Come one Come all
There will be an open rehearsal for Junior and Youth Choir Camp on Wednesday, August 14th, from approximately 9am to 2:30pm, at the main pavilion in the Berwick United Church Grounds, Berwick. Come and check out the amazing progress of our young choristers, under the leadership and musical direction of Krista Vincent and John Wiebe.
It’s Membership Renewal time!
You may have already received an email from us letting you know that your NSCF membership is set to expire August 31, 2019. Your NSCF Membership gives you access to our newsletter, member blog, and extensive choral library, and is a vital part of ensuring our programs and activities can continue to thrive and grow.
Please renew in one of the following ways:
Online via Paypal: https://nscf.ca/membership/join-the-nscf/
Phoning the office: 902-423-4688 and paying via VISA Mastercard (*Please note out office closure: August 12-16, CLOSED for choir camp, August 18-23, limited hours).
Stopping by the Office at 1113 Marginal Road (*Please note out office closure: August 12-16, CLOSED for choir camp, August 18-23, limited hours. Call ahead to ensure we are home!).
Stopping by the Office at 1113 Marginal Road
Mailing a cheque to 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS, B3H 4P7
Important: If your contact information has changed in the last year (such as: You have a new choir director), please be sure to fill out our Membership Form: https://nscf.ca/membership/join-the-nscf/
This ensures that all of our information for you is up to date.
Greetings from beautiful Berwick United Church campgrounds!
Sing Summer camps are now officially underway.
As a result, our office will be closed and/or open for limited hours for the next two weeks.
August 12-16, 2019: Office Closed
August 18-23, 2019: Limited Hours, closed Monday, August 18, Open Tues-Weds Aug 19-23, from 9-12pm, and Friday August 23, 1-4pm.
We will be checking email periodically from camp. Please contact Ryan Henwood at programs@nscf.ca for any urgent camp questions, or Katharine (Administrator) at katharine@nscf.ca for camp cancellations and payments-related inquiries.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 6:30 pm(To include dinner (6:00 PM) please RSVP nscfadmin@nscf.ns.ca or 902 423-4688)
Each year the Nominating Committee selects a slate of nominees for their individual skills, expertise and their willingness to devote the time required for committee work and Federation business. The committee also strives for the widest possible provincial representation. With these guidelines in mind, we present the following slate of nominees for the two-year term of 2019/20 to 2020/21 at the Nova Scotia Choral Federation’s Annual General Meeting, August 20, 2019, in the dining hall at the Berwick United Church Camp, 115 Commercial Street, Berwick.
If you are interested in nominating someone to our Board of Directors the deadline for nominations is August 6, 2019. The procedure is as follows:
Members will submit motions of nominations any time up to 14 days prior to the Annual General Meeting. Motions must be made in writing, signed by the mover and the seconder, and delivered to the Federation office. The nominee must deliver signed acceptance by the deadline and provide biographical information suitable for reproduction or distribution to Annual General Meeting delegates.
Please review the following biographies of our current nominees for the 2019/20 – 2020/21 term.
Tom Black is a founding member of Nova Voce, performing in the Bass 2 section. He has served on their board, including terms as chair and treasurer.
From a background in classical piano, his interests have spread to playing guitar both for personal enjoyment and as a rock musician, amateur theatre with Showcase Productions Society performing in a number of their productions and singing in several vocal ensembles.
Tom was organist and choir director at Trinity United Church in Oxford for 8 years and directed an Oxford community choir. He also enjoys dabbling in composing and arranging.
Graham has been a choir member for most of his life including school choirs and the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir and he has attended NSCF Sing Summer programs. and was a member of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir. Graham has also worked at Youth Choir Camp as a chaperone.
He sang with Vox: A choir for Social Change until it disbanded in the spring of 2017. Graham is currently both a singer and a board member of Nova Voce and the new Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus
Christopher Bowman (M. Mus Memorial University, B. Mus Mount Allison University) enjoys making music in many forms – as a conductor, solo and choral singer, and educator. He is full-time Minister of Music at First United Church in Truro, Nova Scotia, and Artistic Director of the Cantabile Society, where he conducts the Cantabile Singers and co-conducts the Cantabile Boys’ Choir. Bowman also sings with the acclaimed Canadian Chamber Choir, and is an instructor of piano and voice. Chris is active as a baritone soloist; his debut CD “Over Hill and Valley” with pianist David Chafe won Music NS and Music NL awards, and was nominated for an East Coast Music Award.
Chris is sought after as an adjudicator, workshop clinician and lecturer, and has taught in university music departments across Atlantic Canada as a sessional instructor. Chris, his wife Laura, and daughters Erica and Meredith live in Valley, NS.
Wendy LaPierre lives in the Annapolis Valley. She studied voice at Acadia University and has a Music Education degree. When her kids were young, Wendy performed with the Valley based group DonnaWendyAndy and was the music director at Kings County Christian School, as well substituting as music teacher at Annapolis Valley Regional School Board. Now that she has 5 grandchildren, she’s very busy grand-parenting and helping her daughter run Cotton Tale Cafe + Play in New Minas. One of Wendy’s biggest joys is directing the North Mountain Community Chorus and being involved in various musical and theatrical projects around the Valley.
An enthusiastic supporter of Cape Breton’s Gaelic music and culture, Danielle can be found at the square dances and live Celtic music events on the Island. Danielle is a music educator with the CBVRSB. She sang with the Cape Breton Youth Choir and continued on with the Cape Breton Chorale. Danielle received a B. Mus. from Mount Allison University, and after a year of teaching in Korea she went to Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland for her B. Mus. Ed. When not dancing, Danielle can be found volunteering for Celtic Colours International Festival and other music events on the Island.
Singing has always been a part Greg’s life. In his younger years, he was in the school choir and took part in many school musical productions with the most memorable being Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. During high school he was part of the school band where he played the trombone. He has been singing with the City of Lakes Barbershop Chorus for the past 19 years and with Nova Voce for the past 7 years. He has also participated in the Tattoo Choir since 2008 and Jubilate for the past 5 years. Currently, he is singing in the Male Chorus in the production of The Magic Flute as part of the Halifax Summer Opera Festival. Greg is treasurer on the board of directors of Nova Voce he is looking forward to serving on the Board of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation.
Over the past four decades in Nova Scotia, Norm has sung with numerous choirs and participated in several special productions including three Symphony Nova Scotia performances of “Beethoven’s 9th” and a special performance of Handel’s “The Lord Nelson’s Mass” under Kathryn Laurin. For many years, he was a member with the Elastic Millennium Choir which had released at least half a dozen CDs of music of an historical interest. He has attended international choral festivals in Canada and Europe and has sung under several renowned conductors. Norm is a charter member of Nova Voce, and has been singing with Seton Cantata Choir for more than 30 years. He has served on the Board of both choirs.
Returning board members who are completing the second year of their term are Spencer Gough, Barb Kaill, Paula Phillips, Jennifer Garvey, Patricia Betts. Thus, if ratified, the 2019/20 NSCF Board will consist of 12 members.
Leaving the board are Bryan Crocker, Christine Dewing and Zoe Legere. We would like to thank them for their service to NSCF.
Election of Officers
Each year the Nominating Committee selects a slate of nominees for their individual skills, expertise and their
willingness to devote the time required for committee work and Federation business. The committee also strives for
the widest possible provincial representation. With these guidelines in mind, we will present a slate of
nominees for the two-year term of 2019 to 2020 at the Nova Scotia Choral Federation’s Annual General Meeting. If
you are interested in nominating someone to our Board of Directors the deadline for nominations is August 6, 2019.
The procedure is as follows:
Members will submit motions of nominations any time up to 14 days prior to the Annual General Meeting. Motions
must be made in writing, signed by the mover and the seconder, and delivered to the Federation office. The nominee
must deliver signed acceptance by the deadline and provide biographical information suitable for reproduction or
distribution to Annual General Meeting delegates.
The Halifax Summer Opera Festival seeks male singers for their summer production of Tales of Hoffman, which runs August 3rd to August 10, 2019.
If interested, please contact Nina Scott-Stoddart at nina@halifaxsummeroperafestival.com.
The Nova Scotia Choral Federation is gearing up for their Sing Summer Camps and still seeking candidates for the following positions:
Working at camp is a great opportunity to connect with the choral community and build your resume!
Junior Choir Camp and Youth Choir Camp run concurrently from August 11th-17th and Adult Choir Camp runs the following week from August 19th-24th.
If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact the Program Coordinator, Ryan Henwood, at programs@nscf.ca.
Congratulations to Nova Scotia’s own Eastern Horizon Chamber Choir, who have been named a WINNER in the Choral Canada’s National Competition for Amateur Choirs. Listen to the finalist works, written by Ryan Henwood (our very talented Programs Assistant!) and by C. Shaw below:
You can read about the Competition and the other finalists on the Choral Canada Website:
The Canadian Military Wives Choirs (CMWC) is a three-part women’s choir and
all members are closely associated with the military, either by marriage or by
occupation. We come together weekly to sing, make new friends, and have fun.
No musical experience is necessary. The choirs are all about support — both
vocal and personal.
The CMWC Halifax is looking for an experienced keyboard musician and vocal
conductor to fill the role of our Musical Director, including choir leadership,
keyboard accompaniment, and creating practice tracks. The Musical Director will
work closely with the President and the executive members of the choir.
Primary Responsibilities:
• Organize regular rehearsals (Monday evenings) for members to improve
performance skills, and establish repertoire for use in upcoming events.
• Conduct the choir when we perform, possibly monthly depending on demand.
The season runs from beginning of September to end of June. March break and
holidays are observed from practice and most events.
• Foster an atmosphere of productive yet relaxed, cheerful learning and creativity,
sensitive to the needs of each individual while being supportive to the military
lifestyle.
• Provide additional pre-event rehearsal when required.
• Regular use of email, Facebook and Dropbox is required for communication of
choir business.
• Ability to be dedicated to a regular practice schedule and periodic event
performances.
• Weekend and evening availability are essential.
Required Qualifications:
• Experienced keyboard musician (organ and/or piano) preferably with music or
similar training.
• Familiarity with SOCAN licenses, copyright and performance law, Dropbox and
recording rehearsal tracks.
We thank all candidates for their interest in this position; however, only those
selected for an interview will be contacted. Both male and female applicants will
be considered. If you have a passion for directing musical talent in our military
community and possess the qualifications listed above, please forward your
resume, along with salary expectations to canadianmwc.halifax@gmail.com .
The ScotianAires, an a cappella chorus made up of women from across the Halifax region, and Tonic!, a quartet made up of four members of the ScotianAires, have retained top honours at Atlantic Canada’s most prestigious competition for women barbershop singers. Both were repeat champions at the Harmony Inc. 2019 Area 1 Convention and Contests (AC&C) held at the end of May in Sackville, NB.
Among the 57 women on stage for the chorus were six first-time participants. Newcomer Lynda Vaughan describes the experience of singing with the ScotianAires. “It has been an amazing experience singing on the stage with these champions, something I never dreamed of, even one year ago. I only started attending rehearsals this January so it’s been a bit of a leap for me but I have been richly rewarded.”
Choruses sing two selections in the competition and receive marks for singing, music and performance. Director Sue Kember was particularly pleased with the singing scores because singing had been an area of focus for the group leading up to the competition. “It was an incredible feeling to know that all our hard work was rewarded”, Kember remarked. “It is so wonderful to work with these amazing women who keep the music alive with their desire to improve and who also maintain and enjoy the special camaraderie that is the ScotianAires!”
Tonic! took home the first-place Wona Wright Memorial Award and also the Karen Gordon Memorial Award, presented to the quartet with the highest performance score. ScotianAires’ quartet enJOY! was right behind them in second place and the newest competing quartet from the chorus, Arpeggio, earned a fourth place ribbon.
The weekend also included education sessions and coaching and a “Fun Night” of singing planned around this year’s theme…”A Night on the Red Carpet”. The ScotianAires dressed up as the high school students from “Grease” and sang an a cappella arrangement of “We Go Together”.
The ScotianAires, Tonic! and enJOY! all qualified to compete against choruses and quartets from across North America at the International Convention and Contests (IC&C) to be held in Sandusky, Ohio in November, 2019.
For more information contact the ScotianAires at info@scotianaires.ca , visit us at scotianaires.ca or find us on Facebook and Twitter!