Volunteer registration open NOW!
We are just one week away from Unison 2023 here in Halifax and we are in need of volunteers!
There will be around 600 delegates from across the country joining us and we need YOU to help make it a success!
To sign up click here
Choral Canada has scheduled a webinar on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 2pm ET on copyright law in the Canadian choral context. The webinar will be facilitated by Edwards Creative Law.
The same session will be held in French on Thursday, May 25 at 1pm ET.
Information and registration: https://www.choralcanada.org/en/webinars/
It would be great to see as many participants as possible! Feel free to share widely with your networks and colleagues.
EMSNS Madrigal Group starts May 18
Do you enjoy laughing and learning while you sing? The Early Music Society of Nova Scotia Madrigal Group is a relaxed a cappella ensemble that meets on Thursday mornings to sing a wide variety of English, Italian and French sixteenth-century music, directed by Andrew Pickett. Our next session begins Thursday, May 18, running through June 29, meeting at Faith City Church, 6225 Summit St, Halifax, from 10:30 am–12 pm. Please contact Andrew at andrewjpickett@yahoo.co.uk if you’d like to join in!
Administrative Director of Choirs for Change (Contractor) –
Equity-Seeking Candidates Prioritized
To apply, send a resume and cover letter to Choirs for Change Board of Directors Co-Chairs Robbie Mason and Megan Johnson at choirsforchange@gmail.com by April 20th 2023.
About Choirs for Change:
Choirs for Change Association is a non-profit arts organization registered in Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki). Founded in 2017, Choirs for Change supports the activities of three choral ensembles in the Halifax (Kjipuktuk) region: Spíra, Polaris, and Eastern Horizon. Together, these ensembles strive to support social change movements through innovative choral events (http://www.choirsforchange.ca/).
Our Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility
Choirs for Change is an organization dedicated to social justice, inclusion, equity, accessibility, and diversity. We lead with these values and seek to create an environment that is actively anti-racist, Queer+ focused, and which amplifies the contributions of equity-deserving voices. We strongly encourage, and will prioritize, applicants who identify as Indigenous, Black/of African descent, racialized/person of colour, disabled/person with disabilities, and/or a member of 2SLGBTQ+ communities. We respectfully request that you self-identify in your application if you are a member of one or more of these equity groups.
Administrative Director Position: In this role, you will be responsible for:
Managing the organization’s finances, including depositing revenue (including membership fees), tracking expenses, and distributing contractor reimbursements and payments;
Drafting and submitting grant applications to support the organization’s activities;
Supporting concert preparations and execution;
Overseeing audience development strategy and initiatives; and
Assisting with general administrative tasks as they arise, such as website management. You may also be asked to supervise other contractors as they are engaged, such as Concert Assistants and a Marketing Assistant.
Your role includes completing these duties for all three of the organization’s choirs: Polaris, Eastern Horizon, and Spíra. To help you succeed in these duties, you will be supported by the organization’s choral conductors and Board of Directors. As each choir runs on a different schedule and the preparation of grants, concerts, and other time-intensive duties ebb and flow, the time commitment will vary from week to week. We anticipate an average of four hours per week.
We expect you to act in compliance with our organizational policies, including the Anti-Harassment Policy.
To support the advancement of the organization, you will be required to participate in organization Committees. As well, your attendance will be expected at all Board meetings (2 hours, typically every two months, remote attendance is possible), for which you will submit a written report in advance for Board review. Accordingly, you will be accountable to the Board in this work.
Qualifications:
● Strong background in arts or non-profit administration and operations
● Experience with payroll or finance management
● A demonstrated history of successful grant applications
● Background in community engagement activities
● Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google suite; experience with website management and/or social media applications is an asset
● Superior planning, organizational, and time management skills
● Commitment to principles of social justice and equity
Compensation:
You will engage in this role as an independent contractor. You are responsible for providing yourself a place of work and the necessary tools you require to complete the work. You are further responsible for making any required tax remittances owed on any compensation paid to you by the organization. The organization will compensate you at a rate of $400.00 CAD per month, subject to a revised lesser amount based on the total membership fee revenue collected during the year.
Kindly direct any questions about the position to choirsforchange@gmail.com. We look forward to receiving your application.
As we prepare for the concert – Let’s Have Some Music – A Celebration of the Music of Robbie Smith – on April 30, we need volunteers who can help with the event.
We need a couple of volunteers on April 28 to assist with moving risers to the church (and someone who may be able to offer the use of their van or truck).
We need 4 volunteers from approximately 6pm to 9:30pm on April 30 to assist with the concert.
Please contact Anne at anne@nscf.ca if you are available to help on either of these dates. Many thanks!
Children’s Choir, 2023 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
Auditions to be held in early May for children interested in being part of the Children’s Choir, 2023 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Auditions are open to students from grades 4 to 7. Previous choral experience is an asset.
Singing in the Children’s Choir is an amazing experience – they meet fellow performers from all over the world, are part of an incredible production, and make memories to last a lifetime. There is a time commitment involved but oh so worth it!
Rehearsal schedule to date is as follows:
– 1st rehearsal Sunday, 28 May, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Rehearsal venue TBA;
– Rehearsals continue every Sunday night until 18 June;
– Rehearsals in the ScotiaBank Center are scheduled to begin on the evening of Monday, 19 June. The Children’s Choir will likely be there most evenings until the Show starts their dress rehearsals on 28 June.
Show schedule:
Show 1 – 30 June (evening)
Show 2 – 1 July (matinee)
Show 3 – 2 July (matinee)
Show 4 – 2 July (evening)
Show 5 – 3 July (matinee)
For further information including audition date and location, contact Martha Healy, Royal Nova Scotia international Tattoo Children’s Choir Director at choir@nstattoo.ca . Please put Children’s Choir in the subject line.
For the first time in its history, Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ choral festival, Unison/Unisson (unisonfestivalunisson.ca) is heading east. The Festival, held every four years in a different city, is happening in Halifax on the Victoria Day weekend, May 19-22, at the Halifax Convention Centre. At the last festival in Calgary in 2018, local choir The Women Next Door, successfully bid to bring the festival to Halifax in the hopes that it would encourage more choral participation from the East Coast. This hoped proved successful with the formation of the Halifax Gay Men’s Chorus, who have since become co-hosts. In addition, two other choirs from the Atlantic will be performing at Unison for the first time, one from Nova Scotia and another from Newfoundland. The. The 2023 Festival is presented in partnership with the Nova Scotia Choral Federation.
The theme of the Festival is Open Harbour, referencing the Mi’kmaw name K’jpuktuk, meaning “Great Harbour.” It’s an homage to the unfreezing and always-open Halifax Harbour, the numerous visitors and newcomers who have come through its port, and a nod to the acceptance of the 2SLGBTQ1A+ community in Halifax. Choruses were invited to incorporate the theme into their repertoire.
Kim Vance-Mubanga, President of Unison Choruses Canada and Co-Artistic Director for the Festival, said “choirs across Canada have wanted to see this festival come to Halifax for over a decade. That desire, combined with choirs emerging from the devastating restrictions on gatherings and performances during the pandemic, have created a tidal wave of enthusiasm for this particular Unison festival.”
The Festival was meant to take place in May of 2022 but was delayed due to Covid. It’s been five years since the choruses were last united, and they’ll be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first Unison Festival when they unite in Halifax. The first festival was in Edmonton in 1998 and festivals have since been held in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Calgary. The inaugural Unison Awards for individuals, choirs and organizations that have enriched and improved their communities through choral music and friendship will be given out in Halifax.
Unison received funding from the LGBT Purge Fund (lgbtpurgefund.com) to commission three original pieces by Canadian composers, receiving their premieres at the Festival. Three Festival Choruses (SATB, SSAA, TTBB) open to both delegates and the general public will sing the new works at the closing concert. Conductors for the Festival Choruses are Marg Stubington from Ottawa (SATB Chorus), Deirdre Kellerman, a Nova Scotia native currently living in Ottawa (SSAA Chorus) and Willi Zwozdesky from Vancouver, (TTBB Chorus). This free concert promises to be a highlight of the Festival.
The three news pieces are inspired by stories told in the course of the LGBT Purge class action lawsuit, shining a light on the tragedy and the toll of the LGBT Purge in Canada. The new works are Hushed Injustices by Leslie Arden, Before You Even Knew by Mark Sirett and
The Commanded Heart by D. Geoffrey Bell. The Purge Fund was set up following the discrimination, harassment and firing of LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service between the 1950s and the mid-1990s. Nova Scotia native, Michelle Douglas, ED of the LGBT Purge Fund and a Purge survivor from the Armed Forces, will also be speaking at the closing concert.
The festival has also partnered with Toronto-based Queer Songbook Orchestra (QSO) (https://www.queersongbook.com/) a professional chamber pop ensemble dedicated to utilizing story and song to express, honour and elevate 2SLGBTQ+ experience, while providing opportunities for mentorship and other supports to queer, trans, questioning and allied youth. QSO will be performing for delegates and the public (ticket required) on Saturday evening (May 20th) and will also be conducting two workshops for festival delegates and providing instrumental accompaniment to the three Festival Choruses.
Some choirs will be headed to the Bluenose Marathon to sing to runners and raise funds for Unison. Social events, a drag show, Queeraoke and a dance party round out the Unison schedule for delegates.
A full schedule is available on the Festival’s website and social media. Tickets to the general public go on sale Monday, April 3, through EventBrite. The opening concert on Friday, May 14 is $40, and the four concert blocks on Saturday and Sunday (20th and 21st) are $25 each. The closing concert is free, although a ticket is required and a Festival pass to all concerts is $120. Tickets are limited so concertgoers are advised to book tickets soon. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/59685412633
Unison thanks its donors and funders, and acknowledges that the festival will take place in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship first signed in 1725.
CBC Maritime Noon Monday April 3, 2023 – The Joy of Singing!
This Monday, the NSCF Executive Director will be on the Maritime Noon phone-in, participating in a conversation about the joy of singing! The show will begin with an interview featuring Heather Fraser, Artistic Director of the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir, about the AVHC trip to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall. Then, host, Bob Murphy, will be asking: What does singing do for you? In what ways does it enhance your sense of well-being and a feeling of community? Where would you be without singing? Kelsea McLean from Sirens choir on PEI will also share her thoughts. Join the conversation between 12 and 1 o’clock on Monday, April 3 by dialing 1-800-565-1940
Four Way Harmony (Halifax Rotary Club choir that was comprised of about 20 singers) has been inactive since the pandemic and is looking to rebuild. Their repertoire (sung in four part, SATB harmony), included a diverse selection of really fun to sing, light music, pop, country, folk songs, etc., and included numerous Canadian and Maritime classics – and Christmas music. They rehearsed every second week, and performed at several retirement homes, as well as on the Halifax waterfront and at CTV’s Christmas Daddies. Several members sang in performances of the Rotary International Choir at Toronto and Hamburg conferences.
In order to get started they need a few singers in all four voices, (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). They also need to find a rehearsal space in a convenient location, preferably with a reasonable quality piano. Also critical is the need to track down a replacement musical leadership team. More specifically they need help with the following:
If you can help with any of the above, please get in touch, either with Louisa Horne (rotarylouisa@gmail.com), or with Dick Hodgson of Halifax Northwest, (at dick.hodgson@dal.ca ). They would love to get this fine choral group up and running again!!