They sang sweetly, softly, loudly, professionally.
Then they were joined by 67 local singers to blow the audience's hair back with their power.
The Vancouver Chamber Choir (VCC), conducted by Jon Washburn, performed at Assumption Church in Marysburg - now known as the Marysburg Centre of the Arts - on February 26.
It was their first concert at the church, renowned for its acoustics, and they came to understand why.
"I have to admit to you, this church has now joined my short list of two favorite churches to sing in in Canada," said Washburn after the VCC performed their first set of songs, three nocturnes by Mozart.
His other favorite church, he noted is St. Ninian's Cathedral in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
"It's only half us," he said of his choir's great performance. "The other half is your church... the sound coming back to you. It's just a glorious sound."
The Mozart pieces were followed by six German masses by Franz Schubert, "O mangum mysterium" by Tomas Luis de Victoria, a Spanish piece called "Tabula Rosa," written by two former members of the choir - Don Macdonald and his wife, Allison - and five traditional songs by John Rutter, sung in English.
"It's great to have at least 67 singers in the audience," Washburn said before they launched into the Rutter songs. "We feel communicative," he smiled.
After the intermission, the choir was joined by 67 local singers for two pieces - "Solstice Song" and "No Complaints Whatsoever" - two songs actually composed by Larry Nickel, a member of the VCC.
Together, the approximately 90 voices sang the works like they had been practising them for months, despite the fact that they had had only two hours working with the VCC at a workshop the night before.
The power of their sound nearly literally blew the audience's hair back.
The 200 people - including the 67 local singers - attending the concert despite some dicey road conditions that night, were impressed by the choir's vocal range, control, expression and their ability to blend their voices into one. The 20 voices sounded like a choir of 60 and one of four at the same time - an impressive feat for any group.
That these singers came to Marysburg came about after the church was suggested as a location they should visit on their tour, indicated Sharon Carter, one of those behind getting the VCC singers to Marysburg.
"We got a call from the Saskatchewan Choral Federation," she explained. "They were aware of the facility and the great sound it has. The Vancouver group was looking for places to go between (their stops in) Edmonton and Calgary.... so they came to Marysburg. Their next stop is Regina, so we felt very, very honoured," she said.
The concert was funded mainly by the Marysburg Centre of the Arts, however, the Three Lakes and District Performing Arts group, St. Peter's Chorus and the Saskatchewan Choral Federation also provided funding.
"Without that, we wouldn't have been able to do it," Carter said, as ticket sales alone would not cover the cost associated with bringing these singers in.
The workshop held with local singers the evening before the concert was "fabulous," reported Carter.
"Just the idea of this many singers together," she said, "and then to have 20 outstanding singers among us," was just incredible, she noted.
"That number of singers together is always an exciting sound," she said. "It's what choir singers live for, that big sound."
One thing Carter was particularly pleased about was the number of young singers who took in the workshop - at least a dozen of youth of high school age or early university years came out.
"We had lots of participation from young people," she said, "which is .... needed to motivate them... to encourage them to continue to be involved in choirs."
A total of 18 different communities were represented by the 67 local singers who attended the workshop and sang the two songs with the choir.
That list included Annaheim, Middle Lake, Lanigan, Guernsey, Naicam, Watson, LeRoy, Marysburg, Spalding, Lake Lenore, Watrous, Bruno, Muenster, Cudworth, Imperial, Englefeld, St. Brieux and Humboldt.
"From north, south, east and west, they've come to Marysburg," Carter said happily. "Choir music is alive and well in our area."
This concert and workshop were only made possible through different arts organizations working together, she added.
