NORTH HATLEY: CHOROMONDO celebrates its 14th anniversary this year! All concerts are dedicated to helping world communities in need. The KIDU Foundation in Bhutan, in memory of Martha Ham, will benefit this year from concerts to be held on Friday, June 7 (7p.m.) at St. George’s Anglican Church (1002 Main Street),Ayer’s Cliff and Saturday, June 8 (7p.m.) at Stanstead South United Church (11 Church Street), Stanstead (sponsored by Stanstead Steeples United Church). Suggested donation is $15.

CHOROMONDO’s eclectic repertoire, colorful costumes, lively introductions and passionate love of music make their performances a pleasure for all. This year’s annual benefit concerts include songs from South Africa, Bulgaria, Latvia, Serbia, Venezuela, Cuba as well as Sephardic, Gospel and Quebecois traditions.

They have sung close to 200 songs from over 30 different countries, loving especially the music of South African and the Balkans. The choir has sung benefit concerts for farmers in East Timor, flood victims in Mozambique and orphans in India and Bangladesh. Through the common human experiences expressed in the songs they sing, CHOROMONDO also hopes to help bridge differences between cultures and contribute to a more peaceful planet.

The 30 women who make up CHOROMONDO and the twelve members of the CHOROMONDO TOURING ENSEMBLE come from diverse backgrounds. Among these are teachers, doctors, dancers, writers, an actress, a massage therapist, a homeopath, a midwife, a travel journalist, an organic farmer...many had never sung in a choir before, but these women love to sing, and they have formed an incredible group together, both musically and as a community. The inspiration and guiding force behind the amazing sounds of this group of ladies is musician and composer Allyna Harris - founder of the group in 1999.

“For fourteen years I've been privileged to direct an amazing group of women who get together once a week from September to June to sing music from around the world. All of our repertoire is sung in original languages and, to the best of our ability, respecting the roots and traditions of the songs and their cultures of origin. The full choir is open to all and focuses on two annual benefit concerts each June. The CHOROMONDO TOURING ENSEMBLE is an auditioned group within the larger choir for members who want more singing challenges and more opportunities to perform,” commented Harris.

CHOROMONDO welcomes new members each September. Sheet music is usually provided but all songs are taught by singing them. Members are non-auditioned but you do need some musical background or the ability to learn quickly by ear. Audience response has been tremendously positive. CHOROMONDO is colourful and enthusiastic and the group radiates a love of singing world music that is infectious and irresistible.

Their first CD, the best of three years of concerts was released in June 2003. For information about CHOROMONDO recordings and concert bookings, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.