Seton Cantata Choir, under the direction of Garth MacPhee with accompanist Dean Bradshaw, is very  pleased to announce that on Saturday March 27th, 2021 at 3:00 pm ADT we launched our first virtual  concert on YouTube. This COVID-19  pandemic has created some unique challenges for performers, but it has also led to our taking greater  advantage of technology in order to promote and share our music. The link can be found on  the landing page of our website: 

https://setoncantatachoir.com/

For the past several months the choir has been hard at work in our temporary rehearsal space at St.  George’s Round Church in Halifax. This lovely church has allowed us to sing together and record while  maintaining the appropriate social distancing and masking requirements as set out by Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Strang.  

We are offering a short repertoire that is both inspiring and pleasing to the ear. All are songs of  hope, strength, resilience, and the power of love as a force to unite. A few of these selections will be  familiar to Seton audiences as we have performed them in past concerts.  

Previous to March 2020, we have always been able to perform with the exhilarating presence of a live audience. We invite you to imagine that this is a live performance and ask that you might consider  donating the cost of a ticket. Your donations will sustain us! Please visit our website for further concert  information and for ways to donate. Feel free to share this announcement with your friends and family.

“It is now undeniable that there will be a ‘new normal’ in the post-pandemic choral world. For many, the pre-Covid choral tradition was familiar, comfortable and secure, but, as time may show, it may have been limited in its vision and purpose. The pandemic has provided us an interlude with extraordinary possibilities if we are willing to embrace change and find new ways of and reasons for singing together. This article will highlight several innovations and experiments undertaken by Canadian choirs and composers as, together, they have engaged in creative and imaginative projects which never would have been thought up without Covid-19.”

Ki Adams, IFCM Vice-President

The Nova Scotia Choral Federation would like to extend thanks to Ki Adams, IFCM Vice-President, for his wonderful article highlighting the resiliency of the choral community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably, the article highlights the work of local choir, The Aeolian Singers, led by Heather Fraser for their Veritas project. Veritas also featured local conductor and composer, Fran Farrell. In addition, the NSCF Program Coordinator, Ryan Henwood, was also featured for his involvement with The Sonic Timelapse Project. It is so wonderful to see our provincial choral musicians featured on an international scale!

To read the full article, click here. 

The Nova Scotia Choral Federation will be hosting a discussion on updates to the COVID-19 guidelines on Saturday, February 13, at 1:00 pm. Choral Leaders present and discuss the most recent NSCF guidelines for in-person group singing.

Please register by Friday February 12 as the link will be sent out on Saturday morning. The guidelines, which were developed by the Nova Scotia Choral Federation and reviewed by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, can be found by clicking here.

To register for the virtual meeting, click here.

The Grand Philharmonic Choir Choral Works Competition welcomes new, unpublished and unperformed works by Canadian composers 30 years of age or under.

The GPC Choral Works Competition is for composers, to encourage the creation of new music for symphonic chorus, mixed chamber choir, children’s choirs and youth choirs on an annual rotating basis. The annual program is in its fourth year, and this year the winning work will be for youth choir.

A jury of professional musicians, including Artistic Director Mark Vuorinen, will review the applications.

The winning composer receives a prize of $1500 and a Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir ensemble will perform the piece in November 2021.

The guidelines of the competition change each year depending on which ensemble of the Grand Philharmonic Choir organization is the focus of the competition. Works must be unpublished and unperformed at the time of the competition and must follow the criteria of the competition with respect to length, instrumentation, text, etc. Securing the permission to use texts currently under copyright is the responsibility of the composer (proof of permission will be a requirement of the winning entrant).

The deadline for entry is April 1, 2021.

For more details, click here.

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/