Kathaumixw: 30 years The welcoming choral festival is still fresh
Photos by Robert Colasanto
By Paul Cummings
W
e all know the story. Kathaumixw. The gathering together of different peoples. How many tens of thousands of singers, directors, support staff, families, bus drivers, and tourists have visited our small community since 1984? Hotel rooms booked, homestays attained, restaurant meals eaten, small businesses visited? The numbers are staggering. Thirty years of success. We have to be one of the most well-known and well-established international choral festivals in the world. So…
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now what? Well, it’s a jungle out there! When Kathaumixw began in 1984 the international choral festival business was pretty sparse. Don James and Dal Matterson seized the opportunity to fire up a new kind of choral festival in Canada. Within a handful of years they had dozens of choirs flocking to Powell River. It seemed like everyone wanted to check out our gorgeous natural setting, rich First Nations culture, friendly people, and to win the prestigious Choir of the World award. Fast forward to 2014. There are now
hundreds of international choral festivals. They are everywhere. China to Turkey, competitive and non-competitive, small and large. Large? How large? There are some monsters out there. Three thousand, four thousand, five thousand singers! There are choral organizations that have franchised their event. There’s even a festival that attracts over 480 choirs, that’s more than 20,000 singers…and it occurs during the same month as Kathaumixw. Add a tough economy and expensive travel costs into the equation. I’ve witnessed an abundance of great, established, and