Twenty-five years ago, Artistic Director Lars Kaario founded the Laudate Singers — a chamber choir of professional musicians who seek to enrich the cultural fabric in Vancouver. Over the years the choral ensemble has recorded seven critically-acclaimed CDs : Christmas Journey, Songs of Heaven and Earth, A Baroque Christmas, Celtic Journey, Voices, Sax & Syn, Voice of the Tango, and Mystics & Lovers.
As part of their twenty-fifth anniversary celebration the Laudate Singers present a choral concert with beautiful music from the renaissance to the present day. The programme has something for everyone : Experience the ethereal music of Gregorio Allegri's sublime Miserere Mei, the dreamily nostalgic Only in Sleep, by Latvian musician Ēriks Ešenvalds, the profoundly beautiful Gallant Weaver by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, and brand new choral work by Vancouver composer Emile Deedes-Vincke.
Laudate Singers is a chamber choir that presents repertoire across periods, cultures and genres. As a committed champion of Canadian choral music, Laudate Singers commissions and performs new Canadian works. Since 1995, the choir has been mentoring and nurturing young composers through its composer-in-residence programme, which enables the choir to première new choral compositions by established and emerging composers. Laudate Singers firmly believe that music does not happen in a vacuum; community outreach and collaboration are pillars of the choir’s mandate.
Lars Kaario is founder and director of the professional-level chamber choir Laudate Singers, who have earned funding from the national, provincial and local levels of government as well as corporate and individual financial support. Lars has built an impressive reputation as a conductor, singer and educator in his native Vancouver. His great love and commitment toward the choral arts is evident in his special abilities to inspire his singers/instrumentalists, and effectively communicate the enjoyment and subtleties of music to his audiences. His concerts have been described as 'unforgettable, delightful, beautiful, and deeply satisfying musical experiences'. Lars is an ardent supporter of young musicians and composers, and he is keenly interested in and sensitive to performing Canadian music. He is Director of Choral Studies in the Diploma of Music Program at Capilano University where he directs Capilano University Singers and Capilano University Festival Chorus.