Choral Canada Announces Finalists in 2019 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs

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Toronto, ON June 15, 2019​ – A treasured Canadian choral tradition, the celebrated ​National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs ​inspires choirs to strive for excellence, provides visibility for amateur choirs of all types and traditions, and encourages the creation and performance of Canadian works. The Competition, presented by Choral Canada in collaboration with the ​Canada Council for the Arts​, and with support from ​CBC Music​, ​Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario​ and ​UNISONG​ is open to all Canadian amateur choirs and attracts diverse participants from coast to coast.

Please note that finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

The ​2019 Finalists​ are​:

Category 1: Children’s Choirs
Bach Children’s Chorus – Charissa Bagan and Sarah Buisman (Toronto, ON)

Category 2: Upper-Voice Youth Choirs
Cantemus – Valdine Anderson (Winnipeg, MB) Cantilon Chamber Choir – Heather Johnson (Edmonton, AB) Raise Her Voice Chamber Choir – Sarah Morrison and Charlene Pauls (Oakville, ON)

Category 3: Lower-Voice Youth Choirs
Amabile Young Men’s Ensemble – Mr. Jeff Beynon and Mr. Don Sills (London, ON)

Category 4: Mixed-Voice Youth Choirs
Amabile Chamber Choir – Mrs. Brenda Zadorsky, Mr. Jeff Beynon and Mr. Don Sills (London, ON) Edmonton Youth Choir – Dr. John Wiebe (Edmonton, AB) Quintessential Vocal Ensemble – Aquae – Susan Quinn (St. John’s, NL)

Category 5: Collegiate Choirs
Gryphon Singers (University of Guelph) – Marta McCarthy (Guelph, ON) Schulich Singers (McGill University) – Jean-Sébastien Vallée (Montréal, QC) Western University Singers (Western University) – Jennifer Moir and Patrick Murray (London, ON)

Category 6: Mixed-Voice Adult Choirs
Capital Chamber Choir – Jamie Loback (Ottawa, ON) Chœur du Plateau – Roseline Blain (Montréal, QC) Vancouver Cantata Singers – Paula Kremer (Vancouver, BC)

Category 7: Mixed-Voice Adult Chamber Choirs
Ensemble vocal Sainte-Anne Singers – Margo Keenan (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue,QC) Exultate Chamber Singers – Mark Ramsay (Toronto, ON) Prairie Chamber Choir – Melissa Morgan (Regina, SK)

Category 8: Equal-Voice Men’s Choirs
Ensemble Phœbus – Roseline Blain (Montréal, QC) Newman Sound Men’s Choir – Jennifer Hart (St. John’s, NL)

Category 9: Equal-Voice Women’s Choirs
Chœur Adleisia – Amelia McMahon and Virginie Pacheco (Montréal, QC) Ensemble Gaïa – Roseline Blain (Montréal, QC) Ventus Women’s Choir – Regan Brooks (Lethbridge, AB)

Category 10: Pan-Cultural / Traditional Folk Music
Chœur Baobab – Claude-Marie Landré (Montréal, QC) Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir – Dr. Melanie Turgeon (Edmonton, AB)

Category 11: Contemporary Music
Eastern Horizon Chamber Choir – Jack Bennet & Christina Murray (Halifax, NS) Edmonton Youth Choir – Dr. John Wiebe (Edmonton, AB)) Vancouver Cantata Singers – Paula Kremer (Vancouver, BC)

Winners will be announced on-air on CBC Music’s ​Choral Concert ​ with host Katherine Duncan on ​Sunday, June 30​th​.​ Cash prizes will be awarded for the top performances in each category, as well as a $1000 prize for the choir with the Best Performance of a Canadian Work, and $500 for the choir with the Best Performance of a French Canadian Work (Centre d’excellence artistique de l’Ontario Prize). Listeners will have to wait to find out the winner of the prestigious $5000 ​Canada Council for the Arts Healey-Willan Prize ​ which will be announced and ​presented live in our nation’s capital on the UNISONG Festival’s stage on ​Canada Day​. Representatives from Choral Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts will present the award.

Each choir has created a SoundCloud page, where audiences can listen to performances by and engage with the participating choirs. Links to the finalists’ SoundCloud pages will be available on the Choral Canada website.​ ​For links, please visit http://www.choralcanada.org/national-competition-for-canadian-amateur-choirs.html Outstanding performances from select participants will be featured on CBC Music’s ​Choral Concert ​ in the coming weeks. The ​National Competition of Canadian Amateur Choirs ​ is a signature program of Choral Canada, Canada’s national arts service organization for choirs and the choral community. For more information please visit ​www.choralcanada.org​.

ABOUT

Choral Canada Choral Canada is the national voice of the Canadian choral community, representing and uniting a network of conductors, educators, accompanists, composers, students, administrators, choral industry leaders, and more than 42,000 member choral singers from coast to coast to coast. Choral Canada promotes, celebrates and advocates for Canadian choral music and musicians nationally and internationally. Choral Canada encourages excellence in the choral art through our programs, including the National Youth Choir of Canada (NYC) the NYC Conducting Apprenticeship, Podium (Canada’s national choral conference and festival), the National Competition for Choral Writing, the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs, our Student Chapter, and our academic choral journal Anacrusis (published three times a year). In 2017, Choral Canada produced with Hills Strategies Inc. the first ever national choral census which found that 3.5 million Canadians sing in a choir. By connecting choral communities with information, resources for professional development, and advocacy tools, Choral Canada inspires greater awareness of choral singing across the nation and beyond.
Mission Statement​: Choral Canada exists to celebrate and champion choral music for all Canadians.
Advocacy Statement​: Choral singing, an integral part of the Canadian cultural experience, has the power to build communities and transform lives.

The aims of Choral Canada​ are: – To support and encourage participation and excellence in choral music at all levels by offering training, resources, and forums for the exchange of information – Foster the creation and performance of Canadian choral music – Partner with like-minded organizations to create a higher profile for choral music at the provincial, national, and international levels – Help make choral singing available and accessible to all Canadians

Through its programs and services, Choral Canada is a communication, professional development and advocacy forum for choral communities across the country. Choral Canada is the liaison between the Canadian choral community, other national organizations and a vast international choral network and is the entry point for information about international choral events, festivals and educational opportunities.

CHORAL CANADA THANKS ITS ADDITIONAL SUPPORTERS OF THIS PROGRAM

 


For more information please contact:
Choral Canada [email protected] 647-606-2467

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

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