This is a year of transition for Choral Evolution.
In the wake of director Bruce Ruddell’s announcement that he would be leaving to pursue other musical endeavours, the Choral Evolution board quickly put the wheels in motion to find a replacement for this season.
The result? The appointment of Gordon Miller as artistic director and Gabe Lagos as accompanist.
“We were pleased with the quality of the candidates that stepped forward,” said Katherine Parsons, Choral Evolution Society secretary and communications lead.
Miller is a lifelong musician, singer, songwriter and choral director. Trained at the Canadian Armed Forces School of Music in Victoria, Miller also studied as a vocalist at the Conservatory of Music. He also co-directs Sing Your Joy, a young adult chorus in Victoria.
“It’s going to be incredible getting back to regular singing in a group setting. We are born to sing together. It’s one way we keep in sync with each other and the universal vibrations around us,” said Miller, who enjoys folk and pop music from the 1960s and 1970s.
Lagos studied piano at the University of Victoria and is an accomplished accompanist, teacher, composer and arranger who enjoys folk, rock, pop, rap, classical and jazz music.
“The positive energy you get from a group of people getting together to make music is incomparable. As an accompanist, I really get to enjoy listening to the choir while I play along. Sometimes it’s hard not to get lost in the beauty or the fun of it,” he said.
“I enjoy everything I do related to music, and people tend to know me as the guy who’s just happy to be there.”
Choral Evolution is looking for singers. Rehearsals begin on Sept. 7 at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Sooke. A 7 p.m. start time is set for the singing. The choir rehearses in either the West Shore or Sooke.
For information, go online to choralevolution.ca or email choralevolution@gmail.com.
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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