Singing at St. Peter's.
St. John's chamber choir Cantus Vocum will perform at the Vatican next month during a 10-day tour of Italy

The Telegram: June 4, 2004
Page B1

BY BRADLEY BOUZANE
The Telegram

When in Rome, sing. The aisles of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican will echo with the voices of 20 Newfoundlanders this summer as a St. John's chamber choir tours four Italian cities.

Cantus Vocum, directed by Chad Stride, will wrap up a 10-day tour of the country on July 5 with a performance in the holy city during a mass service in the enormous basilica.

Stride said the other three dates on the tour were all worked around the appearance at the Vatican - home of Pope John Paul II - and all serve as icing on the cake for the choir, which was founded by Stride in 1995.

"It really all began with us finding the possibility of the choir performing at the Vatican, which is really the main reason for this trip," he said of the tour, for which they started planning last August. "We built the rest of this tour around S the grand finale for us with the performance at the Vatican."

In addition to the performance in Vatican City, the group - whose name translates as "the musical sound of voices" - will hit fashion mecca Milan, as well as Venice and Florence.

The tour, however, would not have been possible without the assistance of a St. John's religious leader.

Rev. Brendan O'Brien, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. John's, facilitated the choir's intentions with the Vatican.

This year, O'Brien is the national representative at the Vatican for Canadian archbishops. He travels to the Vatican for meetings many times throughout the year, and Stride feels the stars were aligning for the choir, given O'Brien's close association to the province and the Vatican.

"It's not something choirs get to do, just show up and perform at the Vatican," Stride said. "There's certainly a lot of channels you must go through for that kind of event. Even then, if the Vatican deems that this is suitable and they wish you to perform, you're lucky enough and privileged enough to perform.

"This particular performance really came about with (O'Brien's) facilitating on our behalf. It's important to have some connection."

While there is a chance the group could perform in the presence of Pope John Paul II, Stride said the choir will not know who will attend any of the shows until the day of the performance.

He said the group is happy enough to serve as ambassadors during their trip, but should the Pope be in attendance, Stride hopes the choir can keep it together under the pressure.

"In a venue like (St. Peter's), we want to promote that we're Newfoundland ambassadors and Canadian ambassadors and then, of course, it also promotes the choir," he said.

It's best to assume they won't be singing for the Pope, Stride said, although "he is in Rome at the time, we do know that.

"I'm hoping the choir would be still able to open their mouths and sing should that be thrown on us all of a sudden. We're grateful to even be allowed in the space."

Cantus Vocum will also perform for charity in Milan, where they will share the stage with a local choir to raise money for a hospital in the city. The feeling of giving back to the community in which they are playing is gratifying, Stride says.

St. Peter's is not the only large church the group will perform in.

In Venice, the group will perform at St. Mark's Basilica during a mass on Canada Day, two days before moving on to Florence, where they will sing at a concert shared by another Italian choir.

Adjusting to space

Performing in large buildings is a difficult task to adjust to, Stride said, especially if a singer has never per- formed in such a large space.

The choir members who were present for Cantus Vocum's last tour overseas in 2000 will use that experience to their advantage. That tour brought the group to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and Stride will draw on that experience to gauge how voices will carry in the two Italian basilicas.

"We don't have a structure in this country, really, as big as St. Paul's Cathedral is," he said. "The sheer enormity of it, for 20 voices just to stand and sing in, you feel so small and insignificant in a space like that.

"Sound carries beautifully, but it takes forever for it to travel to the back of the church. You stop singing and you can still hear voices travelling on after you, hitting the back of this wonderful acoustic. It's important that we prepare ourselves for that kind of space - and you're incredibly awed by it, knowing where you are."

The choir, which has recorded three albums, takes to the recording studio on June 16 to work on a fourth CD of spiritual and gospel songs. They expect to release it in September.

Before skipping across the Atlantic later this month, Cantus Vocum will preview their Italy material for a Newfoundland audience.

Along with accompanist Chris Ryan, who will also travel to Italy, the choir performs at Memorial University's D.F. Cook Recital Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday.