Local choirs enjoy banner year

From an international choral festival in Cuba to a performance at Carnegie Hall, it's a banner year for a pair of choral ensembles under the direction of Vicki Blake Thompson.

The community is invited to come celebrate with the Spiritsong and Boundless ensembles at their performances of “Draw the Circle Wide” on Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m. at the Pearl Theater on Ash Street. The choirs are also slated to perform on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. at the Kootenay River Secondary School auditorium in Creston, British Columbia, Canada.

Tickets are $15 U.S. at the door or can be purchased online at thehistoricpearltheater.org for $12 for the Bonners Ferry performances. Donations will also be welcome, with funds going toward the restoration of the projection screen at the Pearl Theater and donating musical instruments to students in need in Cuba.

“Draw the Circle Wide” celebrates the sacred hoop of all life and all peoples on the planet Earth with songs promoting unity and community, as well as poetry and photography that tie it all together.

The eight voices of the Boundless men’s ensemble, and the nine voices of the Boundless women’s ensemble, are joined by 20 additional singers in the Spiritsong choir for this rousing choral theater event calling everyone to love one another and be the change in the world today, concert organizers said.

The texts of Black Elk, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Rob Bell, Kahlil Gibran and Chief Seattle are featured among others. Music includes a huge variety of styles but is performed mostly as a cappella with percussion.

Spiritsong is traveling to Santiago, Cuba, for the international choral festival from Oct. 29 through Nov. 11. Under the direction of conductor Vicki Blake Thompson, 17 singers from Bonners Ferry, Creston, and Sandpoint will be performing, joined by supporters, and a dancer/ sign language interpreter from Reno, Nev. Songs from “Draw the Circle Wide” will be performed.

Boundless vocal ensembles and friends will be joining other choirs from around the world to sing the works of Ola Gjeilo on Apr. 22 in Carnegie Hall, N.Y. Sixteen performers will be participating in this event, which will be the second time Boundless has performed in Carnegie Hall. The previous concert was the 50th-anniversary celebration concert for The King’s Singers.

For more information about these choirs and performances, email vickiblake1@icloud.com.