By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog • Singers Wanted 0 Comments

The National Youth Choir of Canada (NYCC) Auditions – NOW OPEN

The National Youth Choir of Canada (NYCC) auditions are NOW OPEN! Are you a young singer or know someone aged 19-26 who might be interested in this life-changing choral experience? Visit www.nycc.ca/auditions for all the details and to meet the amazing Artistic Team for 2022, led by Jean-Sébastien Vallée. Deadline to audition is Oct 15, 2021. #NYCC2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog • Singers Wanted • Uncategorised 0 Comments

Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus – Open Rehearsal – Come and Join us!

Do you sing in the shower, car, every chance you get?  Why not check us out?  The Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus offers an opportunity to sing as part of a welcoming community of queer folks, singing TTBB (lower voice) music.  An open rehearsal will take place at St. Andrew’s United Church, corner of Robie and Coburg Road, on Thursday, September 23, beginning at 7 PM.  Doors open at 6:30.  For more information visit our website www.hgmc.ca and to preregister contact Dan at membership@hgmc.ca

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Singers Wanted 0 Comments

Jubilate Singers Wanted

Opportunity for Singers:  The Jubilate Singers, a community choir based in the north end of Halifax is in search of three second sopranos and three tenors to give us a balanced choir this season.   Each fall, this choir, conducted by Terry Hurrell, puts on a pre Christmas Concert which raises funds for providing meals for needy north- end families. There will be nine Saturday morning rehearsals, beginning October 16th, held at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Russell and Gottingen from 10 am till noon, culminating in an evening concert on Sunday, December 12th.  Safe distancing and mask wearing will apply. If you are interested and would like to join this choir, please contact Terry Hurrell for a simple audition at 902-457-0920 or email tshurrell@hfx.eastlink.ca

Thanks, Terry

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Singers Wanted 0 Comments

Among The Branches: A Special Project with the Nova Scotia Youth Choir

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NSYC is re-imagining our program for this year. Partnering with Mi’kmaw filmmaker Shelley MacDonald, Mi’kmaw elder Dorene Bernard and Settler conductor Christina Murray, choristers will participate in an Indigenous-led creation process. Instead of our usual concert tour, the NSYC will create an ~25-minute film that combines choral music, poetry, and movement that explores themes of isolation, togetherness, and environmental stewardship.

Important Dates: 

  • Camp Rehearsal Weekend – August 19 – 22 – United Church Campground, Berwick
  • Audio Recording Weekend – August 27 – 29 – First Baptist Church, Halifax
  • Film Shoot Weekend- September 17 – 19 –  United Church Campground, Berwick

We are excited to invite both alumni and choristers that are new to the choir to participate. As this is a special project for the NSYC, we will be accepting choristers aged 16-35. There are limited spots so you’ll want to register as soon as possible!

Registration closes on August 13th.

To register, complete the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/qZskgD5fcg9f8X5q7

For more information, visit the program webpage: https://nscf.ca/nova-scotia-youth-choir-2021/

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Without their support, this project would not be possible! #BringingTheArtsToLife

Please help us spread the word about this timely and exciting project! If you have any questions, please direct them to our Program Coordinator at ryan@nscf.ca!

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page 0 Comments

The Aeolian Singers: Let’s Join Voices!

This is the year to join voices!

Choral music has the power to uplift the spirits of an audience, as well as our own. We are an inclusive and supportive community of singers with a passion for music, and are looking to welcome new members.

If you are interested in singing with us, please take some time to learn more about the choir.

Auditions taking place Aug. 15th-17th, 30th, & 31st. 

For more information, click here. 

Schedule Your Audition Online!

 

 

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Job Postings 0 Comments

Vocalypse Productions: Audition Call for Upper-Voiced Singers

Ordo Virtutum (shorter Scivias version) by medieval German composer Hildegard von Bingen (staged version)
O Greenest Branch (world premiere) by Canadian composer James Rolfe (concert version)
Set up your audition NOW by emailing:
vocalypse@janicejackson.ca
Read more about Vocalypse here: www.vocalypse.ca

Timeline:
End of August and throughout September – 2 to 3 musical rehearsals weekly
Late September into October – musical and blocking rehearsals
21, 22, 23, 24 October, 2021 – 4 performances at Saint Patrick’s Church, Halifax
Number of singers: 8 women (sopranos and mezzos: both plain chant and 2 part choral singing)
Experience required:
Choral experience
Sight reading ability
Experience singing plain chant (without vibrato)
Some theatre experience (the Bingen will be staged)
Audition date: August 11th between 2 and 5pm
Audition requirements:
You will be required to sing an excerpt of the Bingen and the Rolfe and an organum excerpt, which you will receive in advance.
About the show:
Ordo Virtutum (Order of the Virtues) is an morality play, or sacred music drama, by St. Hildegard von Bingen, composed c. 1151. It is the earliest morality play by more than a century and some would call it the first opera. It is the only Medieval musical drama to survive with an attribution for both the text and the music. A shorter version (which we will perform here) of Ordo Virtutum appears at the end of Scivias, Hildegard’s most famous account of her visions. It is also included in some manuscripts of the Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum (“Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations”). It may have been performed by the convent nuns at the dedication of the St. Rupertsberg church in 1152.
O Greenest Branch is a new work for soprano, female chorus, congas, and organ. In the words of composer James Rolfe: “The beauty and devotion of Hildegard’s music are still fresh today; yet, at the same time and in the same place it was created, mobs were murdering Jews in the name of Christianity. To try to reconcile the jarring dissonance between these stories, I have set to music two mediaeval Hebrew poems-which mourn the Jewish victims of Crusader massacres which occurred during Hildegard’s lifetime–alongside three texts of Hildegard and a 20th-century lament by Chaim Nachman Bialik. This work opened a door for me to deal creatively with my family history: I am descended from Rhineland Jews who survived centuries of exile and violence, from the First Crusade in 1096 through to the Holocaust. We all live in the shadow of genocide, whether it took place in Canada or elsewhere; I hope that what is personal for me will also connect to listeners.”
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page 0 Comments

Choral Canada: We CAN Sing Safely Webinar

A message from Choral Canada:

We Can Sing Safely!

What you need to know about ventilation and vaccines.

Join Choral Canada on Tuesday June 29 at 1:00 pm Atlantic for a webinar discussing updates on the latest research for safe group singing, the use of ventilation in your rehearsal space, and the current legalities around vaccinations for choirs and singing groups. Our presenters include Dr. Juliette O’Keeffe, Environmental Health Scientist at the NCCEH, Allison Tremblay, Human Rights Lawyer at Victory Square Law Office, and leaders in our choral community. Register today for this free webinar and submit your questions ahead of time. If time permits, there will be a Q&A period. The webinar will be recorded and is available to the public for free. Capacity is at 500 on a first come, first served basis.

Click Here to Register
By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page 0 Comments

Halifax Camerata Singers: Take This Thread

This Spring, the Halifax Camerata Singers participated in a cross Canada collaboration with four other choirs. These five Canadian choirs came together to premiere a new work by Katerina Gimon, with words by Lauren Peat, about the connections that hold us together during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take This Thread/Le fil que je suis brings together musicians from:

Grand Philharmonic Choir, Kitchener, Ontario (Mark Vuorinen, Artistic Director)
Halifax Camerata Singers, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Jeff Joudrey, Artistic Director)
Richard Eaton Singers, Edmonton, Alberta (Leonard Ratzlaff, Artistic Director)
Société chorale de Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lambert, Quebec (Xavier Brossard-Ménard, Artistic Director)
Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Jeff Joudrey, conductor)