Flin Flon may not be the performance capital of the globe, but it’s about to sound like it.
Before joining a world-class concert in New York City, the Flin Flon Community Choir will perform Handel’s Messiah in town this weekend.
“It is one of the greatest works of all time,” says choir director Crystal Kolt.
The local performance gets underway this Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church.
Tickets for Handel’s Messiah are on sale at Northern Rainbow’s End and will be sold at the door as seating permits.
Days later, on Nov. 27, choir members fly to the Big Apple to be part of the Distinguished Concerts International New York City (DCINY) Concert Series.
There they will join several other choirs from around the world in once again performing Handel’s Messiah, the definitive oratorical masterpiece.
That performance will take place before several thousand guests at the famed Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Dr. Jonathan Griffith, artistic director and principal conductor for DCINY, has praised the Flin Flon Community Choir’s “exceedingly high level of musicianship.”
“It is quite an honour just to be invited to perform in New York,” he said last year. “These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music and education, but they also become ambassadors for the entire community. This is an event of extreme pride for everybody and deserving of the community’s recognition and support.”
Represent
While 66 choristers will represent the Flin Flon Community Choir, not all of them live in the local area.
Among them will be several choristers from other communities who, through past work, have been associated with the choir.
They will fly to New York from their new homes in locations such as Toronto, Winnipeg and the U.S.
As part of the trip, the Flin Flon choir will share one of their original pieces, Mark Kolt’s The Star of Bethlehem, with a choir from Singapore.
The local choristers will in turn learn a piece from their Singapore counterparts.
Indicative of the high demands of DCINY, choristers will spend upwards of 10 hours a day in rehearsals over a five-day residency.
Incredibly, this won’t be the choir’s first performance in New York.
In June 2002, 23 members lived the dream of anyone who has ever squinted under the intense bright of a spotlight, singing at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall.
