News: Member Blog

NOVA SCOTIA YOUTH CHOIR 2019 CONCERT TOUR 

TATAMAGOUCHE, NEW GLASGOW and HALIFAX – The province’s most talented young choral singers will gather as the Nova Scotia Youth Choir, under the direction of guest conductor, Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff, to present concerts in TATAMAGOUCHE, NEW GLASGOW and HALIFAX on September 21st and 22nd. 

The Nova Scotia Youth Choir is a program of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, and for 29 years, has been bringing choral excellence to the young singers of Nova Scotia. This program provides opportunity for singers ages 16-25 to work intensively on a wide variety of choral repertoire with some of the best choral instructors and directors in the field today. 

The Nova Scotia Youth Choir is excited to present a program that spans from madrigals and motets of the Renaissance period to arrangements of folk songs and spirituals by today’s composers. The program will feature works from classic composers such as Thomas Morley, Felix Mendelssohn and Tomas Luis de Victoria as well as works by Canadian composers, Sarah Quartel, Ruth Watson Henderson, and Christine Donkin. 

Concerts will be Saturday, September 21st at 7:30 p.m. at Sharon United Church, 15 Church Street, Tatamagouche, and on Sunday, September 22nd at 2:30 p.m. at Trinity United Church, 151 Temperance Street, New Glasgow and at 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church, 6036 Coburg Rd, Halifax. They will be joined by resident conductors Gary Ewer and Pamela Burton and collaborative pianist Mary Castello. 

Tickets are $20/$5 (students) for all three performances. 

—— 

About the Nova Scotia Youth Choir: A project of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, the Nova Scotia Youth Choir is now in its 29th year. The objective of the choir is to provide choristers aged 16 to 25 with a challenging opportunity to work, develop and perform choral music together under the leadership of talented local educators and accomplished Canadian conductors. Thirty-five auditioned singers from around the province have been selected to work with a team of fine musicians. 

About Guest Conductor Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff: Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff has been on the faculty of the Department of Music since 1981, teaching in the area of choral music at both graduate and undergraduate levels. With Prof. Debra Cairns, Ratzlaff co-founded and now directs what is now the most established graduate training program for choral conductors in Canada. He directs the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, one of Canada’s leading university choirs, who have gained both national and international competition awards for their performances and recordings. The Madrigal Singers have also appeared at the national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (Los Angeles, 2005) and Choral Canada. Ratzlaff has produced 5 CD recordings with the Madrigal Singers, of which 2 (Balulalow, 1999; The Passing of the Year, 2004) received a National Choral Award in the recordings category from Choral Canada. 

Professor Ratzlaff has conducted premieres of new works by numerous Canadian composers, including Violet Archer, Allan Bevan, John Estacio, Malcolm Forsyth, Allan Gilliland, Christos Hatzis, Margaret King, Imant 

A Registered Charity 

Raminsh, Sid Robinovitch, James Rolfe, Mark Sirett and Ruth Watson Henderson. He has sung in numerous projects in North America and Europe with the late American conductor Robert Shaw, and participated as soloist in the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria for many years. 

Professor Ratzlaff also directs the Richard Eaton Singers, a 110-voice symphonic chorus that performs regularly with the Edmonton Symphony and that has toured both nationally and internationally, most recently to Germany in 2013. He has served as president of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors, and is currently on the board of Chorus America. Honours include induction into the Alberta Order of Excellence, the Order of Canada and the Royal Society of Canada. 

For More Information Please Contact: 

Ryan Henwood Program Coordinator, Nova Scotia Choral Federation (902) 423-4688 or 1-888-672-3969 ryan@nscf.ns.ca www.nscf.ns.ca 

Tuesday, August 20, 2019, 6:30 pm
Berwick United Church Camp
115 Commercial Street, Berwick, NS

(To include dinner (6:00 PM) please RSVP nscfadmin@nscf.ns.ca or 902 423-4688)

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 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

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 Bolton

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

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

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.

Danielle LeVangie

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.

Greg MacLeod

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.

Norm Scrimger

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.

44th Annual General Meeting
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
6:30 pm
Berwick United Church Camp
115 Commercial Street, Berwick, NS
(To include dinner (6:00 PM) please RSVP nscfadmin@nscf.ns.ca or 902 423-4688)

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.