In musical productions, whether on television or on records, choirs are popular. As if, in a global pandemic where distance is prescribed, human voices surround us, precious sources of heat, multitude and gentleness.
Some examples from the record stores? Ariane Moffatt and her Nature, musical canvas byCrimson mostly painted by the final year students of the FACE school; Émilie Proulx and her EP Night, the echoes, inhabited by son Theodore and select female choirs; Charlotte Cardin and the choral flights of Phoenix.
On the ranks, the most recent projects of Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Louis-Jean Cormier, Thierry Larose, Marco Ema, Elliot Maginot or even Kandle: all agree vocally, at one time or another, in the plural.
PHOTO ÉRIC MYRE, PROVIDED BY ICI RADIO-CANADA TELE
Charlotte Cardin and a choir during the ADISQ gala
And what about Étienne Coppée… The choirs of the album And we will cry together do exactly the effect advertised in the title. “The instrument of the voice is always the one that I have found the most fascinating,” explains the self-taught musician. No matter the key, it’s easy to come up with something that I find beautiful quickly. ”
While specifying that his artistic gesture is initially instinctive, the winner of the Francouvertes 2021 suggests that the musicians may have wanted to fill up “with voices” to compensate for a certain loneliness in these fragile times.
“One of the most unifying things possible is a group of people singing,” he notes. Ten guitars playing, you have a lot less the feeling of a group. The voices give the impression of being enveloped, not just by instruments, but by humans. ”
Small screen, big complicity
On television, choirs have long rocked musical appointments. So much so that certain platters are now inseparable from their vocal ensemble. It’s true for everyday There are people at mass, hosted by Christian Bégin on Télé-Québec.
PHOTO FROM THE SHOW FACEBOOK PAGE
The show’s choir There are people at mass in 2019
Since the start of the pandemic, the gospel choir has gained in amplitude. Whether it is singing the names of the guests – a tradition at high risk of fainting -, ensuring the transitions between the segments or accompanying a solo performance, an irresistible breath immediately lifts the Paradoxe Theater.
“It creates an extremely warm and heartwarming emotional wave,” observes Alex McMahon, musical director of the show. It’s a cliché to say that voices lift hearts, but that’s it. ”
It is to him that we owe the meeting, on the same set, of 10 handpicked singers: Ariane Brunet, Marie-Christine Depestre, Coral Egan, Antoine Gratton, Elie Haroun, Franck Julien, Karine Pion, Kim Richardson, Sarah Bourdon and Dorian Sherwood in the most recent season.
PHOTO FROM THE SHOW FACEBOOK PAGE
Alex McMahon, Music Director of There are people at mass
“I went there with my heart”, explains Alex McMahon – without wanting to play on words – proud of his “masterstroke”. “I wanted to be surrounded by the best voices and the nicest people I knew. ”
Everyone underlines it… in chorus: the complicity of individuals is fundamental in the quality of an ensemble.
We would take four or five strangers who have beautiful voices, they would sing. But if you put them in a chalet for a month and they become friends, in the end it will be even more beautiful.
Etienne Coppée
It is not for nothing that friendly voices exchange, respond to each other, and meet again. Take Lou-Adriane Cassidy, who accompanies in concert Thierry Larose, who in turn accompanies Lou-Adriane Cassidy on Answer. Take also Comment Debord, whose vocal harmonies overflow with the connivance reserved for long-time allies.
“When people have real love for each other, when they are happy to sing together, it can be heard in the voices,” explains Étienne Coppée. My band is made up of very good friends of mine. ”
Christmas together
Jason McNally, conductor on the show Live from the universe for a ninth season, opines. “I think people associate the choir with the family, friendly aspect. In the last few years, this is something that has been a bit lacking. There is this notion of reunion. The voices bring a very human musical color to a show. ”
PHOTO ÉRIC MYRE, PROVIDED BY ICI RADIO-CANADA TELE
Viriginie Cummins and Les Koristes, choir conducted by Jason McNally
His group, Les Koristes – with Émilie Janvier, Caroline Côté, Roxane Filion, Valérie Boulianne Lefrançois -, paired with the house chorister Virginie Cummins, occupies “more place in the show” over the seasons, notes the vocal arranger, who is also a songwriter.
To respond to a repeated request from the public, but also to “make themselves known” as soloists, the choristers ofLive from the universe recorded the album Christmas like in the old days, nine folk and jazz songs produced by Jean-Benoît Lasanté, musical director of the show.
On the album as on the set of France Beaudoin, the choir “is very much linked to the band”, remarks Jason McNally, former Petit Chanteur de Laval and graduate in music and song from the College Lionel-Groulx.
“We’re trying to create magic. We are very connected on the emotions. It is not uncommon, he specifies, for singers to let themselves be touched by the story behind a song, which they will learn live from the mouth of the guest.
Singing together is a very intimate gesture. There is something that unites, that is really good for the soul. Even if it’s done professionally, we experience the same emotions and the same thrill.
Alex mcmahon
The choir of There are people at mass also works on an album, announced by the extract The evening of December 24, written by Sarah Bourdon. Director Alex McMahon has the ambition to deliver “a new Christmas classic” next year, nothing less. “I asked my choir, which contains quite a few singer-songwriters, to join forces and compose new songs. ”
Before working in the studio alongside Ariane Moffatt, Beyries, Louis-Jean Cormier or Radio Radio, the arranger and director studied in the Petits Chanteurs de Trois-Rivières, under the direction of Father Claude Thompson.
“I say it without fear: this is the greatest musical training I have had in my whole life. Playing an instrument is all well and good, but with singing there is no bullshit, it’s like a magician with no sleeves. ”
Interested in back vocals for a long time, Alex McMahon believes his work to There are people at mass – five seasons, more than 100 shows and at least 1000 songs arranged vocally “in the manner of Sodoku” – influences his vision in the studio.
I think I’ve taken backing vocals as a tool even more since I’ve been doing the show. I have developed a specialty.
Alex mcmahon
Not that our speakers did not provide valuable answers, but allow us to leave the last word to the French novelist Muriel Barbery, who writes so aptly in The elegance of the Hedgehog :
“All this life in which we drag ourselves, made up of cries and tears, of laughter, of struggles, of ruptures, of disappointed hopes and of unexpected chances: everything suddenly disappears when the choristers start to sing. The course of life is drowned in song, there is suddenly an impression of brotherhood, of deep solidarity, of love itself, and that dilutes the ugliness of everyday life in perfect communion. […] Finally, I wonder if the real movement of the world is not singing. ”