Via Choralis brings holiday magic to Sidney with new artistic director

Via Choralis will return with its annual December concert with a new artistic director at the helm. Grant Harville, whose accomplishments include winning the London Conducting Masterclass Competition and the Agatha C. Church Conducting Award, will make his mark with Magnificat, a concert on Sunday, Dec. 7 at St. Elizabeth Church in Sidney. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a variety of local choirs and orchestras, and every new group I encounter is a new challenge and a new horizon to reach for,” Harville told Peninsula News Review. Harville came to the Island with his family in 2020, and has since been music director of the Civic Orchestra of Victoria and conductor of the Victoria Conservatory of Music Chorale during the fall 2025 term. He describes Via Choralis as a “Sidney institution” – one that he looks forward to both shaping and growing from. For Magnificat, he has chosen Christmas- and winter-themed music by John Rutter, Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Holst and Indigenous composer Andrew Balfour, plus a sing-along of seasonal favourites. “‘Classical’ is more a marketing term than a musical one, and it’s less a single genre than 50 genres in a trenchcoat,” he said. “There’s a tremendous diversity in the world of classical music, and it is our privilege to explore and share it.” On accompaniment will be Kinza Tyrrell, who is music director of Vancouver Opera in Schools, a coach at UVic Faculty of Music and music director of the UVic Chamber Singers, while being considered one of Canada’s top collaborative pianists. Magnificat takes place at St. Elizabeth Church, 10030 Third St. in Sidney on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 and are available at Tanner’s Book Store, from 3common.com and from members of the choir. Magnificat starts at 2 p.m. at 10030 Third St. As per what Harville hopes audiences will take away from his first concert as artistic director? “Joy, community, beauty, and an excuse to step outside of their day-to-day and enjoy an afternoon where their only obligation is to sit back and let the music wash over them.”