Viva Chorale

05/25/2026

Our Fern Collectors' concert is getting close! Although it is not a collection of songs about ferns, every song does somehow have a link, however tenuous, to a specific fern.

Here is an image of a Deer Fern aka Blechnum spicant:
"You walk two ways:
one frond reaching skyward, one keeping close to earth.
Teach us how to grow without forgetting
where our roots still drink."

04/27/2026

The Fern Collectors - Choral Concert:
Sword Fern - Polystichum munitum
Guardian of the forest edge,
you stand where paths begin and end.
Teach us strength that shelters
and constancy that does not harden.

Photo credit: Anthony Mensah on Unsplash

04/09/2026

Where the Ferns Remember

In the shaded ravines of Salt Spring
the ferns unscroll their ancient prayers—
green scripts written before fences,
before names were fixed to maps.

They rise where water moves slowly,
where stone keeps the memory of rain,
each frond a listening ear
to footsteps long gone.

Hands once gathered them gently,
or not gently enough,
yet still they return—
keepers of shade, of patience, of place.

Blessed are the ferns of the islands:
rooted in shadow, faithful to damp earth,
teaching us how to belong
without needing to be taken.

03/23/2026

Who collected ferns on Salt Spring & nearby islands?
Settlers & island naturalists: Early settlers, teachers, and clergy collected ferns as part of natural history study.
Pressed fern albums were common in island homes.
Specimens were often mailed to Victoria, Vancouver, and eastern Canada

Women played a key role: fern collecting was considered a “proper” scientific hobby; many women corresponded with botanists but were rarely credited.

Victoria-based botanists & institutions: Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands were frequent field destinations for members of the Victoria Natural History Society (founded 1884) and collectors supplying specimens to the Provincial Museum (later the Royal BC Museum)
universities and British herbaria.

Day trips by boat made the islands ideal collecting grounds.

03/21/2026

BC residents - here's an easy way to support Viva Chorale community choir! Buy raffle tickets for a chance to win up to $2,000! Our choir gets 60% of ticket sales through this link, and we really appreciate your support!!
https://bccf.rafflenexus.com/a/viva-chorale

03/16/2026

Victorian Fern Fever! Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hIHpvhxP18

Pteridomania, also known as Victorian Fern Fever, or Fern Madness, swept across Victorian England and almost wiped out an entire plant group. In this episode...

03/09/2026

The Fern Collectors: The Gulf Islands attracted fern collectors c. 1870s-1910s. Salt Spring Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands sit at a botanical crossroads of coastal Douglas Fir forests, Garry Oak meadows, and shaded ravines, sandstone bluffs, and moist shoreline forests. This diversity made the islands especially attractive to Victorian-era naturalists seeking unusual and abundant fern species within easy reach of Victoria.

Conservation awakening: By the early 1900s, overharvesting of ferns raised alarm. Strathcona Provincial Park (1911) helped protect key habitats. Fern collecting shifted from extraction to study and appreciation.

Today, evidence of the fern-collecting era (1840s-1910s) is found at the Royal BC Museum Herbarium, UBC Herbarium, and the National Herbarium of Canada.

Photo credit: thorsten-hack-q-u1ATikHTI-unsplash

03/04/2026

Our next concert is titled, "The Fern Collectors", based on the British widespread craze known as pteridomania (c.1840s-1910s). The term was coined in 1855 by Charles Kingsley to describe the Victorian obsession with ferns, especially in Britain but also spread to North America and parts of Europe.

Coastal BC, with its temperate rainforests, was especially alluring - home to lush, ancient fern species unseen by European collectors (c.1870-1910s). Long before Victorian collectors, Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, Haida, and other Nations used ferns for medicine and food preparation. They knew precise habitats and seasonal cycles.

02/25/2026

Are you interested in Joining a Choir?

We are a community choir that rehearses Friday Evenings @ the Baptist Church from 6:45 - 9:00.

Spring session STARTS: FEB. 27th and runs till the concerts on June 20th & 21st @ All Saints.

Fee is $150.

This spring the choir will also be singing in Victoria as part of the PODIUM Choir festival on Friday. May 15th. (optional)

THE REPERTOIRE: Always a mix. Some classical, folk, gospel, music from around the world.

All voice parts are welcome. No choral experience necessary, but can be a steep learning curve, so consider the extra practice when you consider your time commitment. We do memorize some music for performances. Audio part tracks are provided for practice help if you don't read music yet.

If you're interested and want to learn more please e-mail me directly @ [email protected]

https://vivachoralesaltspring.com