In the spring of 2023, Oriana was one of six upper-voice choirs from across Canada to premiere in their own communities a 20-minute, eight movement work that had been jointly commissioned from Canadian composer Laura Hawley entitled “The Secret Wisdom of Flowers.”
Hawley began work on the composition in 2021, having purchased a book called “Best-Loved Poems,” and finding that several of the poems quickly inspired musical ideas. Within a couple of days she had sketched the main ideas for five of the movements, and ultimately decided that the sketches would become part of a larger work for choir and piano. At Choral Canada’s 2022 Podium conference in Toronto, Hawley connected with many of the upper-voice ensembles who were excited to sign on for the joint commission: Oriana along with The Aeolian Singers in Halifax, Ariose in Edmonton, Elektra Women’s Choir in Vancouver, Lady Cove Women’s Choir in St John’s, and Nove Voce Choral Society in Prince George. Hawley’s work explores the perspective of flowers and plants, offering an invitation to contemplate the messages, emotions, and wisdom each poetic gem has to offer.
As each choir worked on preparing their own local performances, together the choristers felt the connection across Canada knowing that their fellow commissioning choirs were singing the same beautiful music at the same time, to share with their own communities. The individual premieres were successes in each city and Oriana is exploring opportunities to perform the work collectively at a future date.
This collaborative opportunity builds on Oriana’s ongoing commitment to sing together with other upper-voice ensembles – joint performances with Adleisia in Montreal and Toronto in 2018, with Vox Femina and Double Treble in Toronto and Elmvale, ON in 2020, and planned performances in 2021 with Raise Her Voice in Toronto and Oakville (with plans to reschedule). Of equal importance to Oriana is an ongoing commitment to commissioning new upper-voice works from Canadian composers.