I am sitting with one thousand singers at a five-day choral music festival called Kathaumixw (pronounced ‘kah-tie-miew’ in the Tla’amin First Nation’s language). The Aboriginal people gifted the name to the community of Powell River. Spelled q̓at̓ᶿaymɩxʷ in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), it means “a gathering together of different people.”
Here we gather with all our differences in the Sunshine-Coastal community, in the qathet, or “working-together” region, located four hours from Victoria and Vancouver. This is the 20th anniversary festival. Since its inception in 1984, the festival has run every two years (except during COVID).
A woman is at the mic. Her words command attention:
“In every country I travel—at any age, from six-year-old kids to 102-year-old seniors… if you can speak, you can sing… Brilliance has no age.”
of Choirs, Kathaumixw Gala Opening. Author is bottom right. Photo credit: Joan Boxall
Dr. Zimfira Poloz—conductor, educator, internationally recognized adjudicator and clinician—borrows her wisdom from a Zimbabwean proverb that espouses learning and intellectual curiosity as lifelong pursuits. She is the current artistic director of the Toronto Children’s Choir. She came to Canada in the ’90s from Kazakhstan after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
We are seniors. We are youthful. We can speak. We can sing.
We come together as sixteen choirs. Five are local to Powell River. Three more are from Metro Vancouver. One is from Alberta and another from Ontario. Two are from the USA, and one each from Slovenia, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Taiwan.
Zimfira says, “Everybody has to sing. It is part of our nature when we are born. We sing and move first, before we speak… every voice is unique. Don’t worry about technique. When it comes from the heart, it’s touching.”
Zimfira is conducting us in song, but she is speaking more broadly, about life.
“You have to breathe. The air should move slowly like a little stream. Don’t sit on the note. Keep the phrases going forward. Stay open. Let the air get in. Don’t lose your energy. Open the space. There’s always room for growth. Have fun, joy and connection. Use your eyes to tell the story.”
All this singing makes me hungry. I meet the artistic director, Walter Martella, in the lunch line-up.
“Being in a choir is very healthy. It’s social. It’s physical. It’s great for your brain. It’s really great to experience other cultures through music… and time periods such as Baroque, Classical, pop and jazz… there are so many different styles,” he says
“You can learn to sing without reading notes, too. Making sounds together through various civilisations… following a leader who may have been drumming or using an Indigenous instrument.”
Walter ponders out loud how our ancestors may have done it.
“Listen to me. Now you do it.”
Espiritu Vocal Ensemble director, Anita Comba, is past-president of the BC Choral Federation (BCCF) and now chairs the Seniors’ Committee.
“This demographic of 55 plus is one I’ve thought a lot about with regards to singing and choir. Since I work primarily with 55+ singers, I feel a great connection to and alignment with this demographic. Having just turned 55, I am increasingly aware of the benefits of choral singing as you age.”
“Recently, I had the opportunity to work with Erica Phare-Bergh, founder of Voices in Motion, an intergenerational choir for adults with memory loss, their caregivers, friends and students. In collaboration with researchers at UVic, they found that singing alone lit up parts of the patient’s brain, but singing in a group lit up many more parts. This led researchers to conclude that the social aspect of group singing was immensely impactful,” says Anita.
Anita tells me how she fell into directing somewhat by chance. She was invited to fill a last-minute vacancy for the Langley Community Chorus. Having had many years of experience playing piano for choirs and coaching singers, she thought she’d give it a go. Something similar brought her to Espiritu, where she was choral accompanist under the artistic vision of Gillian Hunt in West Vancouver.
“I have the best seat in the house, standing in front of a group of people all united in their breath, intention, and focus, making music together,” says Anita. “It’s a real privilege.”
Zimfira reminds me how musical education can be curtailed:
“When I tried for the first time to sign up for music school (a school for gifted children in Kazakhstan), I was told, ‘Maybe you should do something else… you cannot sing.’ And yet, I knew I could repeat that little melody our teacher was asking for. I was just so anxious and nervous.”
As a result, she went to regular school. The experience fuelled her passion to train and develop young singers. Naturally, some have more talent than others. We cannot all be Pavarotti or Lady Gaga.
Our ‘song’ experts—Zimfira, Walter and Anita—tell us to enjoy the process.
When inviting volunteers to join q̓at̓ᶿaymɩxʷ, each participant is encouraged to: “immerse yourself in a global celebration of music and friendship. Connect with people from around the world, meet inspiring artists, and experience the magic of bringing people together through song.”
This invitation brought my choir, Espiritu, to q̓at̓ᶿaymɩxʷ. We were awarded the Dr. Jim Sparks Award, given in memory of a beloved educator, conductor, and visionary who believed in the transformative power of choral music. We were told we embodied that passion, excellence and spirit of connection.
We were almost speechless. Then we remembered: We can speak. We can sing. Brilliance has no age. |
– Join Espiritu’s Christmas show, Only Joy Aloud, in early December 2025: https://www.espirituvocalensemble.ca/
– Join a Langley Community Chorus show: https://www.langleychorus.org/
– For a musical vacation at q̓at̓ᶿaymɩxʷ: https://www.kathaumixw.org/kathaumixw.shtml
– Find a choir: https://bcchoralfed.com/services/member-choirs/
Joan Boxall is the author of “DrawBridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother’s Schizophrenia,” published in 2019 by Caitlin Press, a creative non-fiction account of an artful journey with her talented brother.
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