Song strikes right note for Olympics

Underscoring next month’s television broadcast of the CTV Television Network’s Winter Olympics is a library of specially composed and arranged music that will culminate each evening with a song designed to capture the spirit and the emotion of Olympic competition.

Cowritten by Robert Armes and David Roberts, the song features the voices of about a dozen singers from the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus. The song is titled The Power and the Glory, and will run as musical background to profiles of Canadian Olympic athletes which will air at the conclusion of each evening’s telecast.

‘The room rings when these children perform,’ says Armes, who first worked with the chorus two years ago in a commercial for the Canadian Cancer Society. The spot won a Gold Bessie award.

‘They seemed to have a certain feeling that was perfect for the Olympics, which is the story of people spending years pursuing a dream,’ says Armes. ‘They have a real purity and optimism.

‘They bring a very buoyant and positive feeling that fits with an event that is all about pushing yourself and the pursuit of excellence. Hearing those words (from the song) come out of a 12-year-old is a very beautiful and emotional experience.’

Armes also composed and produced, with musical director and writer Liam Ball, the various instrumental arrangements that are being incorporated into ctv’s Olympic coverage.