On March 4, Musica Intima, a Vancouver-based vocal chamber ensemble, took the stage at the Colgate Chapel to perform a series of religious songs. With no musi­cal accompaniment or guidance from a director, this ensemble filled the space with songs clearer and more beautiful than any other music I have heard before at a live performance. This freedom from the restrictions of instruments and instruction also lent itself to the fluid presence Musica Intima maintained on stage. In the midst of a song, the 12 singers moved about on several occasions, creat­ing engaging configurations that made the performance all the more memorable.

Moreover, the actual singing was of a quality I had never heard before. It was stunning to remember, in the middle of the performance, that this was not some recording edited and revamped several times over in a studio. Instead, the audience got to see the creation of art in the most immediate and enthralling way possible.

The audience was captivated. The man in front of me wiped his eyes with clenched fists every five min­utes; the young girl to my right bent her head in prayer; and a woman nearby said that Jesus had finally been brought back into her life. And if that wasn’t enough, helpful programs filled with compli­ments and recogni­tions were distributed before the concert so that the crowd might know how to best praise Musica Intima by the end of the eve­ning. English trans­lations of the songs were provided so that the audience could know what precisely was going on. It was a performance to be remembered, and I suspect it will not be forgotten anytime soon.