If you happened to be out along the Quayside boardwalk recently when a dozen young singers appeared for an impromptu outdoor concert, or if you were browsing around the kids' swap meet at River Market this weekend, you'll already have heard them.
You might not have known who they were - but they'll happily introduce themselves.
Meet VanDeca, a 12-voice vocal ensemble that's carving out its own niche in the world of choral music.
The group began back in 2011 as a group of friends who were students and grads from the music and performing arts programs at Capilano University.
"We didn't really know what we were getting into," laughs Marco Del Rio, who sings tenor with the group.
It quickly evolved from a few gatherings of singing through new arrangements and performing some Christmas carols into a more formal choir - but always with a desire to keep the same group spirit.
Rather than being led by a conductor and run by a board, the choir remains cooperative. Although they do have a board to organize things, all members have a voice in decisions right from music selection onwards.
"We're really big on co-ownership and collaboration with each other," explains alto Alyssa Espiritu, who serves as the choir's librarian.
The name, by the way, comes from "Vancouver" and from the fact that the group originally had 10 members. (It's since grown to 12, to balance the choir with three singers on each part.)
The group now operates primarily out of New Westminster, although rehearsals are held at various locations around the Lower Mainland - New West, Burnaby, North Vancouver, downtown Vancouver - to offer convenient access for members from different communities.
The singers are working to establish themselves as a community force in New Westminster - they performed at the Santa Claus Parade and hosted a Christmas concert at Sapperton Pensioners' Hall, and they're working with River Market to host a series of small performances on various weekends (including the April 27 weekend, in conjunction with the big kids' swap meet).
Their big spring concert is being held in New West, on June 7 at Olivet Baptist Church.
They're also holding "pop-up" concerts on various rehearsal days - just strolling down from their rehearsal to sing a few songs in public, then heading back to rehearse again.
"We're trying to pop up in the community a little more often," explains alto Stephanie Lam, the group's co-chair and secretary.
Lam notes that an important part of the choir's mission is to build on the strengths of its individual members.
The choir will sing arrangements by members, for instance, or perform choreography by others - like alto Linzi Voth, who trained in musical theatre.
Voth originally had her sights set on a performance career, but notes, "That's not a reality for very many people."
So she's since shifted her focus to stage management. For her, that means VanDeca is a chance to keep her music skills sharp.
"This is the only consistent musical training I'm getting right now," she notes.
For Espiritu, who by day serves as a nurse in orthopedics and trauma at Royal Columbian Hospital, the choir is a way to continue connecting with music - she has her performer's diploma in piano and has been a choral singer since the age of 12.
"Everyone is really fun and friendly, and the environment is really fun," she says. "And we do challenging enough music that it keeps me stimulated."
Likewise for Lam, who by day works as the council and committee clerk at New Westminster City Hall. She studied music at the University of Regina but switched to working administrative jobs full-time, with some teaching on the side.
When she found out about VanDeca through one of her music friends, it was the perfect choice for her.
"It was kind of love at first sight," she says with a smile, noting she gets to continue using her administrative skills on the choir board while pursuing her passion for music. "It's the balance of what I love to do and what I work at."
Del Rio, too, says VanDeca has given him an outlet to pursue his passions - in his case, for conducting.
He just finished his bachelor's degree in music at UBC and has taken "a whole ton" of conducting courses, and he's now stepping into the role as the choir's lead artistic director. Although the choir's performances are largely self-conducted - which is to say, without one conductor standing in front of the group - Del Rio takes the lead at rehearsal to help get the most out of the group's sound.
"We have really grown as a group. Our sound is really flexible," he says, noting the choir can make the transition from Renaissance music to contemporary pop.
In fact, that's what local audiences will see at the June 7 concert - which, fittingly, is titled The Evolution of Music.
The concert will run the gamut from an arrangement of the first musical work ever known to be notated, through to popular songs like a jazz arrangement of the Beach Boys' God Only Knows and current chart hits like A Great Big World's Say Something.
The concert will showcase not just the group sound, but individual members' talents - from opera arias to piano performances.
"We want to build on the individuality of our members," notes Voth.
Whatever they're singing, the choir members strive to maintain a high standard. They're a young group - current members range in age from 18 to their early 30s - but all the singers have some kind of formal training, be it private lessons or degrees in music.
They've been selected through auditions - which Voth notes are as much about finding the right match for the choir as they are about musical talent.
"We were looking for mainly the right voice to blend with the existing members, and the right attitude," she points out. "We do want to enjoy being together."
The young singers are approaching VanDeca with an eye on future growth - a long-term goal, for instance, is to be able to turn professional and pay the singers.
"We're really hoping to become something big," Lam says. "There is no limit, really, to us."
VanDeca also includes sopranos Maggie Ma, Tess Meckling and Elyse Kantonen, basses Troy Martell, Grant Kowalewski and Anuar Chain-Haddad, and tenors Eric Biskupski and James Whitlock.
Find out more about the choir at www.vandecachoir.com, on Twitter at @VandecaChoir, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vandecamusic.
