ChandraTala, under the direction of Laura Hawley, was founded in September 2019. An upper voices choir for experienced soprano and alto singers of any gender identity, the choir’s Sanskrit name translates “rhythm of the moon.”

The choir has performed with the Canadian Chamber Choir, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Ariose Women’s Choir, had collaborated with local Edmonton musicians including singer-songwriter Maddie Storvold, and has premiered several new Canadian works.  During the period from March 2020 to June 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic isolation period, ChandraTala participated in the Sonic Timelapse project, commissioned two new works by Canadian female composers, and pursued a rich season of workshops with composers and clinicians, small group and virtual choir projects, including a cross-Canada virtual choir collaboration with six of Canada’s top upper-voices/women’s ensembles.The choir performs in the SkirtsAfire festival and recently participated in a consortium to commission Ukrainian composer Iryna Aleksiychuk. ChandraTala continues to perform and collaborate throughout the community, pursue diverse repertoire, commission new works, work with clinicians locally and nationally, and support one another in community and song.