Canary Pages 2013

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VIVA is a vibrant community of singers and educators committed to equity, excellence, and the belief that every voice matters. VIVA empowers children and adult singers in seven choirs through innovative choral pedagogy and performance experiences. Vital choir components highlight VIVA’s philosophy: the TD Inclusion Program for singers with disabilities; and the Choral Mentoring & Leadership Program for aspiring conductor-educators.
VIVA’s youth choruses include: Preparatory (ages 4-6), Junior (ages 6-10), Main (ages 9-16), and Senior Treble (ages 13-16).

The Every Voice Matters Chorus welcomes teens and adults with disabilities. Adult choirs include the Community Choir (SATB; non-auditioned) and Chamber Singers (SATB; auditioned). Auditions and assessments are held regularly throughout the year.

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We are a community choir in Markham. Village Voices has served the community for 31 years. It is an SATB non-auditioned choir of approximately 55 members. The choir gives two concerts a year, in December and May. In addition, we also do outreach concerts at seniors’ residences in Markham and surrounding areas. Our repertoire comprises works of contemporary Canadian/North American composers, such as Ola Gjeilo, Eleanor Daley, Jake Runstead, Jeff Smallman, etc., as well as old favourites. We rehearse once a week from September to May at Markham’s United Presbyterian Church under the baton of our music director, Shirley Madden. More information is available on our website or by email.

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Vesnivka Choir, established in 1965 by founding artistic director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki, is an award-winning women’s ensemble whose repertoire consists of Ukrainian liturgical, classical, contemporary and traditional folk music. The choir’s regular concert season comprises three major concerts, one of which is an annual Christmas concert. Vesnivka, together with its partner the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir (TUMCC), often accompanied by local professional musicians. The choir also sings Christmas and Easter Liturgies. Singers are welcome; rehearsals on Tuesdays, 7:15pm to 9:15pm (4 Bellwoods Ave., Toronto). Male singers are welcome to join TUMCC who rehearse on Mondays, 7:30pm to 9pm (2445 Bloor St. W., Toronto). Concert schedule, rehearsal times and venues all subject to change during COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Upper Canada Choristers is a mixed-voice community choir with a diverse membership that interweaves fun with the commitment to musical excellence and vibrant community service. Performances feature collaborations with international choirs, local children’s choirs, and professional instrumentalists and singers. Cantemos is an auditioned a cappella Latin ensemble within UCC.

Lead by artistic director, Laurie Evan Fraser, the choirs perform three diverse choral programs annually. Weekly rehearsals for the Main Choir are Monday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. Cantemos rehearses on Saturday mornings from 10:30am to 12:30pm at 2700 Bathurst Street. The choirs sing up to 20 concerts annually in a variety of community venues.

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The Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir (TWMVC) was established in 1995 when its founding member and first president, Gwyn Roberts, gathered together a group of like-minded individuals of Welsh heritage, who sought to kindle the spirit of Traditional Welsh Male Voice singing in their adopted country. The TWMVC proudly draws on the great Welsh tradition of singing hymns and songs born of the mountains and valleys of Wales. At the same time it emphasizes a multicultural context in its broad repertoire which also includes spirituals; operatic arias, Canadian folk songs as well as Broadway show tunes and contemporary music. Our blend of traditional and contemporary music, all sung off book in accordance with tradition, appeals to a broad audience.

With the current situation we all have now, our concerts have been put on hold, until we receive clearance to resume our concert schedule. Please visit our website www.welshchoir.ca for all updated information. We are seeking new members to join.

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In 2020/21, the award-winning Toronto Children’s Chorus marks its 43rd concert season and its 14th year under artistic director Elise Bradley, MNZM. The Chorus comprises a family of choirs: KinderNotes for children aged 3 to 6 (no audition required), four Training Choir levels, Main Choir (five ensembles) and Toronto Youth Choir (ages 16 to 30). The Chorus welcomes singers at its Midtown and North York locations.

Each year, more than 400 choristers develop skills in vocal technique, sight-singing, music theory and performance. The Main Choir offers master classes, recording and touring opportunities, and guest performance experiences, including with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik and Opera Atelier.

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Building on 50 years of concert performances, the Toronto Chamber Choir of around 30-40 skilled singers has held a prominent place in Canada’s early music scene since 1968. It specializes in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, collaborating regularly with Toronto’s rich pool of period instrumentalists, but also with forays into other periods. Four concerts per season (two Saturday evening concerts, two Sunday afternoon “Kaffeemusiks”) explore our repertoire through narration, often with a multimedia component.

Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall with occasional Saturday “retreats.” Auditions for new volunteer members are held anytime by arrangement with the director. We also run the Toronto Chamber Consort section lead program and an apprenticeship program with Rosedale School of the Arts.

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TBCYC, founded in 2006 by artistic director Bronwen Low with drama instructor, Joanne Mitchell, has grown from a membership of 30 to over 150 children and youth (JK and up) from all over Scarborough and Toronto’s East End. TBCYC welcomes all, regardless of ability, offering a high quality musical and dramatic experience within an atmosphere of fun and hard work.

Each year, choristers are involved in concerts and events throughout the city. In the spring, they perform a fully staged musical production at a professional theatre. Select past shows: Shrek Jr, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver, and Fame. Past touring highlights include singing in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry, the 2016 DCINY festival performance at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center as part of the 2019 Serenade Choral Festival in Washington, D.C.

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Tempus Choral Society is a very welcoming, 100-voice SATB un-auditioned community choir based in Oakville, led by director Brian Turnbull. Our repertoire encompasses contemporary, Broadway, Great American Songbook, gospel, classical and jazz. Last year, we celebrated our 20th anniversary. We love to travel and to reach out to our community. Tempus has sung Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center, performed Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at Carnegie Hall, part of an international choir of auditioned singers.

In 2015, Tempus4Us (our 60-voice children’s choir) and Tempus Jazz Choir were formed, with help from an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant. After a successful 2018 European singing tour, we look forward to another adventure soon. New members are heartily welcomed in September and January; please visit our website.

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SoundCrowd (www.soundcrowd.ca), Toronto’s first large-scale a cappella ensemble, is the brainchild of artistic director Scott Pietrangelo. The group made its concert debut in 2016 alongside former Barenaked Ladies front-man Steven Page at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall. Since then, it has been featured guests on a national TV show (The Social), created viral music videos, appeared together with other notable Toronto-based a cappella groups (Cadence, Countermeasure, Retrocity), sang backup for Jonathan Antoine (Britain's Got Talent), opened for Disney's a cappella sensation DCappella, and performed at Carnegie Hall with choirs from around the world under the direction of Deke Sharon (Pitch Perfect, The Sing Off). SoundCrowd is releasing its debut album, All Voice No Limits on June 13, 2020.