Konektis Choir staging grand musical event Jan. 25

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This article was published 16/01/2025 (245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members of Westman’s Konektis Choir have big plans for an upcoming concert, which is inspired by musical events staged at the Las Vegas Sphere, with multi-screen projections and backup dancers enhancing the choral performance.

Konektis’s 70 member-strong choir has been invited to perform at the McDiarmid Drive Alliance Church located at 635 McDiarmid Dr. on Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m., said Michelle Chyzyk, the choir’s founder and artistic director.

“The church will be transformed with a concept of making it very visual, giving you the feel of being immersed within the picture,” Chyzyk said.

“It’s going to be gorgeous, lots of lighting and special effects. We’ve worked with three different choreographers to bring this to life. And we have a whole tech team who is going to handle every detail, which is quite exciting,” she said.

The invitation to perform at the church came from Brandon Chamber Players, which presents four concerts during each season and asked Konektis to perform during the last one, which Chyzyk has named Konekted.

Chyzyk said she decided to think big to mark the 25th anniversary of the Brandon Chamber Players.

The “large and beautiful stage,” inspired her to add the “effects, lighting, haze and other details you wouldn’t typically see at a choral concert.”

“Within our group we have so many multi-talented performers. Along with our voices, we have strings, guitars, brass, saxophone, piano, percussion and dancers,” Chyzyk said.

There are 12 songs planned for the evening, with an intermission after the first seven.

“The first half has music from many different places, with kind of a world theme. You can see the beauty of a warm Filipino wind. And then we have a gospel tune — that’s an exciting one, where an eight-part male octet sings over the top of an eight-part choir, quite exciting,” Chyzyk said.

The second half of the concert will feature selections from Broadway with additional choreography.

As impressive as the show will be for the audience, singer Kristen Nerbas said being in the middle of the choral group can sometimes be “surreal, with goose bumps included.”

“I’m an alto, so I’m pretty much smack dab in the middle of all of the voices that are a part of the group,” Nerbas said, who is also one of the founding members of Konektis.

“This concert will blow your socks off, really. It’s such a different type of music experience than we get to see here in Westman. It’s something new and is going to be exciting.”

Konektis was founded in 2016, starting with “25 or 26 of us,” Nerbas said and gradually over the years, singers who knew other singers were invited to join the now 70-member strong choir. These days, any new members looking to join the group are asked to audition.

There are two other conductors besides Chyzyk — and are choir directors at École secondaire Neelin High School and Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School.

Members of the choral group also include current students and graduates of Brandon University’s School of Music, alumni of the Western Manitoba Youth Choir, music educators and instrumentalists.

They come from the communities of Kola, Virden, Killarney, Glenboro, McGregor, Austin, Rivers, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Carberry and Brandon.

And all have found time to rehearse for two hours every week to prepare for the “Konekted” concert, said Chyzyk.

“Our goal is always to keep striving to do something unique, with the goal of trying to connect.

“This is an adventure for us, but we’re quite excited about the challenge, and we think audiences are in for a treat. We really do,” Chyzyk said.

“And seating is ample at the church, there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

Tickets for the “Konekted” concert are priced at $40 for general admission, and free for students with valid student identification.

To reserve a ticket, call or text 431-451-4105.

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