Fine Arts Council Bringing K.C.’s Octarium to Florissant Civic Center

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The Florissant Fine Arts Council  welcomes Kansas City’s hottest new a cappella octet, Octarium, with “Should Have Been Choral,” the group’s concert collection of orchestral pieces, symphonies, Broadway tunes, and pop hits that have been retooled for choral voicing.

Octarium will perform Saturday, Jan 16 at 8 p.m. at the.  Florissant Civic Center Theatre, Parker Road at Waterford Drive.  Tickets are $27 Adults, $25 Students and Seniors.  For Information, call 314-921-5678 or visit www.florissantfinearts.com.

Nationally recognized for both their recordings and live performances, Octarium has been awing audiences with their distinct style and stunning vocal abilities.  Octarium, which is Latin for “eight as one,” is renowned for their perfectly blended voices.  The Riverfront Times raves, “…their voices warp and weave, coalescing as a single instrument of tremendous power and depth.”

Octarium was founded in 2003 by Krista Lang Blackwood, the current artistic director. As the director of choirs at a large Kansas City church, Blackwood hired eight section leaders to support her choral program in 2001. As the program developed, the section leaders formed an octet to provide music at special liturgies. As the octet rehearsed and performed together, a remarkable thing began to happen: musical synergy. The singers began to read each other’s minds; taking unplanned breaths together, phrasing identically and beautifully without discussing it first and creating impromptu choral dynamics in rehearsal and performance. This kind of artistry inspired Blackwood to expand beyond the walls of the church. For more information visit www.octarium.org.

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