New Beginnings

four new songs for Upper Canada Choristers’ 30th Anniversary

With Photos by Glen Sawich.

Programming a concert takes years of preparation. First, developing a cohesive artistic vision for a theme, and then selecting a repertoire that best suits the voices of the choir, requires long-range planning, especially for a landmark anniversary concert.

For the last 15 years, it’s become a tradition for UCC to celebrate every major anniversary by commissioning a Canadian composer to write a substantial new composition specifically for our choir. Everything else in that anniversary concert’s repertoire is then selected to complement the commissioned work.

So, when Laurie Evan Fraser – the Artistic Director and Conductor of Upper Canada Choristers – heard that the commission for the 30th anniversary couldn’t be fulfilled, just eight months before the concert, she received the news with both shock and disbelief.

As a composer herself, Laurie knows the intricacies and challenges of writing music. It requires inspiration, time, finding the right lyrics, a deep understanding of the capabilities of the human voice, clarifying the complexity of the arrangement, and a sense of style and authorship.

Facing the uncertainty of a program with so little time, Laurie reached out to some of her creative colleagues for ideas on additional compositions, including UCC’s accompanist Hye Won Cecilia Lee, our producer Jacinto Salcedo, and Matthew Secaur, a member of the choir and a choir conductor himself. She also decided to launch a composition competition among the University of Toronto’s Music Faculty. As it happened, Laurie was already working on her new song, Heartshine.

One of the people she turned to was Carole Snow, the music teacher at Maurice Cody Public School in Toronto (where Laurie works as an accompanist), to see if one of her students could create a fragment that could be fleshed out into a song. In addition, Laurie asked Matthew if he would be interested in writing something.

So, what did “New Beginnings” mean for Upper Canada Chorister, after the sudden withdrawal of a major new composition? Well, it resulted in four brand new songs created by composers from a spectrum of ages, musical backgrounds, and life stories.

These are the songs:

We Will Live in Harmony

Gwyneth Twyford is a Grade 5 student at Maurice Cody Public School in Toronto, a curious and bright girl who loves music and takes violin classes.

With Carole Snow's guidance and her family's support, Gwyneth created the words and main melody of We'll Live in Harmony. Laurie then arranged for the Boys' Choir of Maurice Cody Public School to sing the song along with UCC’s basses and tenors, continuing our focus on mentorship.

When everybody finally can join hands

That’s when we’ll have peace

When everybody can finally stop war

That’s when we’ll have peace

And when we have peace and fighting is over

We’ll live in harmony

And when we care about our brothers and sisters

We’ll live in harmony

When everybody can finally care

That’s when we’ll have peace

Little Robin

The lyrics for Little Robin were written by Fiona Ibaseta, a young adult with Filipino roots, and new to Canada. Her song is about the uncertainty of the unknown, hope, learning from your mistakes, conquering challenges, and striving for the future that we want to create. The Little Robin is a metaphor for a person or a concept that guides and encourages us as we step into the unknown, no matter which path we choose. The lyrics were set to music composed by Fiona's father, Matthew Secaur.

Standing in the road

With that old familiar feeling

Every day is like the one before

And obsessing over the same mistakes

And always dreaming the same dream!

Taking all that life gives

We may be travelling in vain

There might be nothing ahead

Aside from that robin that’s waiting to guide me

We are about to go for a ride

Take a new path, and fly higher than the sky!

Flap your wings, oh little robin

Fly me to a place where I have never been

Heading toward the unknown,

Choose between the many cross-roads

Crossing broken bridges,

The end cannot be seen

Sharp stones and pointy thorns

Stand beneath a storm

Blazing sun and heat of drought

Snowy mountains, icy frost

There might be nothing ahead

Aside from a robin

Still here to guide me

The world is a playground

With children playing adult roles

Broken souls, broken spirits

Still finding their way home

But there is that robin

That’s still here to guide them

Heartshine – Brilla Corazón

Heartshine – Brilla Corazón was crafted by Laurie Evan Fraser, with lyrics in both English and Spanish by written by Jacqui Atkin and Jacinto Salcedo.

The song stemmed from a dream that Laurie had, in which she perceived the inherent light within each of us. In contrast to external sources of light such as sunshine or moonshine, this inner radiance, originating from the heart, inspired the name Heartshine.

There is sunshine, there is moonshine,

but it’s heart shine that enlightens

So let your heart shine, share your true self,

trust and stand tall the world will brighten

There’s a part inside that we hide from the earth

Worry others judge us doubting our worth

There’s a gift inside us that is only ours to give

Be bold; trust your need for love, respect yourself, and live!

Luz de sol, luz de luna, y ese brillo en tu mirar         

Abraza tu luz interna, y el mundo se iluminará

Este corazón, tan sensible y valiente,

Vivir quiere dueño de su compasión

Día tras día, sueña a su propio ritmo

No cabe en el pecho de su esplendor

Cada voz, especial, necesaria para el todo

Each voice is special, necessary to the whole

Juntemos nuestras voces, es música para el alma

So join us, add your voice, feel music in your soul

It’s heartshine

To Greet the Sun

David Archibald is a Master’s student in composition at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. He is an accomplished pianist and poet and has won many academic awards.

In the introduction to his work, To Greet the Sun, David explained that he had used fragments of texts by three Canadian poets – Bliss Carman, E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake), and L.M. Montgomery. Together, they follow the progress of daybreak. Each movement seeks to express musically the contrasting poetic material of its respective fragment, from Carman’s contemplation on the depths of night to the melancholic triumph of Johnson’s early morning awakening, and finally to Montgomery’s lush depiction of a lone fishing boat at sea. The poetry and music were woven together to embody and celebrate the hope and possibility of beginning anew.

I.         The Heart of Night (Bliss Carman) - excerpt

When all the stars are sown

Across the night-blue space,

With the immense unknown,

In silence face to face.

Lean on the heart of night

And let love make thee strong!

II.        Day Dawn (E. Pauline Johnson, [Tekahionwake]) - excerpt

Awakened, my beloved, to the morning of your eyes,

Your splendid eyes, so full of clouds, wherein a shadow tries To overcome the flame that melts into the world of grey, As coming suns dissolve the dark that veils the edge of day.

III.       Sunrise Along Shore (L.M. Montgomery) - excerpt

One boat alone beyond the bar

Is sailing outward blithe and free, To carry sturdy hearts afar

Across those wastes of sparkling sea, Staunchly to seek what may be won

From out the treasures of the deep,

To toil for those at home who sleep And be the first to greet the sun.

What an inspirational, behind-the-scenes peek at the quest to reflect the spirit of renewal and celebration! Cheers to Upper Canada Choristers on their 30th anniversary!