Grand Philharmonic Choir

Haudenosaunee Voices
2023-06-13 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Toronto) | Kitchener City Hall Rotunda, 200 King St W, Kitchener, Ontario, N2G 4G7, Canada
A family-friendly interactive workshop with singing, dancing and exploring our connection to Mother Earth
Led by Kelly Fran Davis
Tuesday, June 13, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Kitchener City Hall Rotunda
Free and open to all

Martin's "Water: An Environmental Oratorio" and Bruckner's "Te Deum"
2023-05-28 15:00 - 16:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Our season concludes with a brand-new oratorio. We will give the world premiere of Stephanie Martin’s “Water: An Environmental Oratorio”, the story of the importance of this precious resource and a community’s efforts to protect it.
Anton Bruckner’s powerful “Te Deum” opens this concert.
Katy Clark, Soprano
Marion Newman, Mezzo-Soprano
Jean-Philippe Lazure, Tenor
Phillip Addis, Baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Children’s Choir
Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor

Bach B-Minor Mass
2023-04-07 19:30 - 22:00 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Join us in this beloved Good Friday tradition. This magnificent work speaks to the full spectrum of human experience, from the sparkling joy of “Gloria” to the suffering of “Crucifixus” and the final serenity of “Dona nobis pacem”.
Sherezade Panthaki, Soprano
Julia Dawson, Mezzo-Soprano
Lawrence Wiliford, Tenor
Jonathon Adams, Baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor

Stories of Love, Loss and Life
2023-03-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist, 23 Water St N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 5A4, Canada
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A journey of the human spirit, with works by Tracy Wong, Nathaniel Dett, Elton John, Stephanie Martin and many more.
Saturday March 11, 7:30 p.m.
Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist
23 Water Street North, Kitchener
Grand Philharmonic Chamber Singers
Tom Corken, conductor
Raneem Barakat, soloist
Debra Lacoste, trumpet
Ian VanderBurgh, piano
Tickets: $32 adults and seniors / $25 for GPC subscribers / $20 for students and under 30s / $10 for high school students and younger
Tickets available at the door, or by clicking the button above or calling 519-578-1570.
The church has an accessible entrance on Duke Street.

Messiah
2022-12-10 19:30 - 22:00 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Messiah is a banquet for the spirit. From the beautifully drawn nativity story, to the thrilling “Hallelujah” chorus and beyond, it is the best-loved work we perform. We warmly welcome our Artistic Director Emeritus, Howard Dyck, as guest conductor.
Megan Chartrand, Soprano
Julie Boulianne, Mezzo-Soprano
Colin Ainsworth, Tenor
Jesse Blumberg, Baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Howard Dyck, conductor

Duruflé Requiem
2022-11-12 19:30 - 21:00 | St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 49 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 2G9, Canada
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In this masterpiece by Maurice Duruflé, medieval chant is combined with luxuriant harmonies.
Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo-soprano
Ben Wallace, baritone
Jonathan Oldengarm, organ
Grand Philharmonic Chamber Singers
Mark Vuorinen, conductor

Elijah
2022-10-22 19:30 - 21:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Surging dramatic passages. Beautiful serene interludes. A story of a drought, futile prayers offered to a false god, and the complex, brooding figure of the central character, Elijah.
Choir alumni will join current members to perform this memorable start to a landmark season.
Jacqueline Woodley, Soprano
Allyson McHardy, Mezzo-Soprano
Owen McCausland, Tenor
James Westman, Baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor
Please see our Health and Safety protocols here

The Hope of Loving
2022-05-28 19:30 - 20:30 | St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 49 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 2G9, Canada
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The Hope of Loving
Join us for our final concert of the 2021/2022 season.
This concert will feature beautiful short works that will open your heart.
You will hear the premiere of Aaron Manswell’s Stick with Love, a gospel-style work inspired by the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This work is the winner of our 2022 composition competition.
We will also give the first live performance of Take This Thread / Le fil que je suis, a hauntingly beautiful song about the human experience during the pandemic .
Audience members are asked to show proof of vaccination on entry and be masked during the performance.

Brahms Requiem
2022-04-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
with
Lesley Bouza, soprano
Tyler Duncan, baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor
Friday April 15 (Good Friday) Centre In The Square, 7:30 p.m.
You will find the Brahms Requiem, one of the most beautiful Romantic works ever written, to be deeply moving. It has special significance after the terrible public health crisis we have all experienced.
Please join us!
Tickets range from $30 to $82, with special prices for college/university students and those under 30 ($20) or youth up to the end of high school ($10).
Buy tickets:
In person at the theatre box office window: Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
By phone: 519-578-1570 Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Online: Click HERE for the link to sales.
All audience members must show proof of vaccination and be masked to enter the concert.
See our safety protocols at www.grandphilchoir.com/COVID

Caroling in Victoria Park
2021-12-13 19:00 - 20:00 | Victoria Park, Kitchener, ON, 32 Dill St,, Kitchener, Ontario, N2G 1L1, Canada
Join us for Caroling in Victoria Park starting on Roos Island at 7 p.m. Monday Dec 13. We’ll move to a couple of locations during the hour we are in the park. Merry Christmas!

Music in the Woods - RESCHEDULED!
2021-10-23 09:00 - 10:30 | N2V 2T7, meet at the corner of Laurelwood and Blue Beech Blvd, Waterloo, ON, N2V 2T7, Canada
Music in the Woods with the Grand Philharmonic Choir!
Saturday Oct. 23, departing every 15 minutes from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
This is a guided walk through the beautiful Columbia Forest, at the northwest edge of Waterloo.
As you pass through, you’ll hear music from singers, a vocal soloist and flute player, all mingling with the sounds of nature.
This is a free event and open to everyone, but you must register in advance HERE and show us your ticket when you arrive.
Meet your guide at the corner of Laurelwood Drive and Blue Beech Blvd.
We ask that everyone wear masks as you walk with us. There will be about 20 people in each group.
The walk is about 45 minutes. Please bear in mind that the path in the woods is neither groomed nor level.
Thank you for your interest in this event!
Click HERE for a map of the location.

World Premiere: Take This Thread / Le fil que je suis
2021-06-19 19:30 - 20:30
REGISTER HERE

Five choirs, a composer and a poet have joined together to create a new commissioned choral work about our isolation and connection in the pandemic. You’re invited to join the premiere broadcast online, with others across Canada!

ChoirLab Virtual Music Experience
2020-07-27 09:00 - 11:00
CHOIRLAB
Starts July 27
Love to sing?
Want to explore new types of music from the comforts of your own home?
Need to brush up your vocal and musicianship skills?
Level up with ChoirLab!
All participants will receive a $25 discount for our fall season!
ChoirLab
For children ages 7 – 14
July 27-31 9-11 am daily

* Choose your own adventure — select a project and make music together online
* Explore new music with others of the same age
* Individual vocal check-ins
* Yoga for Young Singers session with yoga teacher and pianist, Anna Ronai
* Led by Andrea deBoer-Jones (biography below)

Register here for ChoirLab Kids ages 7 – 14
Monday – Friday July 27 – 31, 9 – 11 a.m.

More about our ChoirLab leader!

Children’s ChoirLab Director: Andrea deBoer-Jones (Hon BMus, Vocal Music Specialist)

Conductor, Grand Philharmonic Children’s Choir
K-12 Choral Music Director, St. John’s Kilmarnock School
PYP MYP Music Specialist
Former singer of Elora Festival Singers and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Choir adjudicator, Kiwanis Music Festivals (PEI, Stratford, Port Hope)

CANCELLED - Choirs in Concert - Saturday
2020-05-09 19:30
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A wonderful evening for all the family!
All 200 singers in our own family of four choirs sing their hearts out for you, in an unforgettable night of music-making!
Included will be the world premiere of the winning work in our 2020 Choral Works Composition Contest – this year, especially created for children’s choir.

CANCELLED - Choirs in Concert - Friday
2020-05-08 19:30

CANCELLED - Brahms Requiem
2020-04-10 19:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Brahms’ deeply personal Ein Deutsches Requiem is by turns exquisitely tender and powerfully moving.
Eriks Ešenvalds’ Passion and Resurrection tells the Passion story with rich, sonorous choral writing and a mosaic of sacred texts.
Lesley Bouza, soprano
Tyler Duncan, baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor

Bring a Friend Night - Children's Choir
2020-01-14 17:50 - 20:30 | Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 110 Doon Rd.
(If you are looking for Bring a Friend Night for the Youth Choir (singers from Grade 9 to 23 years old), click here)
We would love to have new singers join us for the rest of the season. Would you like to join or maybe just want to see what it is all about? Now is the time!
We will be having a special working rehearsal on Tuesday the 14th. If you like it and want to register we will be accepting new singers through the month of January.
Viva – for singers 7-9 years old – rehearsal is from 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Voce – for singers 10-14 years old – rehearsal is from 6:15pm to 8:30pm

Bring a Friend Night - Youth Choir
2020-01-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 110 Doon Rd.
We would love to have new singers join us for the rest of the season. Would you like to join or maybe just want to see what it is all about? Now is the time!
We will be having a special working rehearsal on Monday the 13th. If you like it and want to register we will be accepting new singers through the month of January.
The Youth Choir is composed of singers ranging in age from Grade 9 to 24 years old.

Messiah
2019-12-07 19:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Nothing is better at Christmastime than Handel’s Messiah. From the first ringing notes of “Comfort Ye, My People,” to the beautifully drawn Nativity story, to the thrilling “Hallelujah” chorus and beyond, this is the best-loved work we perform, year after year. Whether this is your first Messiah or your 50th, it will be very special.
Mireille Asselin, soprano
Maude Brunet, mezzo-soprano
Asitha Tennekoon, tenor
Samuel Chan, baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor

Youth Choir Fundraising at Indigo!
2019-11-25 18:30 - 21:30 | Indigo Bookstore, 550 King St, Waterloo, ON, N2L 5W6, Canada
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On Thursday, November 28th from 6:30-9:30 pm at Indigo Bookstore at Conestoga Mall, help us earn 15% of sales toward our summer tour when you agree to participate once they get to the cash register with their purchases. Stop at the Registration Desk for the fundraiser before shopping. We will be serenading you while you shop from 6:30 – 8 p.m!

We Are Connected--Children and Youth Choir Concert
2019-11-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Knox Presbyterian Church, 50 Erb St. West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 1T1, Canada
Tickets available at the door or online
tickets here!
Parking is available at the church, Waterloo Town Square and in the Waterloo Public Library lot.

Winter Hymn
2019-11-09 19:30 | Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist, 23 Water St N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 5A4, Canada
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A selection of contemplative works as we welcome winter
Imagine a child’s excitement for a sleigh ride in Sarah Quartel’s A Winter’s Day. Experience the soaring lines of Ola Gjeilo’s The Rose. Be transfixed by Caleb Burhan’s Super flumina Babylonis, a captivating setting of Psalm 37. And so much more!

GPC Holiday Craft Show
2019-11-02 10:00 - 15:00 | St. Louis Roman Catholic Church gymnasium, 53 Allen St E,, Waterloo, ON, N2J 1J3, Canada

Candide
2019-10-26 19:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Philosophy meets broadway! Leonard Bernstein’s delightful operetta offers biting wit, musical fireworks and unforgettable melodies. The Grammy- and Juno-nominated Elora Singers join the Grand Philharmonic Choir for this unforgettable performance.
Chris Fischer – Candide
Vania Chan – Cunegonde
Paul Grambo – Pangloss
Christina Stelmacovich – The Old Lady
Jenn Krabbe – Paquette
Richard Hrytzak – Maximilian
The Elora Singers
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen, conductor
Pre-concert talk at 6:30 by UW History professor Andrew Hunt – “Candide, Satire, and America in the 1950s”
Try us out! For this concert only, all tickets are $40 or less! ($14 anywhere in the house for under-30s or students; $5 for high school and younger)

Audition for the Grand Philharmonic Choir
2019-05-14 17:00 - 21:00 | Conrad Grebel University College, 140 Westmount Rd N, Waterloo, Canada
Click here to sign up for an audition time.

Audition for the Grand Philharmonic Choir
2019-05-13 13:00 - 19:00 | Conrad Grebel University College, 140 Westmount Rd N, Waterloo, Canada
Click here to sign up for an audition time

Bring a Friend Night and 2019-20 Season Registration
2019-04-30 18:00 - 19:00 | Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, 110 Doon Rd.
You are invited to check us out!
Join the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir (grade 9-age 23)
Grand Philharmonic Children’s Choir (age 7-grade 8)
for our Open House/Registration Night
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Rockway Mennonite Collegiate 110 Doon Road
6:00 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Register for the 2019-20 season!
519-578-5660 x5290 or info@grandphilchoir.com for more information

Stories Around the World
2019-04-27 19:00 - 20:30 | St. Matthews Centre, 54 Benton Street, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
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Join the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir and Children’s Choir in their Spring concert as they showcase songs from around the world.

Bach St. Matthew Passion
2019-04-19 19:30 | Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P7, Canada
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Join our Good Friday tradition of a master work by J.S. Bach. His St. Matthew Passion invites the listener to reflect on the perspectives of the different players in this beautiful and redemptive account.
Bach St. Matthew Passion
Isaiah Bell – Evangelist
Daniel Okulitch – Christus
Estelí Gomez – Soprano
Allyson McHardy – Mezzo-Soprano
Asitha Tennekoon – Tenor
Daniel Lichti – Baritone
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
Grand Philharmonic Children’s Choir and Youth Choir
Grand Philharmonic Choir
Mark Vuorinen – Conductor
Good Friday, April 19th, 7:30pm
Centre in the Square, Kitchener
The singing of the Passion narrative has been part of Holy Week liturgies since at least the fourth century. Early forms began as recitations by a single cantor, intoning all of the roles. By the ninth century, manuscripts reveal that indications for the tempo, relative pitch and volume of the recitation of these texts had been prescribed. In the 12th century, fixed pitches for the words of the Evangelist, Christ, and the crowds had been set by using symbolic letters in the margins. These printed rubrics are the precursors to fully composed polyphonic settings, which abound in the voice of all four Gospel-tellers from at least the fifteenth century on. These texts form the backbone of the Christian faith and have served as the seeds of profound musical composition for centuries.
From the middle of the 17th century, composers began to add non-biblical texts to the Passion in the form of arias and choruses as well as independent instrumental movements. Familiar Lutheran hymns or chorales were interpolated in Protestant Germany reminding the participants that the ownership of this liturgical practice belonged squarely to the people.
When Johann Sebastian Bach arrived in Leipzig to take up the post of Cantor at the Thomaskirche in 1723, the singing of elaborate settings of the Passion narrative was a relatively new tradition. Historically, Good Friday at the Thomaskirche saw the singing of a simple four-part setting of the Passion from the 16 th Century by Johann Walter, a contemporary of Martin Luther. The conservative leadership of the Thomaskirche may have liked to see that tradition remain. But, ever since Georg Philipp Telemann had written a Passion oratorio for the ‘New Church’ across town in 1717, Bach’s predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, had tried to persuade the Leipzig consistory to allow for the performance of a new “figural style” Passion to be sung on Good Friday. Eventually, the consistory, observing churchgoers flocking across town to the ‘New Church’ for Good Friday liturgical celebrations, relented and allowed Kuhnau to prepare, and perform a new setting of the St. Mark Passion with biblical narrative, reflective chorales and free poetry in the form of arias in 1721. And so, by the time of Bach’s arrival in Leipzig two years later, a new tradition for the afternoon Vespers liturgy on Good Friday had emerged. It is a point of great interest, and perhaps a little pride, then, that the long tradition of singing Passion oratorios on Good Friday by this choir, in Waterloo Region, has a longer history than that which Bach inherited in 1723.
The St. Matthew Passion was first performed on Good Friday, April 11, 1727, though documentary evidence suggests that Bach had started on it much earlier, perhaps hoping that it would be ready for his second Easter in Leipzig in 1725. But, it would be another two years before his second Passion setting was ready. So a revised version of the St. John Passion, heard in 1724 was remounted in 1725, and a year later Bach returned to a St. Mark Passion he had performed some years ago in Weimar by Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns. Bach, it seems, wanted to make his second Passion setting a personal triumph, taking the necessary time to complete what would become his grandest work.
First Bach had to set out to find a text. One of the requirements of the Leipzig consistory for Passion texts was that biblical narratives didn’t stray from their biblical sources. This stipulation meant that the popular models by librettists like Barthold Heinrich Brockes, which were in wide use elsewhere would not pass muster at the Thomaskirche because they substituted biblical text with rhymed paraphrase. Eventually, Bach settled on a libretto that interpolated contemporary poetry and Lutheran chorales into the biblical account of the Passion according to Matthew by Christian Friedrich Henrici, known by his pen-name Picander. Whether Bach set out to commission Picander for a text or Picander came to Bach is unclear. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the two artists worked
closely on the collaboration.
Picander’s text and Bach’s music set two full chapters, 26 and 27, of Matthew’s gospel. With a careful ear to a sense of pacing Bach and Picander interposed fifteen reflective texts of free poetry. Each brings the dramatic activity to a brief pause, allowing the personal, collective voice of the aria texts to comment on the action that has just taken place. The narrative is made entirely personal through these extraordinary meditations: Peter’s guilt in denying Christ is made universal in the stunning aria Erbarme dich and the collective mourning that follows Christ’s death is reflected in the beautiful Mache dich, mein Herze rein. These, of course, are just two examples. It is these reflective pillars take that take on the character of a musical Stations of the Cross, each encouraging Bach’s congregants towards a truer, purer devotion.
In the St. Matthew Passion Bach used every available musical form: recitatives, which relate the story, ariosos and arias, chorales and chorale fantasias (such as the opening and closing movements of Part I). He uses dance forms in the arias and many of the choruses and sets apart the words of Christ by surrounding them in a halo of strings. And, the use of the unusual (for Bach) double choir and orchestra demonstrate that his ambition for this work was far beyond that of any other of its kind.
Demonstrating that he believed the St. Matthew Passion to be his most significant work, Bach returned to his St. Matthew Passion three more times at the Thomaskirche and took extraordinary care in creating a calligraphic fair copy score, meticulously reproduced and restored by its composer.
We, as performers and listeners, have inherited a truly masterful work and are the beneficiaries of its unequalled genius.
Notes by Mark Vuorinen

Tudor Splendour
2019-03-23 19:30 | Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist, 23 Water St N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 5A4, Canada
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English Renaissance choral music is a garden in full bloom! Experience the glorious polyphony of Tallis, Byrd and Sheppard. Then, compare with devotional contemporary works, including Emily Walker’s exquisitely crafted, serene I Asked of God. At this concert, we will also present the world premiere of the winning work in our 2019 GPC Choral Works Competition — Sonnet 18, by Rémi St-Jacques.
Learn more about this exciting new composition here.
Tudor Splendour
Sheppard: Media Vita
Byrd: Mass in 4 Voices
Allan: In paradisum
Walker: I Asked of God
And more!
Grand Philharmonic Chamber Singers
Mark Vuorinen – Conductor
March 23rd, 7:30 pm
Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist, Kitchener
