CHORAL Scene by Larry Beckwith Chrys A. Bentley Artistic Director & Conductor Leslie Fagan, soprano Anita Krause, mezzo soprano Denn is Giesbrecht, tenor Bruce Ke lly, baritone with The Sinfony Players Give your ho liday season a joyful start by joining us for this awe-inspiring masterpiece performed in Hammerson Hall at the Living Arts Centre. Sunday, December11, 2005 3:00 pm Tickets - In person or by phone at the Living Arts Centre Box Office 905-306-6000 Chrys A. Bentley Artistic Director & Conductor Coronation Mass, K. 317 Mehgan Atchison, soprano Karen Olinyk, mezzo soprano Eugene Burke, tenor Jesse Clark, baritone Favourite arias and choruses featuring: Jesse Clark, baritone Michael Downie, baritone Jason Nedecky, baritone Mehgan Atchison, soprano with The Sinfony Players A tribute to Mozart's choral and operatic works. The choir's superb team of professional soloists will be introduced by Stuart Hamilton of CBC's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Sunday, February 26, 2006 3:00 pm Tickets - In person or by phone at the Living Arts Centre Box Office 905-306-6000 A programme of beloved anthems, hymns and solos drawn from the rich repertoire of timehonoured religious music will be performed in the grandeur of St. Patrick's Church in Mississauga. Saturday, May 6, 2006 7:30 pm Purchase your tickets as part of the subscription series through the Living Arts Centre Box Office or individually by calling the Mississauga Choral Society at 905-278-7059. Visit www.oclapyourhands.ca to register your favourite. Whether it's Channukah, Advent, the holiday season or humbug, the choirs in Toronto start celebrating early and continue almost all the way through December, then hibernate for the month of January, except for a few special events. It makes me misty-eyed to consider the well-over 100 choral events planned for the last month of the year. These events are primarily not-for-profit, featuring amateur singers giving their time and energies, not only as singers, but as setter-uppers of chairs and risers, bakers of cookies, organizers and sellers of tickets, decorators of halls, members of the unsung clean-up crew, etc. The effort that goes into these events is Herculean and so important to the community life of our city. Whether one follows the creeds and dogma of an organized religion or not, the themes of peace, joy, mystery, fellowship and goodwill - not to mention new life and hope - have to resonate within even the most hard-hearted of us. And somehow the miraculous sound of voices raised together in song is the surest way to move us out of our immediate and ordinary preoccupations into considerations of the eternal. Each weekend in December features at least a couple of dozen choral events, with slightly fewer during the week, but I daresay every choral singer in the city is donning gay apparel at least once, and most likely many times to climb up onstage and perform a major seasonal work , or a co llection of carols from around the world, or a program dedicated to the Virgin Mary, or the themes of peace, joy and hope. What fo llows, then, is a handful of recommendations on the understanding, dear reader, that you will peruse the complete listings carefully and promise to get out to as many of these energetic offerings as you can ... . you won't regret it. Children's choirs are in full flight this month, including the Mississauga Children's Choir on December 3rd, the Oakville Children's Choir on the 9th, 10th & 18th, and the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, who are premiering a stage work by Errol Gay and Michael Albano commencing on December 10th. The Bach Children's Chorus is in action on the 10th and the 17th (with the Amadeus Choir), Teri Fowler's York Region Children's Chorus on the 10th (with the Bell' Arte Singers) and the Riverdale Youth Singers, under their new conductor Alkividadis Leontarakis, performs "Winter Tails" on December 12th. The Toronto Children's Chorus fills Roy Thomson Hall on December 17th and the High Park Choirs perform in the west end that same day. Slightly older "youth " are a singin' as well: the University of Toronto downtown choirs give a holiday concert on December 2nd and the Scarborough campus choirs on the 3rd. Also in concert on the 3rd is the Etobicoke Youth Choir and U of T Gospel Choir. The Hart House Singers perform on the 4th. The St. Michael 's Choir School begins its annual run of concerts at Massey Hall on December 9th and the Mississauga Festival Youth Choir performs on the 10th. The Moscow Boys Choir, directed by Leonid Baklushin, is on tour in Ontario this month as well , performing excerpts from Handel 's Messiah, among other things. All of our chamber choirs are showcased this month, also, with Director Wanted for BRA VADQ This Barrie-based "show-choir': an excellent group with wide-ranging styles, seeks a new musical director starting Sept 2006. For job description and choir information contact Charlie Carswell (705) 727-0473. chasec@look.ca Application deadline Jan. 15, 2006 WWW. TH EWHO LENOTE, COM D ECEMBE R 1 2005 - FEBR UARY 7 2006
