting.

“It’s going to be such an awesome sound, especially in a smaller venue like a church setting where the acoustics are incredible,” she said. “I think it really effects the audience in a different way instead of being in a large hall. They get to really see the expressions on their faces so it helps the audience to feel like they’re a part of it.”

Tickets to see the concert cost $30 for adults and $20 for seniors and teens. Children 12 and under are free.

Tickets can be purchased at calgaryconcertopera.com

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