UALR’s Concert Choir is heading north beginning this week to perform seven different concerts in Canada. To read the blog and see photos of the UALR Concert Choir’s trip to Canada, visit the Concert Choir’s Ning site.

The 25-voice choir will perform in Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, and Niagara Falls. Music professor and native Canadian Bevan Keating will conduct the performances, some of which will be joint concerts with choirs Keating began more than 15 years ago.

“The choir has been practicing in Gallery I in the UALR Fine Arts Building because the acoustics are similar to the basilicas and other facilities in which we plan to perform,” Keating said. “They have learned a different style of singing to accommodate this acoustic situation.”

Choir member Sharon Downs said that it took a year’s worth of fundraising to make this trip possible.

“We’ve raised money through various sales and have given promotional concerts with paid admission,” she said. The University is also sponsoring the trip.

The UALR Concert and Chamber Choirs are the two premiere ensembles at UALR. The auditioned singers within these choirs represent the music department as well as many academic disciplines from within the University.

Under Keating’s direction, both groups perform large works such as “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff, “Regina Coeli KV108” by W.A. Mozart, and “Dixit Dominus” by G.F. Handeland, and “Mass of the Children” by John Rutter. In addition, the Concert and Chamber Choirs perform many major choral works with the UALR Community Chorus.