Behind the scenes at Kathaumixw

1966

Hundreds of singers from around the globe come to Powell River every two years for International Choral Kathaumixw, and they all need some place to stay

In order to solve the over-crowding problem with hotels in Powell River, many families host choir members as billets. Before the opening ceremony on Tuesday night, many visiting singers needed to be accommodated. Luckily, families in Powell River have hosted billets before, and because of their good experiences are willing to help year after year.

Harold and Mary Jensen have been taking billets since the First Kathaumixw. They've hosted people from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Oregon and Vancouver.

This year, they are playing host to four guests, two from Finland and two from South Africa. Harold says the reason they continue to accommodate these guests from year to year is "the spirit of it all. We keep in contact with some of them still. The ones from Oslo{Norway} write and tell us to come over." Harold intends to take them up on their kind offer. "Someday we'll go. "

The Perkirnig family are hosting billets for Kathaumixw for the fourth time. This year, their guests will be from the Bloemfontein South African Choir. In the past, they've hosted singers from Slovenia, Austria, and Finland.

It's been Great" says Wendy Perkornig of their experiences, "We've had wonderful experiences, we've really enjoyed it" Of the guests they hosted from Slovenia, she says, "our girls still write back and forth to them."

Some of the choirs for the Kathaumixw started arriving on Friday, and they continued to pour in right up until Tuesday.

Local hotels and motels are putting up "no vacancy" signs for several days during the event and many local residents have taken in two or more billets.

Doreen Smith has been in charge of assigning billets for her church since 1988. The Smith family have hosted billets since 1984 and she decided to start helping with organizing four years later. They have hosted guests from the Shchedrik Choir from Kiev in the Ukraine twice, members of an orchestra from Germany, singers from Winnipeg and now this year are hosting the Reduga Music School Choir from Russia. The Shchedrik Choir was invited back to Kathaumixw in 1994 after winning in 1990, so Smith's church hosted them twice. Between their two visits, they have become very good friends, and they do more than just stay in contact and chat about visiting some day. "We now have the accompanist from the Shchedrik Choir living with us," said Smith, "She's been with us for the past year." From the experiences of the Smith family, it is obvious that the international festival is responsible for more than just great music, but also lasting friendships.

Russian choir members that will be staying in their home this year are between the ages of nine and sixteen. Of the 33 members, 27 of which are children, only three are boys.

In addition to the arrangements that need to be made to find the choirs suitable lodging, there are many other things going on behind the scenes of the festival. The opening and closing ceremonies needed to be arranged and choreographed, costumes needed to be made, stages and props built and throats cleared for singing.

Also, sets have to be built for the many venues that will feature Kathaumixw concerts.The largest venue is the arena in the recreation complex, where setup began almost two weeks ago. Opening ceremonies were held there Tuesday, but before the show went on, there was a lot of preparation to be done.

Mel Lowe, who is in charge of the set-up in the arena, started building risers and choir shelves more than a month ago so they would be ready in time for Tuesday night's spectacle. With the help of almost 50 volunteers, Lowe had the set ready in time. "I like the challenge," said Lowe, who took two weeks vacation from work to organize everything. "The biggest thing I get out of all of this is seeing all the kids, the young choir members, being able to sing and enjoy themselves for a week, hopefully without a hitch."

Lowe estimates that he has put in as many as 3000 volunteer hours for the cause, mostly due to the amazing amount of work that needs to be done. "If you could see what goes on behind the scenes, you wouldn't believe it."

Along with the help of his trusty volunteers, help comes from other areas to pull it all off.