More than two years have passed since Island Soul Choir last performed at The Port. The world has gone through so much tumult in the interim: are we upside down, inside out, or…what? We actually believe we are moving forward, and we are so happy to be back!! Now is the time for us to continue our mandate of spreading joy and inspiration among our community through music that touches, moves and inspires our souls.
Conductor Karla Mundy has selected a repertoire for this restart concert that reminds us all to believe that we are truly capable of overcoming the challenges we face—small, big and worldwide alike—and that we are all capable of moving change forward in a positive direction. From raucous spirituals to soulful prayers, demands for change to celebratory praises, this concert will surely touch, move and inspire our audience. You don’t want to miss it!
Island Soul Choir is pleased to welcome back Tanglewood Trio as their guest for this concert. Tanglewood Trio brings bluegrass, jazz and other musical traditions to life with vivid harmonies and driving rhythms. These three women from Vancouver—Karla Mundy (Island Soul Choir’s conductor), Noa Neuman Spivak and Emily Villavicencio—blend their voices together seamlessly to create breathtaking harmonies and playful interlocking rhythms. Each singer takes her turn to serve up a song of sweet sadness or sage advice. You will truly enjoy their performance!
NanGo Grannies will partner once again with Island Soul Choir by selling homemade crafts in the theatre lobby before the concert and during intermission. All proceeds raised will be used to support The Stephen Lewis Foundation to help grandmothers in 15 sub-Saharan Africa countries raise their grandchildren who have been orphaned by AIDS. We encourage our audience to take advantage of this opportunity to support a truly worthwhile endeavour.
Island Soul Choir is a community choir in its purest sense. The choir welcomes members from all over Vancouver Island, from Victoria to Port Hardy to Bamfield, as well as Gabriola, Salt Spring, Lesqueti and Quadra Islands. Members don’t need to have any prior choir experience; they may not even know how to read music — they just need to want to sing. The choir’s repertoire includes gospel, spirituals, world music, blues, pop, soul, R&B… basically any type of music that touches, moves or inspires the soul. There’s definitely safety in numbers for newcomers to find their singing voice within this choir. Pre-pandemic, we easily has 140 members in the choir each session; we are now rebuilding singers’ confidence to sing together again through in-person or online membership. The excitement to be back together again is palpable!
Given that Ms. Mundy lives in Vancouver, Island Soul Choir rehearsals are scheduled only five times per session, about a month apart, unlike traditional choirs that rehearse weekly. Now in its 15th year, the choir continues to be hugely popular in spite of (or maybe more due to) this unorthodox rehearsal format.
Phenomenal! We’ll absolutely be back for another concert… So exhuberant!… Loved being part of the uplifting energy… We just loved it!… Thanks for such a lovely show… The singers are so enthusiastic!… Very uplifting!… Makes you want to join… Really fun to watch… Always great… Fantastic!
