Elektra Women’s Choir announces farewell season for artistic director Morna Edmundson

The choral conductor wraps up 38 years of leadership with wide-ranging concerts of Canadian commissions and new works for 2024–25

By Gail Johnson

Morna Edmundson. Photo by Emily Cooper

ELEKTRA WOMEN’S CHOIR has announced A Season of Change for 2024–25, the final chapter for its co-founder Morna Edmundson as artistic director. The choral conductor, who has obtained degrees and diplomas in vocal music in Vancouver, Bellingham, and Stockholm, has been leading the organization for 38 years, during which time she has earned a Vancouver YWCA Woman of Distinction Award and an Doctor of Letters honoris causa from UBC.

“I count myself extraordinarily lucky to have found my life’s work, my passion, and my community in Elektra,” Edmundson says in a release. “I am forever proud of our transformative work in the choral world and, I hope, in the lives of all our singers and listeners. This season will be a thrill to conduct. And then I look forward to enjoying the rich future of this choir from the audience.”

Elektra Women’s Choir.

Kicking off the farewell season is The Light of Hope Returning (November 30 and December 1 at Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit United Church). Described by composer Shawn Kirchner as “an American folk solstice oratorio”, the work celebrates winter, solstice, and Christmas. It also features original video projections by Syrian-American artist Kevork Mourad, who has collaborated with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma. (See Stir’s feature on The Light of Hope Returning here.)

The Lost Words: A Spell Book (March 8 and 9, 2025 at Pacific Spirit United Church) is a musical journey inspired by the bestselling book of the same name by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. With works by 10 Canadian composers, the accompaniment of six instrumentalists, and watercolour projections, this performance also sees local actor Laara Sadiq doing spoken word for each spell. (Stir previewed the work when it premiered in Vancouver in 2022; see story here.)

Capping the season is Legacy (May 25, 2025 at Surrey’s Church of the Good Shepherd and May 31, 2025 at Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral), a concert featuring Edmundson’s “desert island playlist” of Canadian works drawn from nearly four decades of Elektra commissions. The performance also features premieres of brand-new works by Laura Hawley, Cassie Luftspring, and Tawnie Olson.

During Edmundson’s time with Elektra, the organization has released 17 CDs and digital albums, and it also has a YouTube channel.

Elektra also runs community engagement programs, which mentor the next generation of youth and adult singers, conductors, and composers.  

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