ChandraTala, under the direction of Laura Hawley, was founded in September 2019 and is the newest ensemble of the Kokopelli Choirs (Scott Leithead, Artistic Director). An upper voices choir for experienced soprano and alto singers of any gender identity, the choir’s Sanskrit name translates “rhythm of the moon.” 

The choir has performed with the Canadian Chamber Choir, Ariose Women’s Choir, collaborated with local Edmonton musicians, premiered several new Canadian works, and performed with singer-songwriter Maddie Storvold and Bella Voce in the SkirtsAfire festival in 2020.  During the period from March 2020 to June 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic isolation period, ChandraTala participated in the Sonic Timelapse project, commissioned two new works by Canadian female composers, and pursued a flexible but rich season of workshops with composers and clinicians, small group and virtual choir projects, including a cross-Canada virtual choir collaboration with six of Canada’s top upper-voices/women’s ensembles. The choir continues to perform and collaborate throughout the community, pursue diverse repertoire, and work with clinicians locally and nationally. 

Ariose is an award-winning, nationally recognized choir of singers from all walks of life. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, and led by artistic director Jolaine Kerley, the group enjoys the challenge of exploring and performing music of various styles and genres with the goal of exposing audiences to a vast array of women’s choral music. Ariose presents its own concert series and offers free performances at various community functions.

Founded in 1995 by Dr. Marilyn Kerley, Ariose has built a legacy of excellence in choral music, and has filled a unique role in Canada’s choral landscape. The group regularly performs pieces by Canadian artists, and has commissioned several works by Canadian composers, including Allan Bevan, Ramona Luengen, and Christine Donkin. In 2021, Ariose took part in the Sonic Timelapse project, co-commissioning a three movement work by Vancouver-based composer, Katerina Gimon. This year, Ariose is co-commissioning a multi-movement work for treble voices, composed by Edmonton-based composer, Laura Hawley. 

Ariose has had great success at local, provincial, and national festivals. The group has also appeared as an invited guest at the biennial conference of the International Society for Music Educators, the annual conference of the Alberta Choral Federation, and at Podium, the biennial conference of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors. Ariose enjoys collaborating with other choirs and this past year shared a concert with Chandra Tala. The group is excited to be joining other treble voice choirs in the Skirts-a-Fire Festival again this year.  

Ariose has released seven recordings: Ariose (2000), Joy shall be yours (2001), Cantemus (2004) and There, in that Other World (2005), and What Child is This? (2008) and Love, Light, and Lullabies (2016) which was released for Ariose’s 20th Anniversary. Ariose’s most recent release is Snow Angel (2018). You can find Ariose on Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube, and other streaming platforms.

This non-auditioned women’s ensemble, under Sanctuary Sounds, meets once a week for an hour – Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30pm at Christ Church Anglican – singing sacred repertoire from a variety of eras, from unison to SSAA. The choir participates in the Christ Church worship service twice a year, adding to the music provided by the Christ Church Choir. As well, this ensemble participated in the Lessons and Carols service at Christ Church in December, provided community concerts at Christmas, and will be part of the SkirtsAfire women’s festival in March, will be providing some community collaborations in concerts in the spring, plus a concert on their own on May 1.

“The clarity of Maddie’s voice could very well be drifting out of a Greenwich Village folk club in the 1960’s. Maddie’s songs are political and deeply empathetic” – Edmonton Folk Fest

Maddie Storvold is the black sheep love child of comedian Steven Wright and protest singer Joan Baez. Born on an air force base in Northern Alberta, but raised a nomad, based in the Middle East, she had traveled to over 30 countries by the time she turned 18 and moved back to Canada to complete a degree in English & Philosophy at Western University. This wealth of diverse cultural experiences and the intimate study of the craft of words can certainly be heard in the singer’s music. Often compared to Joni Mitchell, Storvold possesses compassion and storytelling abilities far beyond her years, and delivers these qualities to audiences with a honeyed, impassioned voice and emotive fingerpicking.

After moving to Edmonton in 2016, Storvold immersed herself in the city’s vibrant arts community and recorded her debut LP, The Old Brag Of My Heart in bathrooms, basements, treehouses and kitchens, seeking to capture an authentic and unedited experience of each unique song. It was released to a sold out room and critical acclaim in the summer of 2017, charting Top 10 on Earshot folk/roots radio across Canada. The young folk singer released her second full-length album Freedom, Books, Flowers & the Moon in December 2018, again to a sold out room, but this time at the Telus World of Science planetarium, with a choreographed 4-storey dome dancing above the band.

In February 2019, Storvold released a ballad, “Don’t Say You Love Me”, written and produced by Bryan Adams. The single shot to #1 on the country charts in less than 3 hours, and peaked at #3 on the overall charts, surpassing Lady Gaga and P!nk.

As a live performer, Storvold has been described as having a “commanding stage presence, a quirky sense of humor, and a knack for capturing moments in song” (Vue Weekly), with audience members often expressing delight at seeing both a music and a standup comedy show in one act. A fast regular on the festival circuit, Storvold has quickly carved out a space for herself in the Canadian music scene. She has brought stories and songs to the Edmonton Folk Fest, Canmore Folk Fest, Tiny Lights (Ymir, BC), Bear Creek Folk Festival (Grande Prairie, AB), Wild Mountain Music Festival (Hinton, AB), Rock on the River (Timmins, ON), Festival d’ete (Quebec City), Cavendish Beach Music Festival (PEI), Calgary Stampede, Interstellar Rodeo, and many more.

Storvold’s forthcoming release compiles a group of finely crafted songs, with a throughline of tenderness and hope. Titled Sunstorm after the disarming natural phenomenon of a sunshower, the record details the peaks and valleys of a young artist’s life: the road, the loneliness, the shiny record deal that came and went, an old love found and lost, and a new love found and treasured. The offering, produced by indie heavy hitter Graham Lessard (Timber Timbre, Stars, Basia Bulat), takes 10 simple story songs and layers them with complex, compelling instrumentation.

Tough and sweet like gravel in honey, she can make you laugh and cry, think and ache – all in the same hour. Storvold’s music seeks to tell a story, to challenge us, to spark delight, and to touch a fragile part of the human spirit. Funny and fresh-faced, this story singer is quickly gaining attention across Canada as a voice to be reckoned with, harkening in a new generation of folk icons.

Photo by Sheena Zilinski