European Performances

2007- The second phase of the program was in August of 2007, when eighty performers completed a Threnody Peace Education performance tour of Europe. They performed an original choral work, by Newfoundland composer, Robert Hewitt, entitled “ Heroes”, chronicling significant Newfoundland history during World War I.  On July 1, 1916 “… Eight hundred one ran out that day, An island mourned its young, Sixty-eight came back to speak their names when all was done…” at Beaumont Hamel during the Battle of the Somme.  “Heroes” and other cultural heritage music was performed and wreaths laid at the World War I monuments at Beaumont Hamel and Vimy Ridge in France; cemeteries in Flanders Fields and at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium; and at historic Salisbury Cathedral in England.

The European experience, reflects music teacher Carl Goulding, was also very significant in achieving the goals of the project. “We were at Beaumont-Hamel, on a cool and foggy morning. The beautiful music of “Heroes” echoed over the caribou, the battlefields and down into the trenches. The danger tree seemed close enough to touch. These young people were the same ages as those who fought to defend our way of life. The words to the “Ode to Newfoundland” were suddenly more meaningful. This memorial was ours, a place held sacred in our collective history. The faces of the students reflected that realization. I was profoundly moved.”

The Menin Gate performance in Ypres, Belgium, was a unique component of the peace education performance tour. It was through the Menin Gate that allied soldiers marched to the World War I battlefields between 1914 and 1918. The Menin Gate was chosen as a World War I memorial site to commemorate the lives of the soldiers who passed through those gates on the way to the battlefields. The memorial has inscribed upon it the names of 54,359 Commonwealth soldiers who fell in battle, and have no known gravesite. The last post is played every evening, a tradition that has been ongoing in Ypres for nearly 100 years. Each evening at 7:00pm, a military contingent of soldiers gather and as part of the ceremonial ritual, the Last Post and Reveille is played. It was an experience to participate in the memorial ceremony and an honour to lay a wreath on behalf of the Threnody Peace Education project. The beautiful young voices echoing off the concrete walls of the arch, resounding throughout the tunnel was indeed memorable. The sounds of the lone trumpeter playing the Last Post lives on in the memory long after the notes have faded away.     

2012 - The 2012 European Threnody Peace Education Tour featured a concert of peace music and classical church music repertoire, performed during sung evensong at the beautiful and historic Anglican cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, in Dublin, Ireland.

On July 1, Canada Day, the Threnody Peace Education Tour performed a concert in Dublin. In attendance and hosting the Canada Day celebrations were the Canadian ambassador, Mr. Loyola Hearn, as well as his family members and other visitors from Newfoundland and Labrador, the Canadian Embassy staff, their families, and many international guests. The day of celebration was held at the Canadian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland.

Remembrance music was again performed and wreaths laid at the World War I memorials of Beaumont-Hamel, Vimy Ridge, cemeteries in the Flanders Fields of France and The Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.

2014 - In 2014, The Threnody Peace Education Project had the unique experience of touring and performing peace music in many Baltic countries, while travelling on a Royal Caribbean Northern European Cruise. A feature of the cruise ship travel was a performance on the main stage of the cruise ship for the cruise passengers and its crew.

During that performance tour, the Threnody Peace Education Project sang a concert of peace music at Catherine’s Palace and performed at the Smolny Cathedral concert hall in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In Helsinki, Finland, a concert of peace music was performed at Temppeliaukio Church, known as the “Rock” church, a unique choral experience, due to its unique structural features - a round church, a domed-copper ceiling and solid rock wall architecture. The unique concert setting, presented to a capacity audience, was a most memorable experience. The natural resonance of the beautiful architecture enhanced and amplified the beautiful music, a remarkable experience for both the singers and listeners.

In the Netherlands, a peace music performance site was the Grosbeek Canadian War Cemetery, where thousands of Canadian soldiers are buried. Their sacrifice during World War II, fighting for the freedom of the people of The Netherlands is forever remembered and their graves honoured by its citizens. This cemetery reflects the reverence and respect throughout Europe for the brave men and women who lost their lives defending freedom. Music of remembrance and peace echoed over the vast cemetery, with seemingly endless rows of white headstones with growing poppies blowing freely in the breeze. It, too, was memorable.

The final performance venue in 2014 was The Peace Palace in The Hague, in The Netherlands, a most unique opportunity granted to the Threnody Peace Education Project, in recognition of its unique peace initiative. The humbling experience of singing at The Peace Palace was an honour that left a lasting impression upon the performers and teachers.

2018 - During 2018, The Threnody Peace Education Project participated in The World Peace Choral Festival in Vienna, Austria, held in conjunction with the United Nations and the Vienna Boys Choir, and sponsored by the Austrian Government.

The performers of the Threnody Peace Education Project participated in the opening ceremonies at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

A unique aspect of the performance tour was a visit to The United Nations Headquarters and a performance by the Threnody Peace Education performers for the staff and visitors at the complex.

The Threnody Peace Education choir performed at the Voices for Peace Concert with a capacity audience at The Jesuit University Church in Vienna.

The performers also participated in a private workshop with the director of the Vienna Boys Choir and had a performance at The University of Music and the Performing Arts.

The culmination of the World Peace Festival was the Threnody Peace Education Project performance with the massed choir that included the Vienna Boys Choir, in concert at the Golden Hall of Musikverein in Vienna. The Threnody Peace Education Tour then performed R. Murray Schafer’s “Miniwanka – the Moments of Water” during the same concert.

The final performance of the 2018 tour was at the beautiful and historic Benedictine Melk Abbey in Melk, Austria. Nestled on a rocky mountaintop overlooking the Wachau Valley, the beauty of Baroque architecture is unsurpassed. The abbey was founded in the twelfth century and the abbey church is breathtakingly beautiful. The choir performed music of peace and remembrance for visitors and the clergy of the abbey. Once again, the event was a most unique and culturally significant performance.

Following the World Peace Choral Festival, the Threnody Peace Education performers relaxed and toured much of the beautiful countryside, such as the Black Forest and Salzburg in Austria. They also enjoyed visiting Mozart’s birthplace, and the various sites of the Sound of Music highlights. After an interesting tour of culturally rich Oberammergau, the group enjoyed a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, the beautiful castle deep in the Bavarian countryside of Germany.   

2019 - In the summer of 2019, the Threnody Peace Education Tour adult performers completed a week’s choir residency at the Cathedral  Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin, in Worcester, England. Living in the community and performing daily at the beautiful and historic Worcester Cathedral was an unrivaled musical experience for these experienced choral singers.