To mark the end of their 10th year and the end of the group, a concert is being held at the United Church, May 13.
The Flemings originally formed the Summit Singers to give staff at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge something to do during the winter months, but after putting up posters, they ended up attracting 10 singers from town and only two from the lodge. So after practising for one season at the golf course clubhouse, practices were moved into town.
Morley, who has a music degree from Western University in London, Ont., is the resident musician at JPL, where he plays piano six nights a week. On his one day off, he has been leading and singing with the Summit Singers, a non-auditioned group, that gives people like Val, who doesn’t read music, an opportunity to perform with a choir.
“In all the years I’ve been singing in one choir or another, I still don’t really read music,” said Val. “So you just paste yourself next to someone who does and then pretty soon you get the hang of it and before you know, you’re singing along with everybody else and it’s pretty wonderful,” she said. “Together we make a really beautiful sound.”
Although next week’s concert will be the last for the group, the Flemings both say it doesn’t mark the end of choral music in Jasper.
“There are people in the choir that are looking at putting together a Jasper Choral Music Society,” said Val, noting that the society would then be responsible for all of the music the group has acquired over the years. Some of that music has been bought with the donations the group has received from their concerts, while other pieces were donated by the Heckley family, who had it left over from the Jasper Glee Club, which formed in 1951 and was around for more than 40 years.
“We’ve amassed quite a library of choral music and the intention always was and still is for that music to remain in the community,” said Val.
Following the concert, the music will be stored until the new library and cultural centre is complete, at which time the Jasper Municipal Library will catalogue it.
“That way for anybody who wants to borrow pieces, it’s in one spot,” said Val.
“And other communities in the library system can borrow as well,” added Morley, noting that when the Summit Singers first formed, the group borrowed all of its music from other choirs. “I don’t believe in photocopying. We believe strongly in supporting the artists that write the material,” he said, noting that a lot of those artists are personal friends of his.
For the final concert, alumni have been invited to join the group for the final number, “I Feel the Spirit.”
Of the song, Val said, “It just seemed to be the natural one to end with. It’s kind of one that we’ve always fell back on, because everybody liked it and it’s fast, so if we needed something with an uplifting tempo to end with, it was a good one.”
A few past singers returning for the concert are Sonia Deleo and Doug and Donna Heine. If everyone shows up, there could be up to 50 people on the stage. But, Morley guesses it will be closer to 25, as some of the group’s past singers have moved away or passed on.
Singers like Fred Kofin, who died in 2011. Kofin sang with the Jasper Glee Club from the year it formed and much later in life joined the Summit Singers at the age of 89. “He sang with us until he was 93,” said Val. “Then he said, ‘My voice isn’t as strong as it was a few years ago,’ so he retired. He was marvellous and he and Gertie came to every concert even after he wasn’t singing with us.”
Kofin is one of many individuals who supported the Summit Singers over the years, as a member and an audience member.
In the early years, the Lutheran Church donated space. And later, the group moved to the United Church, where they only paid a fee for concerts, not practises. There have also been numerous musicians who have accompanied songs during concerts, like Mildred Flanagan, who’s playing piano during the final concert.
“We’ve had a lot of community support,” said Val. “It’s been a good 10 years.”
