Chor Leoni & The Leonids Explore Mental Health and Wellness In 'The Turning' and 'VanMan Summit' Concerts

Chor Leoni and its star ensemble The Leonids celebrate strength and vulnerability in The Turning: Chor Leoni & The Leonids, on stage at St. Andrew's-Wesley United (1022 Nelson Street) on May 11, 2023 at 7:30pm. The choir's guiding tenet of transformation through music is at the core of their bold concert. It features newly commissioned and existing works that speak directly to mental health and wellness, including the world premiere of composer Sarah Rimkus' The Watcher of the Wood, a deeply personal and poetic exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Turning is one highlight in a full week of mentorship, rehearsals, and performance for Chor Leoni and The Leonids, which gathers more than 200 singers of all ages for a week of study and celebration, culminating in the annual VanMan Summit Concert on May 13, 2023 at 7:30pm at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

"In both The Turning and the VanMan Summit programs we give voice in exquisite words and song to often invisible, hidden emotions and mental health struggles," says Erick Lichte, Artistic Director of Chor Leoni. "Our members and audiences come to Chor Leoni as a place of support and acceptance. These spring events express and embody our commitment to creating joyful spaces where vulnerability and strength are in harmony, and people can be wholly themselves."

The Turning: Chor Leoni & The Leonids features important new works by Sarah Rimkus, Giovanni Bonato, and Maura Bosch. Together The Leonids, Chor Leoni, and its Emerging Choral Artist Program perform the world premiere of American composer Rimkus' The Watcher of the Wood, a profound and intimate piece with text by the composer's husband Thomas LaVoy, who writes from his own experiences with PTSD. The program also includes the North American premiere of Sügav Rahu (Deep Peace) by the Italian composer Bonato in his manifestation of peace in our souls. The concert takes its title from The Turning, by Minneapolis composer Bosch. This deeply intimate work, with texts written by men in court ordered anger management classes, explores the beginning of vulnerability, of asking for help and of wanting to make profound change in our lives. Also on the program, Jocelyn Morlock's An Die Musik, which was commissioned by Chor Leoni eight years ago. The powerful work speaks to the transformative power of music in our lives and its potential to drive away the darkness around us.

Rimkus' composition will also be performed at the VanMan Summit Concert on May 13.

Adds Lichte: "One of the goals of the VanMan Summit is to create a space for singers to positively and collectively access, process, and express their emotions. Each of these works, written by women but using the words of men and their trauma, give voice to men's emotional experience through an open and honest spirit of sharing."

After a week of mentorship, workshops, and rehearsals, the 200 plus singers from The Leonids, Chor Leoni, its MYVoice youth choirs, Emerging Choral Artists, and the VanMan Festival Singers take the stage for the VanMan Summit Concert in a celebratory performance including Argentinian and Malay folk songs, Medieval and Renaissance motets, show tunes, pop songs, sea shanties, and Romantic and contemporary choral classics. Each group will perform their own sets and then unite to become Canada's largest lower voice choir for one-night only.

The Leonids is a nine-member professional ensemble under the direction of Chor Leoni's Artistic Director Erick Lichte. The ensemble serves as the professional headline choir for Chor Leoni's annual VanMan Choral Summit and as an educational, inspirational, and aspirational force for this festival and beyond. In addition to their active solo careers, these extraordinary singers have sung with Chanticleer, Roomful of Teeth, New York Polyphony, Conspirare, Seraphic Fire, Trinity Church Wall Street, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Clarion Choir, TENET, Skylark, Phoenix Chorale, and ANÚNA.

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