Image
Vancouver’s renowned Elektra Women’s Choir stepped into the new world of “crowd funding” at the beginning of February to raise the money necessary to complete their eleventh CD, Pure Elektra, in this the ensemble’s Silver Anniversary season. Choral recordings hold a particular place in the choir’s mandate, explains Morna Edmundson, the choir’s Artistic Director.
“I think when we look at the big picture of Elektra’s legacy, the music we’ve released on CD is possibly the most important aspect of all. That and causing many fine arrangements and compositions to be created.” she says. “But it’s when we record those that other choirs become aware of them and the pieces live on in different parts of the world through different choirs’ interpretations.”
Crowd funding is defined by Wikipedia as “the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.” So far the campaign, which relies on social media and email to spread, is working. Launched a week ago, the choir is thrilled to announce that almost $1000 has been raised.
“We know that Elektra has fans all over the world,” states Bruce Hoffman, the choir’s Marketing Director. “Elektra has represented Canada in Australia, sung in New York City at Carnegie Hall, and have dedicated fans that purchase the choir’s CDs in Japan, Europe, and across North America. We’re hoping that those fans and friends will want to be part of this project, and with crowd funding, no donation is too small!”
“I like thinking of other voices than ours learning the melodic lines of something that was first sounded in an Elektra rehearsal,” adds Edmundson. “Two pieces on the “Pure Elektra” CD that I’m excited to see move out into the world are Changed Forever, Kate MacColl’s beautiful arrangement of Shari Ulrich’s moving song, and Solitude by our own Stephen Smith.”
The CD will also include works by Canadian composers Kathleen Allan, Allan Bevan, Timothy Corlis, Jeffrey Enns, Ruth Moody, Sheldon Rose, and Mark Sirett.
The Pure Elektra campaign may be found on IndieGoGo.com at http://igg.me/p/54211?a=337241
and the YouTube video that accompanies the campaign (which features a performance of Elektra singing Ruth Moody’s One Voice) may be found at http://youtu.be/F6pW9p6WBG0?hd=1.