PARKSVILLE — What would Valentine’s Day be like without some romantic music?
The A Cappella Plus chamber choir can help you celebrate your love with some passionate music when it presents its fourth annual Valentine concert this weekend.
Under the direction of Rosemary Lindsay, A Cappella Plus chamber choir presents Love, Longing and Dreams at St. Anne and St. Edmund’s church in Parksville on Sat., Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Love has been a theme for poetry and songs for as long as there have been poets and singers. Three madrigals in the program are written by poets, two of them Irish, Yeats and Thomas Moore, and the third Thomas Morley, an Englishman.
Love is expressed in many languages from different countries and times, and to mix things and change the pace the choir will sing two South American pieces, in Spanish and Portuguese.
Many of the songs on the program have been sung by many singers over the years. One of them is Dream a Little Dream of Me, composed in the 1930s and sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and later by The Mamas and the Papas. The Way You Look Tonight also composed in the ‘30s was another favourite sung among others by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Michael Bublé.
Musicals and movies are another rich resource for the love song program. In the 1950s The King and I appeared on the big screen featuring beautiful melodies including Hello Young Lovers. Later in the century Andrew Lloyd Webber composed many love songs; the one featured will be Love Changes Everything, from Aspects of Love.
The guest choir is Panache!, Nanaimo’s six voice a cappella women’s choir who will undoubtedly add a hint of spice to the proceedings. They will sing their own set and join A Cappella Plus in two pieces.
After the concert guests are invited to join the choir at a reception where Valentine goodies will be served. As a fundraiser, the choir is holding a silent auction where you might even find a Valentine’s gift for your sweetheart.
Tickets are $15 general and $10 for students, available at the door, Mulberry Bush Bookstores in Qualicum Beach and Parksville, and Fascinating Rhythm and The Quilted Duck in Nanaimo.
For more information call 250-754-1094 or go to www.acappellaplus.ca.