Performers in Cedar will harken back to bygone days as they sing carols in a fundraising concert just before Christmas.
Anna Atkinson and friends will hold Gaudete Medieval Songs and Carols for Christmas at St. Philip Cedar Anglican Church on Saturday, Dec. 23, benefiting Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank.
The airwaves may seem inundated with modern Christmas tunes, but Atkinson’s performance will consist of medieval period music.
“That might sound really unfamiliar and a little bit intimidating, but it’s not, really, because a lot of our favorite carols come from that time period … I was looking at Good King Wenceslas, if you go back to the oldest manuscript … it’s not written like the music that we’re used to seeing now, but the tune is essentially the same. So it’s remained unchanged for almost 1,000 years,” said Atkinson.
The program will be varied, she said.
“It’s everything from some polyphonic plainchant, the words of which are in Latin and come from about 1,700 years ago, and the tune is at least 600 years old,” said Atkinson. “There’s a wonderful moment right at the end of the concert, where there’ll be another set of words that come from the fourth century, but it’s set to a tune by a wonderful Filipino choral composer named Ily Matthew Maniano … so it’s one end to the other.”
Atkinson said she knows first-hand about using a food bank and seeks to raise as much money as possible.
“Half of the proceeds go to the food bank and the other to [the church], which is a food bank depot itself, and the reason for that is that when I was younger, and a single parent, I needed a food bank, and I used one and so I’ve always been grateful,” said Atkinson. “Now that I am a successful career woman –I’m an English professor at [Vancouver Island University] – it feels like it’s really necessary to give back and so that’s what this concert is really about.”
As to whether there is too much Mariah Carey and not enough other music during Christmas, Atkinson said it subjective.
“I think there’s room for both and I think music is so personal, that it has to be something that speaks to your heart,” she said.
Gaudete Medieval Songs and Carols for Christmas takes place Dec. 23 at St. Philip Anglican Church, 1797 Cedar Rd., beginning at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets, which are $25, call or text 250-327-2247 or e-mail anna.atkinson@viu.ca.
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