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Pro Coro Canada is a professional chamber choir based in Edmonton, Alta. The 24-voice ensemble was founded in 1981 by Michel Marc Gervais. Today, the choir is directed by Michael Zaugg, and has a strong commitment to community engagement exemplified in part through their internationally-renowned composer-in-residence and emerging artist programs. Indeed, presenting new music and promoting artistic exploration is a core piece of the choir’s mission, and they have commissioned dozens of new works in the past years, the majority by Canadian composers. Although they mainly perform for local Edmonton audiences, their work is now available across Canada through increased digitization and streaming efforts.
As the holiday season approaches, Pro Coro Canada is preparing to continue a number of seasonal traditions adopted throughout the ensemble’s history. This begins with Grammy-nominated composer Benedict Sheehan’s A Christmas Carol on Dec. 8. Adam Robertson will narrate the musical retelling of Dickens’s beloved tale. Zaugg refers to this work as “both humbling and haunting.” The piece clearly resonated with audiences, prompting this season’s revival complete with a festive after-concert reception to celebrate the spirit of the season.
Later in the month, the choir presents The Little Match Girl Passion (Dec. 22), a poignant adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. This will be the 13th season Pro Coro Canada has programmed the piece with a score based on music from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Lang has noted that “passion” is the Latin term for suffering, and though his Little Match Girl undoubtedly endures unthinkable pains, he hopes his musical settings help to lift her sorrows onto a higher plane. Zaugg says the piece “has garnered a loyal following here in town,” also remarking that “some patrons make it part of their holiday tradition as it brings balance to a hectic month.”
Beyond the concert stage, Pro Coro Canada has expanded its reach via a multi-stage equity, diversity, inclusion initiative which includes an extensive video library offering more than 150 tracks from the past five years. “It’s a fantastic treasure that follows our work over the last five years through the pandemic and highlights how we moved from no-audience, masked, to public concerts again,” says Zaugg. Four out of seven of the choir’s concerts this season will be streamed directly on their website and they will release their newest CD with choral works by Uģis Prauliņš in November.
This commitment to community engagement is also reflected in their holiday programming. As Zaugg puts it: Pro Coro Canada is looking forward to “presenting tales and stories—seemingly antiquated—that are transferable to today.”
Pro Coro Canada presents A Christmas Carol on Dec. 8 at Edmonton’s First Presbyterian Church and A Little Match Girl Passion on Dec. 22 at All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral.
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Francais (French)
