Volume 21 Issue 8 - May 2016
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
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CANARY PAGES<br />
● Penthelia Singers<br />
A vibrant ensemble of women, Penthelia Singers<br />
is committed to excellence in performing culturally<br />
diverse and musically sophisticated repertoire spanning<br />
the renaissance to the <strong>21</strong>st century. Now in its 19th<br />
season, the choir has earned a reputation for presenting<br />
innovative concerts of four- to eight-part choral repertoire<br />
in a multitude of languages. The choir aims to<br />
demonstrate the diversity of choral music and to cross<br />
ethnic and cultural boundaries by connecting with its<br />
community through music. The choir works to promote<br />
contemporary choral music by talented Canadian<br />
composers. Penthelia Singers is a welcoming group of<br />
women committed to high standards of music-making,<br />
diversity, community outreach and enjoyment through<br />
the learning process. The choir adheres to the City of<br />
Toronto Declaration of Non-Discrimination.<br />
ALICE MALACH<br />
647-248-5079<br />
pentheliasingers@gmail.com<br />
www.penthelia.com<br />
● Peterborough Singers<br />
416-256-94<strong>21</strong><br />
stmartin@yorku.ca<br />
www.scholamagdalena.ca<br />
● Serenata Choir<br />
Serenata Choir, directed by conductor Gary Heard<br />
for 17 years, is pleased to be celebrating its 29th<br />
concert season this year. Presenting a broad repertoire<br />
ranging from classical to pop, Serenata’s home<br />
is in Midland, with membership from a number of<br />
Georgian Bay communities. Rehearsals are Monday<br />
evenings at Midland’s Calvary Baptist Church. Auditions<br />
are not required for membership, and the choir is<br />
known for its friendly and welcoming nature. Annual<br />
performances include a Christmas concert, a cabaret<br />
with silent auction and a spring concert in support<br />
of the emergency shelter “The Guesthouse.” The<br />
choir also performs two benefit performances, a full<br />
concert in October and the Nine Lessons & Carols<br />
in December.<br />
SLADJANA GRUNDSTEN<br />
705-516-6800<br />
sladjana@bellnet.ca<br />
www.serenatachoir.ca<br />
PATRICIA SILVER<br />
416-694-6900<br />
patricia_silver@hotmail.com<br />
www.singtoronto.com<br />
● Song Spinners Chorus<br />
Everyone always wants to join the chorus. Our<br />
choir has been active for over 20 years for older<br />
adults in the Milton and surrounding communities.<br />
Our innovative director will lead you through new<br />
musical experiences, while preparing the group to<br />
perform at two annual concerts at the Milton Seniors’<br />
Activity Centre. Rehearsals are scheduled 9:30am<br />
to 11:30am on Wednesdays. Come join the fun and<br />
make memories with us. No auditions. Contact us<br />
for rehearsal and fee information.<br />
MILTON SENIORS’ ACTIVITY CENTRE<br />
905-875-1681<br />
shannon.soule@milton.ca<br />
www.milton.ca/en/townhall/<br />
miltonseniorsactivitycentre.asp<br />
● Spiritus Ensemble<br />
theWholeNote <strong>2016</strong>/17 CANARY PAGES DIRECTORY<br />
The Peterborough Singers, under the energetic and<br />
creative leadership of founder and music director Syd<br />
Birrell, performs a diverse musical repertoire from gospel<br />
to sacred to pop to oratorio. Classical highlights have<br />
included the St. Matthew Passion, Elijah, Carmina<br />
Burana and Bach’s Mass in B Minor. The Peterborough<br />
Singers regularly feature emerging solo artists alongside<br />
well-known international artists and have commissioned<br />
works by Canadian composers Serouj Kradjian,<br />
Mark Sirett, Stephen Chatman and Len Ballantine. This<br />
award-winning group has a reputation for surprising,<br />
delighting and challenging its audiences. Concerts for<br />
the upcoming season include: the ever-popular Yuletide<br />
Cheer; Handel’s Messiah; Celebrate! Canadian Women<br />
in Song; and Mozart Requiem and Arias. Rehearsals<br />
take place Wednesday evenings in Peterborough. Auditions<br />
take place throughout the season.<br />
PEG MCCRACKEN<br />
705-745-1820<br />
singers@peterboroughsingers.com<br />
www.peterboroughsingers.com<br />
● Schola Magdalena<br />
Schola Magdalena is a six-voice ensemble singing<br />
medieval polyphony, chant and new music for<br />
women’s voices. Ensemble-in-residence at the Church<br />
of Saint Mary Magdalene, Toronto, we have recorded<br />
two CDs (available on iTunes) and have toured from<br />
Stratford to Chicoutimi, from Waterloo to Waupoos.<br />
Our past season centred around touring, recording<br />
and holding workshops with amateur singers with<br />
an interest in learning about Gregorian chant and<br />
the music of Hildegard von Bingen. In the coming<br />
year we look forward to a return to Prince Edward<br />
County, and a program pairing medieval music with<br />
Messiaen. For all the details of our activities, please<br />
visit our website or our Facebook page, facebook.<br />
com/scholamagdalena, or check out our Bravo Video<br />
on YouTube.<br />
STEPHANIE MARTIN, artistic director<br />
● Serenata Singers<br />
The Serenata Singers are a lively group of seniors,<br />
about 65 of us, who enjoy singing four-part harmony.<br />
We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary in <strong>2016</strong>, and<br />
will begin the next 40 years in September with<br />
Vincent Cheng as the new director. Serenata’s repertoire<br />
covers a wide range of music including classical,<br />
show tunes, pop, folk, and Canadiana for<br />
Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Rehearsals are<br />
Wednesday mornings from September to <strong>May</strong> at<br />
Wilmar Heights Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough.<br />
Each season crescendos with a pair of concerts<br />
in <strong>May</strong>. The choir welcomes new members in every<br />
vocal range. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/<br />
SerenataSingers76.<br />
LOIS SULLIVAN<br />
416-223-6885<br />
mpmcd@mathville.com<br />
www.serenatasingers.ca<br />
● SING! Toronto Vocal Arts Festival<br />
SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival is Canada’s<br />
premier a cappella festival, celebrating Canadian and<br />
international vocal artists, joined in collaboration to<br />
illustrate that the voice knows no limits or constraints<br />
of genre, language or cultural background. Headliners<br />
have included recording artists Take 6, The<br />
Real Group, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Elmer Iseler<br />
Singers, New York Voices, Rajaton, Nylons, and<br />
Swingle Singers. A registered charity, SING! inspires<br />
and educates students, teachers and professional musicians<br />
through a school workshop day and public<br />
weekend masterclasses. Performance styles include<br />
classical, world, pop, jazz, beatbox, barbershop, folk<br />
and more, featuring professional and community<br />
groups. Free and ticketed events take place throughout<br />
downtown Toronto in the Distillery Historic District<br />
and area theatres annually in late <strong>May</strong>.<br />
Spiritus Ensemble is a semi-professional choralinstrumental<br />
ensemble of 18 voices plus an orchestra<br />
of varying size that performs mainly the liturgical<br />
music of J.S. Bach and other music of the German<br />
Baroque. We perform four or five times a season in<br />
Kitchener-Waterloo, sometimes in concert and sometimes<br />
in a Bach Vespers format. Rehearsals take place<br />
on the two or three Saturday mornings preceding each<br />
performance. Performances are on Sundays at 4pm.<br />
During the <strong>2016</strong>/17 season, Spiritus will perform<br />
Bach’s Mass in B minor, Cantatas 39, 102, and 133,<br />
as well as music by other composers.<br />
KENNETH HULL<br />
519-579-8335<br />
krhull@uwaterloo.ca<br />
www.spiritusensemble.com<br />
● St. James Cathedral Parish Choir<br />
If you enjoy singing a wide range of motets that<br />
span five centuries – from the sublime offerings of<br />
Byrd, Palestrina and Tallis to the composers of today<br />
via Healey Willan, John Rutter, Saint-Saëns, and<br />
Charles Gounod – there is no better remedy for your<br />
craving than the exhilarating membership of a Cathedral<br />
Choir of like-minded volunteers with an appetite<br />
for musical challenges and artistic companionship.<br />
This social group of singers rehearses each Thursday<br />
from 7pm to 8pm, and comprises sopranos, altos,<br />
tenors and basses. Their director of music, Robert<br />
Busiakiewicz, is always willing to welcome enquiries<br />
from those who might like to join the ranks, or those<br />
who simply want to give singing a try in a relaxed<br />
rehearsal setting. The choir sings at the 9am Cathedral<br />
Eucharist each week. We warmly welcome<br />
all genders and ages. The choir has four paid leads.<br />
ROBERT BUSIAKIEWICZ, director of music<br />
dom@stjamescathedral.on.ca<br />
www.stjamescathedral.on.ca<br />
C12
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