The varied sounds of the natural world come indoors May 12 and 13 as the Sea to Sky Community Singers (S2S Singers) present Nature Sings at St. John's Anglican Church.
The theme for this year's annual spring concert has the local adult choir performing music that highlights "nature's voice in folksongs, children's favourites, pop songs and classical pieces," according to S2S Singers artistic director Veronica McPhee.
"We are performing songs based on the music of nature," she said. "Most are songs with nature sound effects worked into it - like the song Rockin' Robin where the bird tweets are part of the lyrics."
In addition to the chorus of birds, audiences will hear musical representations of roaring waves, and also be invited to dance with the raindrops in an interactive segment of the concert.
"We also have some rain songs and there will be some suggestions for audience participation," McPhee said. "The audience will be invited to make it rain indoors - but they'll have to come to the show to find out how."
The concert also features ensemble groups of choir members.
"We'll have a few people performing solos, and we have duets as well as both the men and women ensembles singing," she said.
McPhee said she has wanted to put together a show featuring nature sounds within music for a while now.
"I had the idea a couple of years ago," she said. "I've just been mulling it over. I already had some ideas for songs."
Her original idea was for the show to be presented outdoors, but such a concert proved too costly when local government grants did not materialize.
"The initial idea was for an outdoor show," she said. "But this works very well on another level, as we'll have a very good time creating nature indoors."
The Sea to Sky Singers is a non-profit, non-auditioned adult community choir with more than 40 local members.
"We've been growing," she said. "It's a bit of a larger choir than we've had in past years."
McPhee said there had been a concerted effort in recent years to build the choir.
"We've always done a lot of outreach," she said. "And since the Christmas concert - where I think we built a lot of energy - word spread about how fun it was to be in the Sea to Sky Singers."
The Sea to Sky Singer present Nature Sings at St. John's Anglican Church on Saturday (May 12) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday (May 13) at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students (kids five and under are free), available at Billie's Flower House, Highland Video and at the door.
For more info or to join the choir, go to www.seatoskysingers.net.
