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LET THEM SING!

Singing is a vital component of elementary school music education. In Canada three times more children under the age of 18 sing in a choir than play hockey. Singing and choir are barrier free activities and how important it is, therefore, to have such experiences available to students

A sincere thank you to this group of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia students, who collaboratively wrote and performed “Without Our Voices” to share how they feel about singing being prohibited in schools throughout the fall of 2020. Expressing themselves creatively, they truly show us that, “where words fail, music speaks”. Annika Murray Cameron Boulter Campbell Hayman Caroline Boulter (violin) Justin Skinner (piano) Kara Taylor William Austin #ChoirIsOurSport #LetThemSing Singing in schools continues to be prohibited in Nova Scotia schools as of December 3, 2020. 
We continue to seek clarity and consistency in Nova Scotia policies around singing.
Knowing that choral singing is a vital part of Nova Scotia communities, the Nova Scotia Choral Federation has been advocating for safe choral singing in community, faith and school settings.
Watch our full presentation to Dr. Strang here:

Meeting with Dr. Strang
Nova Scotia Guidelines

Please share!

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CHOIR IS OUR SPORT

Knowing that choral singing is a vital part of Nova Scotia communities, the Nova Scotia Choral Federation has been advocating for safe choral singing in community, faith and school settings.

Currently there is no singing allowed in schools even as sports activities are not only permitted, they take place without social distancing and mask free. Singing and choir are barrier free activities and how important it is, therefore, to have such experiences available to students

We continue to seek clarity and consistency in Nova Scotia policies around singing.

Watch our full presentation to Dr. Strang here: https://youtu.be/hRoBOd0-uCQ

View our guidelines for community choral singing here: https://nscf.ca/covid-19-guidelines-resources/

Please share!

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Choral Canada: National Arts and Culture Impact Survey (Complete by November 23rd!)

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.
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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. 

Click Here to Complete the Survey!
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Join the HGMC for their Holiday Concert: Don We Now Our Gay Apparel – Home For The Holidays

Join the Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus for this years virtual holiday concert Home For The Holidays!
The holiday season has always been a time for friends and family to join together and give thanks for each other and all that has been achieved in the past year. Though this year has been one of countless challenges we hope that through our music we can help to spread holiday cheer and remind us all of the many things we have to be thankful for and to provide hope for a better tomorrow.
The HGMC will be presenting new pieces, filmed and recorded socially distant as well as including numbers from last years holiday show.
So we encourage you to bake some Christmas cookies, hang the stockings and trim the tree and join us for the digital premier of Home For The Holidays on Thursday, December 17th at 8pm.
Don’t forget to follow HGMC on their social media platforms for further details on how to join on December 23rd.
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Missing the Messiah? Check Out Against the Grain Theatre’s Messiah/Complex until January 7th!

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. 

 

Register Now!
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Join the Aeolian Singers for VERITAS II with composer Marie-Claire Saindon

The Aeolian Singers are celebrating their 45th season doing what they love most: championing the voices of Canadian women in music. After a successful first concert with local composer and conductor Fran Farrell, the choir is excited to invite you to the second concert of their  VERITAS program. This concert will feature the world premiere of “Flat Earth”  by Marie-Claire Saindon.  To make this event even more special, Marie-Claire will be discussing the French-Canadian choral canon from traditional folk songs to the contemporary. In addition to each world premiere, the choir will also perform past program favourites and festive seasonal selections.
The concert is planned to have both in-person and virtual options for attendance. Full event details and ticket information:
www.aeoliansingers.ca/veritas

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!

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The Aeolian Singers present VERITAS

VERITAS
Three top Canadian composers.
Three brilliant new compositions.

Performances can be attended in person at St. Andrew’s United Church in Halifax, or live streamed.

The Aeolian Singers are celebrating our 45th season doing what we love most: championing the voices of Canadian women in music. Our ambitious VERITAS program will be split across three different concerts held on November 14, 29, and December 13. Each concert will feature a unique world premiere by one of three Canadian female composers commissioned by the choir. To make this event even more special, every performance will also include a collaborative demonstration led by its corresponding composer, giving audience members the chance to develop a deeper connection to this creative choral experience. In addition to each world premiere, the choir will also perform past program favourites and festive seasonal selections.

Our composers will also be hosting a virtual composer workshop for arts community professionals, emerging composers and interested students on November 15.

Why ‘VERITAS’?

Latin for “truth”, VERITAS embodies just how widely the truth is open to interpretation. Through their commissions, our composers have explored the theme of truth and allowed it to lead them down wildly different creative paths: Frances Farrell draws inspiration from the rose as a symbol of truth, something that can be stripped away petal by petal, then flourish in the most unexpected places. Marie‑Claire Saindon examines truth in the era of fake news, anti-vaxxers, deep-fake technology, and you-know-who. Carmen Braden challenges us to experience truth through the eyes of a child, with ever-evolving memories and impressions.

Join us as we embark on this opportunity to seek truth and share wisdom through spectacular shared choral experiences.

VERITAS Events

Veritas I: with composer Frances Farrell
Saturday, November 14 | 7:00 pm – 8:45 pm

Composer Workshop with composers Frances Farrell, Marie‑Claire Saindon and Carmen Braden
Sunday, November 15 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Veritas II: with composer Marie-Claire Saindon
Sunday, November 29 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Veritas III: with composer Carmen Braden
Sunday, December 13 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

BUY TICKETS

Purchase via PayPal below, or send e-transfers to treasurer@aeoliansingers.ca (please note performance date and type, e.g. “Nov 14 in-person”, in your e-transfer memo).

For more information, check out the Aeolian Singers’ Website: http://aeoliansingers.ca
Or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheAeolianSingers/

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A Farewell for Maureen MacLean from Middleton Choral Society

On the evening of July 8, members of the Middleton Choral Society gathered at a private home for a reception to honour their retiring director Maureen MacLean. Maureen, who began as the community choir’s accompanist, has been director for 43 years. A musical icon in Middleton, she was a successful elementary Music teacher there; until this year she also served as president of the Annapolis Valley Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO). She is a valued piano teacher still, as well as organist at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Bridgetown.

The choir presents two formal concerts each year, a seasonal one at Christmas and one in the spring. As well, an informal program has been presented at Mountain Lea Lodge each December. The choir’s dedicated membership is, on average, 35 unauditioned singers, with excellent distribution in all four vocal parts. Maureen’s devotion to the NSCF Choir Camp in Berwick each summer is legendary, having attended the earliest one. Each year Maureen makes sure that MCS grants a Choir Camp scholarship to a young person in the community. As well, Maureen has supported the High C’s Choral Festival held in the Digby area each May. MCS has done choir exchanges with other community choirs; the choir has also performed in Broadway musicals in co-operation with the Greenwood Players.

Maureen gets her repertoire ideas from various sources. As a member of NSCF, she uses its extensive choral library. At conferences and choir camps she exchanges notes with fellow musicians. In preparing programs, she goes through MCS’s own library, borrows from the NSCF library, and purchases a few new pieces each year. She is careful to choose a varied program: Canadian compositions, sacred and secular selections, jazz and gospel arrangements, folk songs, and show tunes are all considered. At the top of any playlist would be compositions by our own Nova Scotia composers.

Recognizing that singing is a physical endeavour, Maureen uses the first 20 minutes of rehearsals for vocal warm-ups. Borrowing freely from musical friends, she constantly varies the exercises and drills. Choristers gain an appreciation of their own voices, as well as working within a group of fellow singers. On occasion, she has brought in an expert musician to conduct a workshop: a frequent visitor has been composer Gary Ewer. In 2005, MCS commissioned Gary to write “Nova Scotia Is Our Home” to celebrate the 400 th anniversary of the Port Royal settlement. At this time, Stephen McNeil, MLA for Annapolis, moved a resolution in the House of Assembly: “Therefore be it resolved that all members of the House extend congratulations to the Middleton Choral Society and, in particular, director Maureen MacLean, for all their hard work and effort on launching the premiere performance of “Nova Scotia is Our Home.”

The final performance of MCS with Maureen at the helm occurred on Sunday November 17 before a packed house in Evergreen Theatre in Margaretsville. A distinct feature which has become a trademark of MCS’s concerts is the participation in the program of individual choir members as vocalists or instrumentalists in support of the regular choral works. Following the concert, choir members enjoyed a pot luck at Margaretsville United Church. Once COVID-19 has run its course, news of a new director and renewed energy for Middleton Choral Society will be forthcoming. Stay tuned!
John A.Montgomerie, September 2020

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Celandine: An Exercise in Social Dreaming – Polaris Choirs for Change

Celandine: An Exercise in Social Dreaming

Performed by Polaris (Choirs for Change) Music by Ryan Henwood Text by Claire Bennet Video by Tim Mombourquette

Celandine, meaning “joys to come” in the language of flowers, explores the transition from a busy life led by superficial desires (the Past) to a sudden absence of these structures in a time of isolation and questioning (the Present). The third section (the Future) represents a call to reconnect with nature, guided by a sense of community and transience. We have been sending polluted noise out into the world for so long, it is now time to pause, listen, and react to the music the environment is trying to relay to us, and imagine a joyful, hopeful future. This piece was created for Nocturne: Art at Night 2020 with funding received through the Province of Nova Scotia’s Cultural and Youth Activities grant program.