Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs closes its season with SummerSing!, May 13

Beatles songs and Broadway hits are on the program featuring performers of all ages

By emily lyth

Cathrie Yuen. Photo by Diamond’s Edge Photography

The Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs presents SummerSing! Beatles & Broadway at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on May 13 at 6 pm

BELOVED SONGS BY THE BEATLES will share a program with Broadway favourites from Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia!, and more in an upcoming concert.

SummerSing!, an annual show put on by the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs, will wrap the company’s 2024–25 season by uniting all of its ensembles. That’s no small number of voices; it encompasses the children’s Piccolini, Piccolo, Toccata, Partita, Chorale, and Chorus groups, along with the adult Vancouver Bach Choir, Sarabande, and Cantabile singers.

With so many performers onstage, five conductors will be at the helm of it all, including adult choir music director Leslie Dala and children’s choir music director Marisa Gaetanne. Cathrie Yuen, associate conductor of the Vancouver Bach Choir and conductor of Cantabile, will also guide the singers. Shane Raman will conduct Sarabande, and Catherine Campolin will lead Piccolo and Partita.

Among the songs by the Beatles that audience members will be treated to are “Hey Jude”, “Let It Be”, “All You Need Is Love”, “When I’m 64”, and “With a Little Help From My Friends”.

When it comes to the Broadway-musical hits, expect a wide range of numbers. The program includes “It’s a Grand Night for Singing” from State Fair, “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast, and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun. Yet more pieces are pulled from Camelot, Chicago, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.

It all takes place at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on May 13. And to round out the variety of voices, pianists Kin Ming Wong, Jeon Mok, Shifra Day, and Stephen Smith will accompany the singers live.

Be sure to drop in early for a special pre-show by the Piccolini choir in the lobby. The talented little singers are just four and five years old, making them the company’s youngest members. 

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