The
Upper Canada Choristers is a community-based choir of men and women (Soprano,
Alto, Tenor, and Bass). We are a registered, charitable organization based in
Toronto, Canada. We are joined by our:
 | love of choral singing, |
| desire to learn musically, |
| delight in a diverse repertoire, |
| pleasure in sharing music with our audiences, and |
| commitment to fostering music education in the community. |
We
bring the excitement of choral music especially to those who have less access to
live performance. Our aim is to build community health and spirit through music.
We share the joy of music with everyone, regardless of age or training. We are
happiest when we feel challenged, when we are singing well, and when our
audience sings with us.
As
members of the Upper Canada Choristers, we aim for the highest level of musical
quality, creativity, and professionalism we can achieve. We are committed to
community service and education through music. To that end, we value:
| a welcoming, growing, diverse membership, which aspires to the highest performance standards we can achieve, |
| a healthy balance of professional and amateur musicians, |
| a relaxed, friendly, nourishing, social environment, and |
| a disciplined, respectful attitude to direction, learning, and practice. |
Our membership is diverse and reflects
a wide range of musical talents, experience, and tastes. Some of our members have
studied music and are professional; others have no choral experience prior to joining us.
Some choir members do not read music but have learned through their participation
in the choir. We do not require prospective members
to audition. The only requirement is a love of singing and mutual
endeavour.
At
this time, the Upper Canada Choristers have membership openings in the bass and
tenor sections. As well, we are looking for first sopranos with good
reading skills and previous choral experience. Click
here to see our recruitment flyer (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
We are a secular choir that sings a
wide variety of materials, from Broadway shows to classical, folk music, spirituals, and
holiday music. Our concert history includes our annual Christmas concerts, a
Broadway Cabaret, Vivaldi's Gloria, Rutter's The Reluctant Dragon, a
program of 20th century music, and folk music from around the world.
The Upper Canada Choristers performs regularly in hospitals, nursing homes, seniors'
residences, churches, and schools. As well, two or more public fund-raising concerts
are held annually.
Weekly rehearsals take place on Monday
evenings from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army North Toronto Community
Church, 7 Eglinton Avenue East on the south side of Eglinton just east of Yonge
and the subway. Access is through a side door in the laneway on the west
side of the building that will be unlocked between about 7:15 and 7:45 and then
must be relocked (late comers can knock on the door at the top of the stairs
just north of the side entrance). Prompt and regular attendance is appreciated.
The choir is active for two terms a
year: September to January and February to June. Members are asked to make a
minimum $70 contribution per term to help defray any expenses incurred by the choir, such as
music purchases, rental costs for rehearsal venues, insurance, etc. If the
$70 contribution is problematic, some financial support is available.
The Upper Canada Choristers Inc. is a
not-for-profit organization which issues tax receipts for donations (sadly, this
excludes the minimum $70
membership contributions made by members according to a recent ruling by Revenue
Canada).
Concert dress is black and white:
black skirts/slacks with white blouses and dark hose and shoes for women; black
pants with white shirts and dark shoes for men. We provide cummerbunds and bow ties
for the men. For winter events, men may be required to wear black jackets.
Copyright © 1994-2005 Upper Canada Choristers Inc. All rights reserved.