The Prairie Singers wrap up another season of singing with two concerts in Winkler this weekend.
The choir, made up of 42 vocalists from across southern Manitoba, take the stage at the Emmanuel Mennonite Church (750 15th St.) at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. Tickets are available from choir members in advance or at the door for $15 per adult and $5 per student. Kids under five get in for free.
“I think this is now going on our third year of doing two concerts on the same day,” shared conductor Rick Heppner-Mueller. “It’s been well received.”
This year’s show theme is This Finely Woven Earth, which Heppner-Mueller explains highlights how connected we all are in this life.
“We ourselves are interconnected, and it just kind of explores that theme of life and all the things that make up life,” he said. “And also the sense of community, the sense of how do we go about our lives knowing we’re so tightly woven together?
“So we’re focusing on acts of kindness and looking at the beauty in the world. Through music we explore all those different themes.”
The song list is about as varied as it can be, ranging from a 500-year-old song in Latin to pieces in Tagalog and Russian to a few selections by Paul Simon and Bob Dylan.
“The feedback we get from our singers is that they like that variety,” Heppner-Mueller said.
The Prairie Singers are an auditioned community choir for adults looking for another venue in which to grow and share their love of choral music.
“We do audition our singers just to make sure that they can handle the level of repertoire that we sing,” noted Heppner-Mueller. “We try to pick music that challenges the group, because that’s what they’re looking for.”
Their season of rehearsals begin each year in January and end with a spring concert.
“We rehearse basically once a week, every Tuesday,” Heppner-Mueller explained. “It’s sort of a compressed season, which allows the singers to be able to commit to a shorter timeline. It works well for us.”
You can learn more about the choir online at prairiesingers.ca or check out this weekend’s concerts.
