Out of lockdown: Boulder Chorale delivers joyful noise with 'World in Harmony'

Nov. 3—In times of hardship, live music has always offered comfort. During the lockdown of 2020 — as stages remained empty — arts organizations had to find new avenues to connect with fans.

Boulder Chorale — a powerhouse group of singers that has provided joyful noise for over 50 years — gracefully pivoted to virtual content. Now, Boulder's oldest and largest community chorus returns to the stage for its first live concert in a year and a half.

"A World In Harmony: A Ceremony of Solace and Celebration" is a layered production that is dedicated to the lives lost from COVID-19 and to the victims of March's tragic Boulder King Soopers shooting. It was designed to try to offer community healing.

For the second half of the show, attendees are encouraged to sing while masked. The collective karaoke bash will include familiar hits from British rockers The Kinks, the legendary Elton John and many more.

Always looking for ways to incorporate beloved pop tunes, organizers have even added an amazing rendition of Toto's "Africa" into the mix. Covered by countless artists, the 1982 track was voted "The Greatest Song of All Time" by All Things Loud in 2018.

Shows will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at First United Methodist Church, located at 1421 Spruce St., Boulder.

Kids under age 6 are free, tickets for children between the ages of 6-12 are $5 and admission for adults is $25.

We caught up with Artistic Director Vicki Burrichter to find out more about this eclectic offering and what's next for the intergenerational choir whose members range from ages 5 to 90.

Kalene McCort: What are you most looking forward to about Boulder Chorale returning to the stage this weekend?

Vicki Burrichter: I am most looking forward to being together with our audience again. We may sing together on our own and enjoy it, but an audience is truly our partner in creating a full experience. There is nothing like live music.

When the COVID pandemic hit and the country went into lockdown in March of 2020, the Boulder Chorale was in concert week for the "A World in Harmony" concert. We made the decision to stop the concert, as singers were considered "super spreaders" and we knew tragic stories of choruses not shutting down and singers dying.

After dealing with shock and grief for a few months, we decided we needed to regroup and work to keep our singers inspired, learning and to keep our 54-year-old community together.

We created online programming that lasted our entire 2020-2021 season. We had guest artists like PBS' "American Masters" Holly Near, author of "Singing for Our Lives," Dr. Brenda Smith, Brazilian vocal group Ordinarius and many others. I gave lectures on choral music history, repertoire and technique.

And in the fall, with the help of Stephen Ross' Face (Vocal Group), we made a beautiful video of the finale of the "Considering Matthew Shepard" oratorio by Craig Hella Johnson, called "All of Us."

KM: What inspired you to dedicate these first shows back to those who lost their lives to COVID and to the Boulder King Soopers shooting victims?

VB: I thought it might be full circle to return to the "A World in Harmony" concert, but with a new vision for it. Not only has COVID taken 700,000 American lives, but our community suffered the American tragedy of gun violence when lives were lost in the King Soopers shooting.

Community choruses, like the Boulder Chorale, are always the "voice of the community" and I wanted to give our audience a chance to be together to meditate and mourn our losses, as well as to celebrate our "one precious life," as poet Mary Oliver says. Nothing opens the heart more than music.

KM: What can attendees expect from the production? Seems like songs are centered on healing.

VB: The first half will be mostly a cappella choral music, including a gorgeous version of one of the 20th century's most beloved pieces, Edward Elgar's "Nimrod," from his "Enigma Variations." It is set to the Latin text "Lux Aeterna:"

"May eternal light shine on them, Lord,

with your saints forever, for you are good.

Give them eternal rest, Lord,

and may light perpetual shine upon them, for you are good."

There will also be music in the first half from vocal group Voces8: (Mariah Carey's) "Underneath the Stars," Billy Joel's "And So it Goes," Jean Berger's "Alleluia from Brazilian Psalm," among others.

KM: Love that you will also be inviting audience members to join together in song. What inspired you to want to incorporate this element into this show?

VB: Since no one has been able to feel comfortable singing in public for a long time, we want to invite our masked audience members to sing with a full band, soloist Christopher Hearns and the 90 back-up singers of The Boulder Chorale in popular songs by Stevie Wonder, Elton John, The Kinks and Earth, Wind, and Fire. Think of it as group karaoke.

The concert ends with Toto's "Africa" as singers use body percussion to depict an African rainstorm. And in coming back full circle, we perform "All of Us" and the song we ended every online program with, "We are the Ones We are Waiting For," which inspired us to keep believing in our beloved community.

KM: What can we expect next from Boulder Chorale? Any upcoming productions that should be on our radar?

VB: Chamber Chorale performs "Messiah" with Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra in December and we sing with our children's choirs in our popular holiday concerts in December.

I'm very excited about the spring season, which features Arabic musicians in our "Origins: Fertile Crescent" Boulder Concert Chorale performances and the Brahms' "Requiem" in the two-piano and timpani version.

The Chamber Chorale again works with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra in the Colorado premiere of Howard Goodall's "Eternal Light: A Requiem." The Boulder Chorale is back with the full power of our message of joy, healing and strength in community.