Supporters
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The Cantiamo Choirs of Ottawa develops integrity, empathy and self-confidence in its choristers through choral excellence, leadership training and educational and community engagement. The Cantiamo Choirs of Ottawa welcomes choristers aged five through nineteen into its four-level organization.
Cantiamo is open to experiencing a wide variety of repertoire with a strong focus on Canadian composers. Since its 2003 inception, Cantiamo has premiered nearly 40 Canadian choral compositions! Cantiamo is dedicated to educational engagement and supporting singing in our schools through workshops for teachers and mentoring of school choirs. Cantiamo is the core support choir for the National Arts Centre’s 500 voice Music Monday choir and the 350 voice OCDSB Choralfest. Cantiamo is proud to provide choral education mentoring for the Nipiit Katittut – Voices United (NKVU) exchange between Ottawa and Iqaluit as well as the Listen Up! Arts education project with the renowned Gryphon Trio. Aside from its regular concert series, the Cantiamo Girls Choir collaborates regularly with other arts groups, and performs in various hospitals, churches, retirement homes and supports a variety of community events. |
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Situated in Vancouver, the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs is an organization which includes the award-winning adult symphonic choir and children’s program. The organization is committed to offering choral education to its members – 100+ adults and 330+ young people – as well as vibrant and culturally diverse choral experiences to its audiences.
As one of the largest choral organizations in Canada, the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs explores a wide range of repertoire from the past to the present with passion and commitment. Through its series of concerts presented at the magnificent Orpheum Theatre and throughout the lower mainland and points beyond, the organization continues to meet its mandate of choral education, as well as commissioning and performing works by Canadian composers alongside the world’s favourite symphonic choral works. The adult choir, under the baton of Maestro Leslie Dala, celebrates its 89th anniversary in the 2019-20 season. The 2019-20 season celebrates the 35th anniversary of the children’s program, ably guided by Music Director Marisa Gaetanne. |
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Choeur Adleisia is an advanced, bilingual, upper-voice chamber choir with a mission to to connect, challenge, and inspire. Formed in January 2015, the choir is comprised of a diverse group of singers from a variety of musical and non-musical backgrounds including filmmaking, education, political science, and music performance. Amelia McMahon and Virginie Pacheco share the artistic direction and are committed to creating programs that celebrate women composers and Canadian music. In 2019, Choeur Adleisia was awarded first prize in the Equal-Voice Women’s Choirs category from the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs and won Best Performance of a French-Canadian work (Terre-Neuve by composer-in-residence Marie-Claire Saindon). The choir has recently recorded their debut album, which is available as of November 2019 in digital format through their website, adleisia.com.
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Ariose Women’s Choir is an award winning, nationally recognized choir of singers from all walks of life. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, and led by their artistic director, Jolaine Kerley, the group enjoys the challenge of exploring and performing music of various styles and periods, and strives to expose audiences to a vast array of women’s choral music.
Founded in 1995 by Dr. Marilyn Kerley, Ariose has built a legacy of excellence in choral music, and has filled a unique role in Canada’s choral landscape. The group regularly performs pieces by Canadian artists, and has commissioned several works by Canadian composers, including Allan Bevan, Ramona Luengen, and Christine Donkin. Ariose has appeared as an invited guest at the annual conference for Choir Alberta, and at Podium. Ariose has risen to the challenges placed in front of the group during the pandemic and has taken advantage of new, interesting, and collaborative opportunities including our involvement with the Sonic Timelapse project. Other opportunities include a recording project of new work, Fair Jenny Alone by Louise Campbell. Ariose streamed their very first live Christmas concert entitled Home for Christmas on December 16, 2020. Ariose has released seven recordings including: Joy shall be yours (2001), There, in that Other World (2005), What Child is This? (2008) Love, Light, and Lullabies (2016), and Snow Angel (2018). |
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ChandraTala, under the direction of Laura Hawley and with pianist Margaret King, was founded in September 2019 and is the newest ensemble of the Kokopelli Choirs (Scott Leithead, Artistic Director). An upper voices choir for experienced soprano and alto singers of any gender identity, the choir’s name is Sanskrit and translates as “rhythm of the moon.”
Although the choir was only together in person for 7 months before the arrival of the global pandemic, ChandraTala has already performed with the Canadian Chamber Choir, collaborated with local Edmonton musicians, has premiered two new Canadian works, has performed in the SkirtsAfire festival, and has commissioned two new works by Canadian female composers. Throughout the pandemic, ChandraTala has continued to pursue a number of compelling projects including workshops with composers and clinicians, small group and virtual recording, and a cross-Canada collaboration with some of Canada’s top upper-voices/women’s ensembles in a virtual choir project. |
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The Choirs of Central Bucks High School-West, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, comprise one of the most respected choral programs in the United States. Having presented approximately 550 world premieres in the last thirty years, West Choirs have served as a pioneer of and advocate for contemporary composition.
West Choirs have performed in some of the world’s greatest venues, including The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Cathedral of the Angels in Los Angeles, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, over 20 times at Carnegie Hall and 11 times in The White House. West Choirs have performed for many world leaders including: Presidents DeKlerk and Mandela of South Africa, President Havel of the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Peres of Israel, President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and President and Mrs. Obama. Dr. Joseph Ohrt holds degrees in music and zoology from Westminster Choir College, Miami University, and the University of South Carolina. He is on the national board of the American Composer’s Forum in Minnesota and is a published author and composer. The Joseph Ohrt Choral Series is published with Santa Barbara Music Publishing in California and the Joseph Ohrt ICON series is with Music Spoke in Kansas. He was a contributing composer for the Broadway musical “Amazing Grace” and arranger for a Las Vegas showcase featuring the music of Michael Jackson. |
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Elektra Women’s Choir from Vancouver, Canada has been a leader among women’s choirs since 1987. Under the direction of Artistic Director, Morna Edmundson, the choir is known for its adventurous programming and performance excellence. Elektra delivers its mandate through a highly-acclaimed concert series featuring outstanding guest artists. The choir is a leader in repertoire development, performing worthy music from the past and new works. In its first three decades, Elektra has commissioned and premiered over 100 compositions and arrangements.
The choir’s recordings extend the reach of its repertoire internationally on a multitude of digital platforms, and its extensive YouTube channel further promotes the choir’s repertoire discoveries. Elektra has released 17 CDs and its website offers a permanent repertoire resource for other choirs. Its celebrated community engagement programs encourage, train, and mentor the next generation of youth and adults: singers, conductors, and composers. A multiple, national prize-winning ensemble, Elektra has been honoured to perform at major conferences of choral professionals worldwide |
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Myriad is on a mission to raise the voices of women through the collaboration, exploration and performance of women’s choral repertoire. Under the direction of Elise Naccarato, Myriad has grown from its humble beginnings as a casual “summer choir”, to a creative, passionate, lively community women’s choir home to sopranos and altos from a diverse array of backgrounds (musical and otherwise).
Myriad specializes in the performance of contemporary choral music and regularly commissions new choral works by female composers. Myriad is quickly establishing themselves as a Canadian women’s choir that sings with vocal excellence, passion and artistic innovation. Myriad’s cover of Canadian folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys ‘One Voice’ was an internet sensation (video found on our homepage) and ever since, Myriad has been establishing their online presence through digital concerts. Myriad has been featured on CHCH Morning Live, as guests of the Burlington Symphony Orchestra and featured at many events throughout southern Ontario. |
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(bio coming soon)
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