The voices of Nancy Desmarais and Philippe Harvey, who team up on stage and in everyday life, will be accompanied in particular by the guitar of Steve Archambault and the piano of Danny Bédard. The Saint-Pie children’s choir will provide the opening act for this benefit event.
“There is nothing religious or political in this story. Above all, we wanted to have access to a beautiful room, with a slightly magical atmosphere,” explained Philippe Harvey in an interview with The Voice of the East.
“The idea came naturally because I live opposite the church. These are magnificent buildings, but which are no longer used very much. So much the better if we can help breathe new life into the factory and help it.”
More than a Christmas concert
Used to traveling through Quebec with a tribute to the music of the 80s, the Saint-Pien couple said they were excited as the start of a “completely different” project approached. After this launch in the region, the Polaris Quartet tour will pass through Rimouski and northwest New Brunswick, among other places, before the end of the year.
The Polaris Quartet group will be performing at the Saint-Pie church. (Polaris Quartet)
Despite the title Winter songswe’re not talking about typical holiday concerts here. Pieces related to Christmas only make up around 30% of a repertoire which, according to a video available on the group’s YouTube page, includes offerings as varied as those of Adele, Iron Maiden and Cowboys Fringants.
“The beauty of it is that we touch a little bit of everything. There is jazz, blues, rock, pop and classical. This allows us to reach a fairly wide audience,” explained Philippe Harvey.
As for November 30, the group will first join, for a song, the young singers who will have benefited from a dozen free practices led by Nancy Desmarais and Claudine Poirier. Tickets for the show are available online as well as at the Saint-Pie presbytery, for around thirty dollars.
The church of Saint-Pie, photographed in November 2023. (Archives La Voix de l’Est)
Hope through work
Member of the council of the factory of the parish of Saint-Pie, Johanne Ducharme does not have any particular objective regarding the fallout from the evening. Any inflow of money will be welcome in a context where the three huge doors of the church will have to be replaced sooner rather than later, and at an estimated cost of $200,000.
Remember that some $700,000 had to be released after the storm destroyed one of the two bell towers in the fall of 2019. Work was more recently carried out to install a French drain and carry out repairs to the roof.
Ms. Ducharme nevertheless finds comfort through a seemingly endless construction site.
“Unlike many parishes, we see a few more people at church and our funds are slowly increasing. This encourages us a lot and in return, we would like to thank the local population enormously,” she said.
