After six months of rehearsal and fellowship, Winnipeg Upper Voices will be sharing their annual concert this weekend in River Heights. Titled The Circle Never Ends, the choir will share a mixture of pieces ranging from Joni Mitchell to Quebecois composer Marie-Claire Saindon.
The concert’s title reflects the underlying mission behind the choir: a place for people to gather and sing together in an accepting space with new friends. The group meets for one rehearsal a month for a full day and shares a potluck meal together.
“It just really feels good in the room, and it just builds the community,” says conductor Katy Harmer of the choir’s welcoming atmosphere.
Building an accessible choir experience
Founded in 2019, Winnipeg Upper Voices manage to perform one concert before the COVID-19 public health lockdowns forced them into hibernation. The time away gave Harmer and the choir time to consider their priorities as a group.
“When we came back, we were realizing that weekly rehearsals [are] sometimes really challenging,” Harmer says.
The group’s switch to a monthly rehearsal schedule has been an element of hospitality that has allowed the group to expand its ranks year over year, with members ranging from former high school singers to first-time choristers.
“It’s always so great to see them come in at the beginning of the season and be like, ‘I don’t know about this, it’s been a while,’ or ‘I don’t know really know what I’m doing,’” says Harmer. “But then, I’m just like, ‘OK, trust the process. We’re all in this together.’ And by the end of the season, they’re singing just perfectly with everybody all together.”
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An expanding circle performs this weekend
The metaphor of Winnipeg Upper Voices’ 2026 concert is an ever-growing, ever-welcoming ensemble that the audience will be invited into in turn.
“Often, we were rehearsing in circles,” says Harmer of the concert. “That’s a great way to rehearse a choir is just to sit in a circle… you can see across to each other, can interact with each other across and you can hear what’s going around the circle.”
A big part of the concert’s musical offerings will be round songs and canons, a genre that allows for simple singing to blend into complex-sounding arrangements. Since the group only gathers once a month, Harmer says the onus is placed more on the singers to ensure that their lines are ready to place within the ensemble’s texture.
“I can tell when people have put in the effort for sure because they just sing with more confidence,” says Harmer, adding that the group is also more compelled to contribute because of the close-knit nature of the community. “That ownership of the music and of the process is really interesting.”
The Circle Never Ends will be performed at St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church at 7:30 p.m. on April 18. Tickets are available at the door. More information can be found on the choir’s social media pages.