'A moving tribute': Church concert honours Canada's war veterans
'It speaks to the loss, it speaks to the suffering, it speaks to the horror of war'
The annual In Remembrance concert returns to Charlottetown on Saturday to honour the sacrifice of Canada's war veterans.
The show has been running for 10 years at Trinity United Church and offers a "unique kind of experience," Don Fraser told Mainstreet P.E.I.
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The concert brings together the Confederation Centre Youth Chorus and Confederation Singers, who weave First World War poetry with song in one large tribute to Canadian veterans.
The comment that I've had over the years is that they find it a moving tribute.—Don Fraser
"The reality of that poetry is it is real, it is very very real," Fraser said.
"It speaks to the loss, it speaks to the suffering, it speaks to the horror of war. So when we present it there's nothing sanitized, we present it in it's original form."
Finding music to complement the readings
Fraser said the poems tell "pretty intense stories" so the choral music can "sort of soothe that or comment on it in some way or just be quite reflective."
The featured piece of the concert will be the song I'm Dreaming of Home — which the Island youth choir sang 10 years ago at the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, Fraser said.
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The concert takes place at the Trinity United Church on Saturday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Fraser said of all the concerts they do, "this one has the greatest impact."
"The comment that I've had over the years is that they find it a moving tribute," he said.
"I think it's that juxtaposition of the poetry with the really thoughtful music that gives it that kind of feeling."
Tickets for the concert are $15 and are available at the door or at the Confederation Centre Box Office.
With files from Mainstreet P.E.I.