The Vocalis series from the UoT’s graduate students tends to fly under the radar a bit.  Perhaps because it’s usually lost in the abundance of free university linked concerts in Walter Hall.  Sunday night’s performance though was at the Extension Room; always an interesting venue, with more room for actor/singers to move around and interact with the audience.  The theme was Mother Earth, and our responsibility to nurture the planet that nurtures us.  Coal Barons and Big Oil can switch off now.

It was curated by Laura Tucker and Stephen Philcox with a cast of some sixteen singers and pianists.  The basic set up was a horseshoe of candle lights interspersed with chairs for the performers.  People moved to where they were to perform and back again.  There was spoken word (Wilde, Yeats, Dickinson and others) and song (a wide variety of composers and languages) and even one piece declaimed while the performer danced some fairly demanding choreography.  The program was continuous and I don’t know who performed what but the overall effect was beautiful and moving.

I’m going to be keeping out a closer look for these shows in future.

The image is Mother Earth by Maxine Noel.