Wefcome The WholeNote Canary Pages 2005 WholeNote's "Canary Pages" choral directory is published annually as a special feature in the May issue of WholeNote Magazine. WholeNote Magazine is published ten times a year (monthly, with combined issues in July/August and December/ January). A regularly updated version of the Canary Pages is also available online at www.thewholenote.com Links to choirs' own websites are available from this site. If your choir missed inclusion in the printed version of the directory but would like to appear on the web version, e-mail canary@thewholenote.com or phone 416-323-2232 for information on how to apply. If any corrections to the current listing need to be made, please e-mail canary@thewholenote .corn Choirs wishing to arrange for regular free delivery of Whole Note to concerts or rehearsals should contact circulation@thewholenote.com or telephone 416-406-5055. Choirs wishing to place events in our free concert listings should e-mail information to listings@thewholenote.com by the 151h day of the month prior to publication. Project Editor Catherine Muir Publisher Allan Pulker Editor David Perlman Choral Columnist Larry Beckwith Layout & Design Peter Hobbs Verity Hobbs Illustrations Verity Graphics Research Catherine Muir Karen Ages Paul Farrelly The WholeNote Canary Pages 2005 is a publication of WholeNote Media Inc. 503-720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON Canada M5S 2R4 to the Canary Pages 2005, WholeNote's annual choral directory! This year's directory includes 159 Ontario choirs-large and small, for young and old, auditioned and not, singing in a number of musical styles and from many different traditions. Choirs are listed alphabetically in the main part of the directory. Each listing includes a 100-word description of the choir or choral organization followed by contact information. The directory is useful for choral fans and canaries of all sorts: if you are a potential chorister (or already singing but looking for something with different challenges and opportunities), it gives you information about sign-up and/or audition procedures for each choir; if you are a concertgoer, it gives you general information on the repertoire and concert planning of the choirs. At the back of the Canary Pages, choirs are listed by category. You can use the categories at the back to help narrow your search. If a choir description catches your imagination, look to see when they are performing and go and hear them, sit in on a rehearsal, or check out the choir's website. If you're still interested, call them up and join or book an audition! If you've got a dream to sing, you'll find a choir to sing in, right here. I'm a big advocate for choral singing and have witnessed how profoundly the simple act of getting together with others to make music builds community and raises the spirits of that community. A choir can make a meaningful difference in the lives of its singers and its audience. There is so much fantastic repertoire available for choirs today, from the great oratorios and passions of Handel, Elgar, Mendelssohn and Bach to the remarkable music being written in Canada today by first-rate choral composers such as R. Murray Schafer, Ruth Watson Henderson, and Harry Freedman. Add to this Ontario's roster of exceptionally talented choir conductors, and an always expanding choral repertoire available including jazz, world, folk, and popular music, and you have one of the most vibrant choral scenes in the country right at your doorstep. As you read on, please consider getting involved in a choral community. If you have a choral background and want a committed choral experience, or just simply like to sing in the shower and think it would be fun to raise your voice with others, your life will be enriched by the act of joining a choir. Even if you can't sing, you can learn! Or be on the sidelines and offer your services in another capacity, such as ticket-taking, envelope-stuffing, setting up chairs, or sitting on a Board of Directors. From personal experience, I can say that choral singing truly does make one a better person. The transcendent experience of breathing in, breathing out, and assigning pitch, duration, and text, without an instrument, just using my natural voice, and doing this alongside friends; well, there truly is no better feeling. I recommend it highly. With 159 choirs at your fingertips, there is no excuse to not get involved with a choir. So read on, and get out there and sing! Larry Beckwith UNARY PAGES WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM MAY 2005
AcHILL CHORAL SocIETY This mixed 85-voice community choir of accomplished amateur singers, under the direction of A. Dale Wood, delights local audiences in Alliston, Beeton, Caledon, Orangeville, Shelburne and Tottenham. Founded in 1982, the choir has attracted many guests and accompanists of the highest calibre. Our extensive library of classical and contemporary repertoire is available to other choirs through our website. Having toured in England, Holland, and Ireland, we plan to celebrate our 25th anniversary with a Canadian tour. Concert series are performed in November and April, in addition to community events. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings in Hockley. Auditions are held twice annually. Cathy Whitcombe: 519-941-9966 www.achillchoral.on.ca ALEXANDER SINGERS AND PLAYERS The Alexander Singers started in 1987 as a summer choir. Under the enthusiastic direction of Angela Hawaleshka, Alexander Singers has evolved to enjoy near-protessional status. With a strong educational mandate, members grow in their ability to sing and in performance skills. Indeed, many have gone on to enjoy successful professional careers. The choir's annual spring productions have included Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Sweeney Todd.Fiddler on the Roof, The Most Happy Fe/la and several G&S operettas. Each December a choral concert is presented, with rehearsals commencing in September. All are welcome to join this Festival Choir. hawaleshka@sympatico.ca Angela Hawaleshka: 416-324-1259 www.alexandersingers.com ALL THE KING'S VOICES ATKV is a mixed-voice community choir dedicated to enabling amateur singers to experience the joy of singing works from a wide variety of choral genres. Founder and conductor David J. King, assisted by a highly trained accompanist and 6 section leads, provides professional leadership. Annual sight singing courses help choristers improve their musical skills. Next season's concerts include Christmas for Kids, November 27, Christmas Classics, December 17, Songs of Love and Laughter, February 11, and An Evening of Gilbert and Sul/iva11, April 29. ATKV rehearses September to May on Tuesdays 7:30-!0pm at Willowdale United Church, 349 Kenneth Avenue, Toronto. al lthekingsvoices@canada. corn David King: 416-225-2225 www.allthekingsvoices.ca AMABILE CHOIRS OF LONDON The Amabile Choirs of London, Canada are celebrating 20 years of musical excellence. Amabile is recognized as one of the premiere choral ensembles for children and youth. Approximately 300 choristers ages 8-24 rehearse weekly with the following choirs: Amabile Youth Singers, John Barron and Brenda Zadorsky, conductors; Junior Amabile Singers and Amabile DeCapo (Training) Choir, Jacqueline Norman and Wendy Gee, conductors; Amabile Boys Choirs (Treble Concert Choir, Young Men's Ensemble, Primus Choir), Carol Beynon and Ken Fleet, conductors; and Amabile Chamber Choir, John Barron, Brenda Zadorsky, Carol Beynon and Ken Fleet, conductors. Auditions for the 2005-2006 season are in May/June. AMADEUS CHOIR admin@amabile.com 519-641-6795 www.amabile.com The Amadeus Choir is the 100- voice, semi-professional choir-inresidence at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Lydia Adams is the conductor and artistic director. The choir rehearses Tuesday evenings in the Don Mills Road/Lawrence Avenue area. The 2005/2006 season includes a four-concert series, single performances, run-outs and recording sessions, and will feature Handel's Messiah, along with works by Glick, Daley, Togni, Distler, Brahms and Vaughan Williams, sometimes with orchestral accompaniment. Membership is by audition, held in May/June each year. amachoir@idirect.com Judith Young: 416-446-0188 www.amadeuschoir.com ANNEX SINGERS OF TORONTO The Annex Singers Choir is a nonauditioned high-spirited choir with a quickly growing reputation. We welcome new members with a wide range of vocal experience. Rehearsals are weekly, beginning the first Monday in September and the first Monday in January and the first Monday after the Easter concert. Rehearsals are held on Monday evenings at 7:30pm at St. Thomas Anglican Church, 383 Huron Street, Toronto. Director Lawrence Goudge will be leaving the choir in June and the search is on for a new director. Richard Partington: 416-968-7747 ANNO DoMINI CHAMBER SINGERS ADCS was established in 2000 as a chamber choir committed to artistic excellence through the performance of sacred choral music. We are a dedicated and enthusiastic group of 18 choristers from a variety of backgrounds. We perform in concert three to four times per year and sing at charity everits and weddings. Our repertoire ranges from chant and Renaissance polyphony to more contemporary works. We rehearse on Monday evenings from September to June. If you are an experienced chorister with good reading skills, a passion for sacred music, and are looking for an intimate choral experience, please contact us for an audition. ARCADY David Jafelice: 416-696-0093 davidjaf@sympatico.ca Arcady is an ensemble dedicated to the recording and performance of the music of Ronald Beckett. The choir has established a reputation for its energetic and imaginative performances of early music. It combines outstanding young Canadian performers, mostly performance majors or recent graduates, with established protessional instrumentalists and singers. Arcady offers between 20 and 30 performances in Toronto and southwestern Ontario each year, with programs ranging from flute and piano duos to full choral-orchestral performances. The choir has appeared on TYO's On Stage at Studio 2 and is heard frequently on classical radio. Audition inquiries are welcome. info@arcady.ca Ronald Beckett: 519-428-3185 wwyca BACH CHILDREN'S CHORUS AND BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIR BCC consists of 180 auditioned singers in choirs of differing ability levels-three treble choirs for children aged 6-16 and an SATB choir for changed voices and girls aged 16 and up. All choirs rehearse weekly in east Scarborough and perform twice yearly at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, and also appear regularly at Toronto events. Each choir participates in weekend excursions involving festivals, workshops and concerts with other youth choirs and world-renowned clinicians. BCC has released four solo CDs and has won provincial and national choral awards. Founder and music director Linda Beaupre is a wellknown Toronto guest conductor and clinician. bachchildrenschorus@bellnet.ca Jane Greenwood: 416-431-0790 BACH CONSORT CHORUS www.bachorus.org The Bach Consort is a group of instrumentalists, vocal soloists and choristers who gather together two or three times a year to perform concerts in aid of charity. The Bach Consort involves some of Canada's finest instrumentalists and singers. The Bach Consort Chorus brings together some of the finest choral singers in the country, many of them hailing from celebrated groups like the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and Exultate Chamber Singers. Contact timojo58@hotmail .corn to book an audition for the fifth annual presentation of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (complete; with intermission meal) under the direction of the returning Yannick Nezet - Seguin on December 16, 2005. timojo58@hotmail.com MAY 2005 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM CANARY PAGES
