At a recent concert held in Centretown United Church, Ottawa’s Atlantic Voices choir paid tribute to fallen artists from the Maritimes as well as their late friend Michael Bleakney, a member of the group who died in September’s train-bus tragedy in Barrhaven.
Bleakney, 57, died along with five others when their OC Transpo bus collided with a Via Rail train near Fallowfield station. Amidst the on-going investigation into the causes of the crash, Bleakney’s family is pursuing a $1.8 lawsuit against the city and the estate of bus driver Dave Woodard.
“When I heard about the crash that Wednesday morning I thought, ‘The only person I know who takes the bus from Barrhaven is Mike,’ ” says choir member Denise Arsenault. “Then I thought, ‘No, that can’t happen. Those things don’t happen to people I know.’ ”
Bleakney was part of Atlantic Voices for 12 years, ever since the group was founded in 2002.
“He was a cornerstone of the choir, and we really wanted to make (the concert) memorable for both the audience and his family,” says Brien Marshall, president of Atlantic Voices and MC of the event.
Planning for the concert began last spring when choir members, including Bleakney, wanted to honour the memory of Nova Scotia singer Rita MacNeil, who had died in April. The tribute soon began to include songs from other great Atlantic Canadian singers who had passed on, such as Stompin’ Tom Connors and Denny Doherty of The Mamas & the Papas.
The theme for the concert was: “Though the singer is gone, still the song lives on.” Taken from a tribute song to Helen Creighton, famed recorder of Newfoundland folk songs, the title achieved a bitter irony in September when Bleakney died just a few weeks into rehearsals.
“It was certainly tough to get through those first rehearsals after his death but his memory became an inspiration to us to pursue the concert,” Marshall continued.
The Song Lives On was hardly a sombre affair. The choir celebrated the lives and achievements of their favourite Maritime artists with stirring renditions of The Hockey Song by Connors, Barrett’s Privateers by Stan Rogers, and Doherty’s California Dreamin’ to name a few.
“We’ve done shows that have been mostly traditional songs, mostly folk songs, with little touches of pop or folk rock,” says Scott Richardson, the choir’s music director and conductor. “For this concert we turned it on its head. There’s a little bit of traditional music in there, but a lot more of it is pop-folk.”
Theresa Clarke, the choir’s pianist, says that the singers enjoyed the change of pace from their usual catalogue.
“Because they’re so well known the choir gets right into the zone, and we as players can all just adapt really quickly and just make it all gel really quickly.”
Nearly 600 people filled the pews of Centretown United to see the concert. It was the biggest audience Atlantic Voices has ever had. The 60-member choir received a standing ovation and performed an encore performance of The Hockey Song.
The choir concluded the concert with Sarah McLachlan’s I Will Remember You in Bleakney’s honour.
Denise Arsenault says that the choir’s intention was not meant to mourn lives lost, but to celebrate lives well lived.
“When Mike passed away it became even more significant to do a show like this because Michael lives on with us, with our music. It’s not a memorial concert, for us, it’s a way to celebrate Mike, as well.”