Sing 'N Strings leaves concert goers smiling

Feb 25, 2015

By Jonathan Davies

Around 70 people turned out to the Kingston Christian Fellowship Church on February 20 for an evening of songs and the stories - both poignant bits of history and humourous trivia - behind them. With 18 singers from Verona and Harrowsmith United Churches and 40 string musicians with Kingston Community Strings in addition to the audience, the event made for a cozy refuge on a cold evening.

Repertoire included a range of styles, from lively string instrumentals by contemporary English composer John Rutter, to sombre medieval French sacred music, to African-American spirituals, some rousing, others wistful.

Wayne Tindale, musical director for Kingston Community Strings and conductor for Friday's concert noted that while his ensemble has done joint concerts before with other choirs, it can be a challenge achieving a balance between choir and orchestra, especially when singers are outnumbered by their instrument-playing counterparts. Another issue with bringing these particular groups together was finding time to rehearse together prior to the event, given the distance of their respective rehearsal venues.

A dress rehearsal Thursday and pre-concert run-through gave them an opportunity to iron out rough spots and helped mesh the efforts of weeks of separate practices.

The results were well received. As choir director Annabelle Twiddy noted, “everyone in the audience was very animated and lots of people had big smiles on their faces,” as the concert finished with “Bridge over Troubled Water,” which showcased the orchestra and choir, with Twiddy on Piano.

Choir member Deborah Spaar-Mueller presented the song, offering a bit of lesser-known trivia (the line in verse three “Sail on silver girl” was inspired by Paul Simon's then wife Peggy Harper's first grey hairs.)

A mid-concert highlight was a mellow, soulful rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” which, along with spirituals like “Goin' Home” and “Amen,” served to commemorate Black History Month . Gail

Robertson presented the piece, describing the symbolism of the lyrics. The line “swing low, sweet chariot” is said to be a reference to the underground railroad swinging low to the south, “coming for to carry me home,” with home being the refuge that Canada promised Black slaves.

It remains to be seen whether another joint concert between the two groups will come together, but both Twiddy and Tindale hope one does.

In the meantime, the Trinity-St.Paul's choir is gearing up for another collaboration with several local church choirs for Easter performances of John Stainer's “The Crucifixion,” while Kingston Community Strings will be performing with Orchestra Kingston on May 8 at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts at Queen's University.