Unison has applied for and received funding from the LGBT Purge Fund to commission three new choral works (SSAA, SATB and TTBB) to be premiered at the 2022 Unison Festival in Halifax/K’jipuktuk. People from all across Canada were deeply affected by the LGBT Purge. The Halifax/K’jipuktuk region has particularly deep ties to the LGBT Purge due to the concentration of Armed Forces in the region.

This commission project provides a unique opportunity to create something very special for the 2022 Unison Festival, while shining a spotlight on the LGBT Purge and its impact on Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and offering comfort to victims of the LGBT Purge. The new pieces will be performed on the final day of the festival by the three festival mass choruses.

Deadline: March 15, 2021

For more details, click here. 

About Unison:
Unison operates as a national hub for Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ choirs and facilitates connections between choirs across the country. These choirs provide a valuable safe space within their own community for 2SLGBTQIA+ singers and allies, and also act as advocates and ambassadors for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, raising awareness of 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in the broader community and championing acceptance, diversity and inclusion.

Christmas at Home
with the Jubilate Singers and Friends

December 13th @7:00 p.m.

A virtual concert to raise funds for food boxes for families in need at Christmas. Due to the new limitations on gatherings, the full Jubilate Singers choir is not able to participate, but we still have a wonderful show planned!

Featuring

• Ardyth & Jenifer, with Pam Mason and Clara Whitman
• Holly Arseneault (jazz piano)
• A Quartet from the Jubilate Singers, under the direction of Terry Hurrell with piano and organ accompaniment by Rob Paddock.
• Storytellers: Sonya Beeler, Jamie Bradley and Gillian Fowler.

For updates and to receive the link to the virtual concert:

• Like our Facebook page (Jubilate Singers & Friends https://www.facebook.com/Jubilate-Singers-Friends-115401170368076)
• or email jubilatesingers2020@gmail

If you wish to donate in advance, you may do so

• by e-transfer: jubilatesingers2020@gmail.com;  include your name and address for tax receipt in the details.
• by credit card or Pay Pal through Canada Helps  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/56280.
• by cheque:  to St. Mark’s Food Box Committee and mailed to or dropped off at St. Mark’s Church, 5522 Russell Street, Halifax N.S. B3K 1X2

Any support, small or large, is gratefully accepted! Tax receipts are issued for donations of $15 or more.

Even if you weren’t able to join us for the premiere of the NSYC video, you can still view the video on Facebook or YouTube!  At a time where making choral music has been difficult, we hope that this celebration will remind us all of the richness of the choral community here in Nova Scotia. It has been so lovely to receive feedback from members of the Nova Scotian choral  community  that this video felt authentically “Nova Scotian” and truly captured the vibrancy of our provincial choral community.  We hope you enjoy!

At this time, the NSCF asks that you consider making a donation to our NSYC Anniversary fund to help cover some of the lost revenue that the NSCF incurred as a result of the pandemic. To make a donation through our Canada helps, follow this link: https://nscf.ca/support/donate/

Or, consider making a donation to our Facebook Fundraiser, by following this link:  https://www.facebook.com/donate/379983503297651/

With the 2020-21 season underway, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an outsized effect on the arts and culture sector in Canada. Choral Canada has joined forces with 30+ national and provincial arts service organizations representing a range of artistic disciplines across the country to co-commission the National Arts and Culture Impact Survey (NACIS). This survey is intended for professional arts organizations, artists, and arts workers across Canada.
​
To ensure that the professional segment of our Canadian choral arts sector is heard, we invite professional choral artists/individuals, as well as professional choral organizations, to fill out this survey. These professional artists/individuals include singers, conductors, artistic directors, composers, arrangers, administrators/managers/arts workers, and accompanists/collaborative pianists — anyone receiving fees or salaries for their work in the choral arts sector (non-education).

All professional arts organizations, artists, and arts workers across Canada are encouraged to participate in the survey by Monday, November 23, 2020. The survey will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. The more responses we receive, the better the data will be.

To read more about the National Arts and Culture Impact Survey, click here. 

Register today to watch Against the Grain Theatre’s interpretation of Handel’s Messiah.  This “complex” interpretation of Messiah includes 6 languages, 12 soloists, 4 choirs, and is lifted by the mighty sounds of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and has been made possible in this socially-distanced era with hi- and low-tech solutions, and some superb audio and video editors.  A reimagining of the Messiah, AtGT’s Messiah/Complex celebrates the diversity of Canada by uplifting the voices of 12 POC soloists as they connect their lived experience to the stories found in each aria.  Those of us in Nova Scotia will be happy to see local choir, The Halifax Camerata Singers, singing the closing choruses, “Worthy is the Lamb” and the thrilling “Amen”.

For more information on this exciting project, visit Against the Grain Theatre’s webpage by clicking here. 

Composer: Marie-Claire Saindon
World Premiere: Flat Earth
Choral Demonstration: “Beyond the French-Canadian Canon: Tradition and Innovation”
When we say “French-Canadian choral piece”, what first comes to mind? If you thought of traditional loggers/fishermen songs or Christmas carols, you’re not the only one. But did you know that there is also a strong practice of modern French-Canadian choral music? Come explore what are some of those sonorities!