In 1994, Noémi Kiss, a singer then living in her native Hungary, went to London to take voice lessons from the operatic soprano Nancy Argenta.
They became friends. In 2008, Kiss came to Victoria to visit Argenta and there she met Argenta's brother, the late David Herbison, and they fell in love.
Kiss and Herbison married and Kiss moved from Hungary to his home in Argenta.
"So not only was Noémi a student, friend, and colleague," says Argenta, "but then she became a family member as well."
Nancy Argenta's name at birth was Nancy Herbison. Early in her international singing career, concerned about being mistaken for another Canadian soprano named Nancy Hermiston, she changed her professional name to Nancy Argenta, taking on the name of the West Kootenay community in which she and her brother David grew up.
Argenta attended L.V. Rogers Secondary in Nelson and took voice lessons from the city's legendary choir director Amy Ferguson, then went on to a professional opera career based in London.
She performed in a busy schedule of concerts across Europe and around the world for 20 years. Now she lives in Victoria and is semi-retired.
Kiss had a similar life, performing concerts across Europe before moving to B.C. She became a mainstay in the musical life of the West Kootenay, including as the director of the Cottonwood Singers in Nelson. David Herbison died in 2016.
This month Argenta and Kiss will add another level to their multi-faceted relationship.
Kiss will direct Argenta as a soloist in the Cottonwood Singers concert entitled Res Miranda! (Marvellous Thing!) on Dec. 13 and 14 in Nelson and Dec. 15 in Kaslo.
"She's going to be conducting," says Argenta, "so now she's in charge of the show. It's just kind of a lovely, sort of full-circle experience."
Kiss describes her relationship with Argenta as "extremely precious to me. I met her when I was this 22-year-old young girl, not knowing how to sing, really."
About the upcoming concert, Kiss says, "I'm extremely honoured that Nancy said yes to this. ... I don't know how nervous I will be, because, of course, we've never done this before. It was always, you know, she was my teacher."
Argenta is modest about her role in the upcoming concert.
"There's a lot of lovely choral music on the program with a little sprinkling of me. ... It's just going to be a lot of fun and and special for us to do this thing together.
"There's a beautiful Mozart piece, Laudate Dominum, that starts with this gorgeous soprano solo for a couple of minutes, then the choir comes in, and then I finish it sort of on top of the choir after the choir is finished. It's a stunning, stunning gem by Mozart."
The concert will feature Dreamweaver Suite by the contemporary Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, for voice, piano, and string orchestra.
"It is a medieval poem about this person who falls asleep on Christmas Eve and then has this dream, and he wakes up on on the 13th day," says Kiss. "It's a Christmas story, but it's also very ancient and and not religious, but beautifully spiritual, and the music is just incredible. Really beautiful to sing, and the poetry is amazing. (Argenta's) soprano solo weaves in and out during the whole piece. Yeah, it's magical."
The small orchestra for the piece will consist of local musicians Martine DenBok, Natasha Hall, Miranda Hughes, Jeff Faragher, Fiona Armstrong, Rob Fahie, Dylan Palmer and David Restivo.
Kiss says the evening is not, strictly speaking, a Christmas concert, because much of the music could be interpreted religiously or not.
Argenta meanwhile is looking forward to performing for a home-town audience for the first time since 2016.
"There's a magic in live music. Live music has something that recorded music never can have, and it's something that a lot of people forget, and they think if they watch something online it's the same as going to a live concert.
"But it isn't, because there's that energetic component. There's that chemistry between performers and audiences that's sort of intangible but it is absolutely there and the audience plays a role in it."
The Nelson concerts on Dec. 13 and 14 will take place at St. Saviour's Anglican Church at 7:30 p.m., with $25 tickets available at Eddy Music. The Kaslo concert on Dec. 15 at St. Andrew's United Church begins at 7:30 p.m., with $25 tickets available at Sunnyside Market.
