Voices and choices

Women’s choral group Choeur Maha
open ears, eyes and hearts

LADIES VERSED: Choeur Maha

by ERIN MACLEOD

“When I describe the group to friends or potential audience members, I try to avoid the word ‘choir,’” says Elvi Dalgaard, Choeur Maha member and president. “I call it a choral group or sound art. As soon as you say ‘choir,’ people think it’s a church choir. They picture you in the gospel robes, singing in a very traditional way.”

Choeur Maha, co-founded by sound artist, composer, arranger and singer Kathy Kennedy alongside Su Schnee in 1991, is anything but traditional.

As Kennedy tells it, Schnee had the idea for a women’s ensemble and was persuasive enough to make it happen. “I just got a bunch of women together,” Kennedy recalls, “and the first time, it was an absolutely explosive experience of rebellious, feminist energy. I realized that it was a force that had to be put into action.”

Choeur Maha, now 25 members strong, performs all kinds of different of music, focusing on local women songwriters but also trying their hands at Björk, Joanna Newsom and others, not to mention the “experimental craziness” Kennedy makes sure is a part of the package.

Kim Zombik, a jazz singer, was inspired to join the choir after witnessing one of Kennedy’s performances. It was the experimentation that had her hooked. “I didn’t know who she was and what she was doing, but I liked it! So I took some singing lessons with her and then got involved with the choir.”

Speaking to Dalgaard, Zombik and Kennedy, it’s obvious that Choeur Maha means different things to different people, none of the three wanting to speak for the whole. This is a community, but a community of individuals.

Kennedy explains, “As a director, I think I give more power to my choir members than any other choir. In fact, most of the choral compositions are collaborations between the members and me. There is a sense of empowerment within the group.”

Zombik agrees. “There is a sense of coming into the space where we rehearse on Tuesday nights and feeling like I can settle into my skin and the fabric of what we are doing together in a way that is not available in other situations. It is really nice.”

That’s what sets Maha apart. “It’s the strength of the choir,” says Dalgaard. “We don’t expect or want everybody to sound the same or bring the same talents and gifts to the choir. We have to come together and blend and sound like one musical instrument, but that instrument would be boring if we all sounded exactly the same.”

For this concert, the first Mother’s Day event Maha has organized, there will be songs dedicated to women and mothers, including the debuting of chorister (and former Go Van Gogh member) Sandra Luciantonio’s compositions, and a tribute to the beloved late singer-songwriter Lhasa. Zombik will open the show with jazz tunes selected for the occasion. A portion of the proceeds will go towards Herstreet, an organization that works to support homeless women in Montreal.

Concertgoers should, as with all Maha shows, expect the unexpected. From madrigals to Michael Jackson, the idea of what a choir is will be challenged once again by Kennedy’s vision and the creative communal work of the women in Maha.

“It’s so ear-opening and eye-opening and heart-opening,” says Zombik. “The art of making music together, and really listening in that sense of taking your individuality and broadening it so you become a thread in this whole fabric of sound—it’s special.”

AT THÉATRE PLAZA ON SATURDAY,
MAY 8, 8 P.M., $15