The Newcombe Singers are extremely grateful for the grant support we’ve received from the CRD Arts & Culture Commission in our 2023 and 2024 seasons. Such recognition of our Choral Bridges series of concerts helps our choir explore future “bridges” and expand our connections within the Victoria and lower Vancouver Island arts community.
As part of their Choral Bridges Series, the Newcombe Singers aim to explore music from underrepresented cultural groups in the community. In 2024, they collaborated with the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society and the Japanese Canadian Artists Directory to perform a special concert to celebrate the region’s Japanese community. The choir performed both contemporary pieces like “Autumn” by Japanese Canadian composer Cait Nishimura, and traditional Japanese folk music, sung in Japanese. Choir members were deeply touched to see people in the audience recognizing and singing along to the folk music.
Please check out the full 2024 CRD Arts & Culture Impact Report (PDF 19MB), where we’re the first article in the “Stories of Impact”!
Photo credit: David Randall