Silver Thread are an a cappella vocal groiup (Rayna Crandlemire, Emily Parker,Ineza Mugisha, Sarah Mole,Anika Venkatesh, Nathan Gritter,JJoshua Sutherland, Kai Leungg and Martin Gomes) founded last year by young professional singers in Toronto.  This Thursday they opened a new year of the Noon at Met series of Thursday lunchtime concerts at Metropolitan United.

It was a varied programme with music ranging from William Byrd b.1540 to Kai Leung b.1991.  Half the programme was by Canadian composers with the balance coming from all points from Switzerland to Japan.  It was all beautifully performed and while I can’t tell one piece of music by Healey Willans or Matthew Emery from another there were some really interesting pieces.

Andrew Balfour’s Pakaskitawew (from his longer cantata NAGAMO) is Balfour’s arrangement of Purcell’s Hear my prayer set with only two Cree words: Pakaskitawew (s/he hears her/him) and Mawihkatamowin (mourning/crying).  It’s a very successful attempt to reconcile Balfour’s Indigenous roots with the Anglican choral tradition that he was exposed to after being put into foster care after the “Sixties Scoop”.  I also enjoyed the group’s arrangement of Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to Saint Cecilia which is quite long and comp[lex with harmonies reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a bit more “edge” than some of the other pieces.  Kai Leung’s haunting piece Generation 2.5, exploring his mixed second or third generation Chinese immigrant experience was also very interesting.  After nearly an hour of mellifluous polyphony finishing up on a lively spiritual Unclouded Day (Alwood arr. Kirchner) was a touch of genius.

There’s lots more good stuff coming up at Met.  It’s worth checking this series out and if youy can’t make it downtown at lunchtime all the concerts are livestreamed on Met’s Youtube channel and you can watch today’s concert here.