Christmas with Chor Leoni returns to Vancouver Friday

A musical holiday tradition returns to Vancouver on Friday as the Christmas with Chor Leoni event kicks off.

Hosted at the St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Downtown Vancouver, the event is set to run on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

According to Erick Lichte, the artistic director of the JUNO-nominated classical male choir, the concert is a mix of new and old traditions.

It’s concert week!

There are 6 opportunities to join us for our treasured annual tradition, Christmas with Chor Leoni, December 16-19. #ChorLeoni #VancouverArts #VancouverChoir #yvrChoir #TTBB #VeryVancouver #LiveMusicIsBetter #CL_Christmas

1/3 pic.twitter.com/34kX3Nd9dq

— Chor Leoni (@chorleoni) December 14, 2022

“Well, I don’t want to spoil necessarily everything, but let’s just say that a horse named Bobtail may be making an appearance and if you can catch my drift, then you’ve caught my drift,” Lichte said.

The six shows are set to include classic songs including “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Jingle Bells,” along with lesser-know songs like “Halcyon Days.”

Although concert goers may recognize some of the familiar tunes, Lichte says there will be some exciting changes.

“It’s this wonderful mix of familiar carols all done in new sorts of ways. I just think it’s a wonderful recipe that we’ve come up with here which brings traditional and familiar things together with a new take on everything,” he explained.

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Lichte adds that each performance ends with a stirring, candle-lit rendition of “Silent Night.”

“We take it all the way back to the original version. We sing it just in unison with the choir surrounding the audience with a guitar accompanying us and letting the last verse be taken by the choir,” he said.

“That I think allows people to bring whatever they want to in those moments before they go back out into the chill into the darkness, but hopefully taking a little bit of the light and warmth that we left them,” he added.

There is one performance on Friday, three on Saturday, and two on Monday.