Voices sing out
Seventy choirs from across the globe are poised to converge on Cornwall, England for five song-filled days which make up the county’s 2015 International Male Voice Choral Festival.
The choirs, of all ages and nationalities, are in the lineup for the biggest event of its kind in Europe—the largest in the biennial festival’s 12-year history—with more than 60 concerts and celebrations in 50 venues across Cornwall from April 29 through May 4.
Among the performers will be Powell River’s Chor Musica Men’s Choir, which is honoured to have been invited to sing in the opening ceremonies of this prestigious event at Truro Cathedral after having been so well received there in 2007.
The touring choir is presenting a pre-tour concert at 7:30 pm on Monday, April 20, in the academy’s James Hall, 7280 Kemano Street, with admittance by donation.
Fun sights and sounds will again be found across Cornwall when the men’s rousing voices will be heard in iconic locations like the Eden Project, Trebah Gardens, the Minack Theatre and Caerhays Castle.
“Our seventh festival has attracted more interest than ever from people wanting to join this joyous event,” said festival chairman Bruce Taylor. “With ever more foreign and UK choirs signing up we’ve had to increase the number of concerts and it’s wonderful proof that the male choral tradition is flourishing right across the world.”
Approximately 1,500 participants will be singing throughout the five days to more than 40,000 people. The festival is expected to bring the equivalent of around $1.6 million into the local economy.
Chor Musica’s own roots can be found in the paper industry, as it was formed in 1999 and sponsored by what was then Pacifica Papers (Powell River division). A project of the Powell River Academy of Music, the choir provides an opportunity for men to explore and perform a variety of music written for the male choir, and is conducted by Walter Martella with the assistance of Richard Olfert, piano.
Paper dispute
Catalyst Paper Corporation will have to wait until May 22 to hear whether it and three other importers of supercalendered paper to the US will be deemed accountable for materially injuring US producers.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) investigated a claim by the Coalition for Fair Paper Imports, a group of US producers including Madison Paper Industries Inc and Verso Corp. The USITC found there was reasonable indication that the import of the paper product during 2014 from Canada materially injured the US producers.
The US Department of Commerce will now take over the investigation and its preliminary countervailing duty determination will be made on or around May 22.
As well as Catalyst, which produces the supercalendered product at its Powell River division mill, the producers named in the petition are Resolute Forest Products Inc, Port Hawkesbury Paper and Irving Paper Ltd.
The Weekend Shopper contacted Catalyst for comments, but nothing was received before press time.
The report by the USITC will be available on its website after May 11.
