Music Niagara will bring a collection of choirs together for its first-ever ChoralFest – featuring eight concerts by nine choirs performed over 10 days.

From Nov. 16 to 25 each choir will put on a performance that will be “powerful and tremendously moving,” said artistic director and founder of Music Niagara Atis Bankas.

Choral Fest is Bankas’ passion project, one he said he’s been loosely planning for more than six years.

But the plans began coming together in the form of the concert series with sponsorship and funding from Niagara Investment in Culture, the Niagara Community Foundation and the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Bankas said over his 22 years running Music Niagara, he has seen first-hand an appreciation for choral music – adding that he’s happy to be able to present Choral Fest, the first festival of its kind in the area.

The series is also “ethnically diverse,” featuring three children’s choirs, one internationally acclaimed all-male choir, and several troupes local and abroad, he said.

He plans to hold concurrent Choral Fests, likely every three years.

The logistics that went into co-ordinating nine choirs close to the holiday season was tough, he said, but it will all be worth it.

“All of the choirs were very much willing to participate. It was a lot of work in that way, organizing the choirs and booking them for November as many choirs are busy during the season,” he said.

Concert dates and times can be found at MusicNiagara.org.