Sing with us!
Our adult choir is an auditioned symphonic SATB choir of about 130 singers. We also have a smaller chamber ensemble, drawn from our adult choir.
Contact our administrator to schedule an audition for the 2025-26 season!
Find out what some of our singers love about being part of the Grand Philharmonic Choir!
Christopher Cantlon, Bass
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
8.5 years
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Bach always tops my list, but I enjoy the challenges of the new/contemporary works.
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
My most memorable concert is probably the first concert I sang. The energy and thrill of performing in front of the audience in the amazing Centre in the Square hall was electrifying.
Why do you sing?
I sing for pleasure, for the sense of group accomplishment, and for the challenge of learning.
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
Singing with the GPC gives my life a focus and a sense of weekly rhythm. It also keeps me learning and active.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
Perhaps the greatest surprise is how much each concert teaches me something new about works I have sung before. I am surprised, too, by the variety of “earworms” (good ones) that tickle my brain.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
I look forward to the energy I feel after rehearsal that lasts through the week.
Claire Cunin, Alto
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
1 year
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Sicut Cervus and Luminous Night of the Soul
What has been your most memorable concert to sing with the GPC and why?
Mozart Requiem has been my most memorable concert with the GPC as it was my first, and because I moved recently to KW I was also discovering the beautiful location of Center in the Square and the amazing KW musicians!
Why do you sing?
I started to play music before learning how to read and always enjoyed playing different instruments. Using my own body as a musical instrument is another way to express myself! Professionally, as I often have to talk to people, it’s giving me more confidence and helping me to “build up” my voice.
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
As a newcomer in Ontario it has helped me to meet new people and start to have a social life in the area, while doing music at a very high quality.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
I’ve surprisingly discovered during warm-ups that I’m incapable of singing numbers backwards in English!
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
I’m very tempted to say the home made snacks during the breaks… But it’s also discovering a new part of a piece and hearing it getting better week after week!
Hannah Epstein, Alto
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
1.5 seasons
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
My favorite piece to sing with the choir thus far was Mozart’s Requiem.
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
My most memorable concert with the GPC was our fall 2023 concert, Mozart’s Requiem and Estacio’s The Houses Stand Not Far Apart. The partnering of the two left me reeling. Honestly reckoning with difficult, tragic themes, both compositions gave me the opportunity to reflect on war, grief, and mortality and then move forward. It felt important to understand the darker aspects of being alive. It felt important, too, to be grateful for that life and strive to be better. The concert as a whole taught me things about being human that I have not encountered as personally or profoundly anywhere else.
Why do you sing?
I sing because I can’t imagine life without it. I sing with the GPC because they use choral music as a force for good, and that makes it a wonderful community to call home.
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
Singing with the GPC enabled me to find community as someone new to Canada and the KW region. I am happier and healthier because they care about their people and the music that I love.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
Every Monday during the season I look forward to Mark’s incredibly good artistic direction, the challenge of nailing beautiful music, and the camaraderie in singing together!
Elizabeth Martin, Alto
How long have you been singing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
12 seasons
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Handel’s Messiah
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
The concert we (Chamber Singers) gave at the public library when we were debuting our Annelies. Many of us spontaneously cried as we sang. I will never forget that moment.
Why do you sing?
In no particular order, it makes me happy, it challenges me, I can’t keep from singing!
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
Singing the big orchestral repertoire is exciting and inspiring. as part of the GPC we have opportunities to make music with world-class musicians. I often find I am pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming. I have also grown so much in my own choral conducting practices, I feel like each week is a master class.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
I am surprised by how proud I feel of myself at the end of a concert. Nearly every time the audience applauds I get a bit teary with satisfaction and appreciation. Also the variety of repertoire is exciting while never being trite.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
Making music, learning something about myself as a musician as well as how to be a better musician.
Sean Simpson, Bass
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
I began singing in what is now the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir over 30 years ago.
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
My favourite piece is the Bach St. Matthew Passion. Back when I sang in the Youth Choir, Howard Dyck invited us to sing the large choruses and chorales with the adult choir, and I’ve never looked back! It is an unrivaled composition in my books!
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
One year, Ben Heppner sang the Tenor solos in the Messiah. While Baroque oratorio isn’t exactly what he’s known for, his interpretation of some of the recitatives and arias were utterly delicious!
Why do you sing?
It’s a tonic for all that ails me. Also, it’s probably the only few hours each week that work isn’t weighing on my mind!
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your live?
It balances me. It challenges me. It connects me with other people all united around a single purpose.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
That over the last 10 years or so, the choir (and the audience) is getting younger – which is terrific news for the long-term sustainability of the choir and the arts more generally.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
Watching our accompanist, Ian, crush the orchestral reduction on piano!
Josh Rampersad, Bass
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
One season
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
My most memorable concert was the performance of Considering Matthew Shepard. Exploring this terrible event through the thoughtful and moving composition by Craig Hella Johnson showed the power of music to grapple with difficult ideas, experiences, and stories. The choir and the audience connected at a musical level and at a human level. It was truly a transcendent experience.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
The diversity of backgrounds of the choristers! We have choristers of all ages, careers, and tenures in the choir.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
Singing as a group works the musical muscles in my brain while being a great opportunity to connect with other choristers in person. As a remote worker, this time to connect musically and socially with members of my community is a vital to keeping me sane
Emma Stout, Alto
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
1 year
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Tie: Mozart’s Requiem and Whitacre’s Cloudburst!
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC and why?
Our Requiem concert was incredibly moving thanks to the Musicians of the KW Symphony, who were reunited for the first time since the symphony itself was shuttered. There was a palpable connection between the musicians and audience, especially coupled with the powerful sadness of Requiem.
Why do you sing?
There’s something fundamental about the human voice. So much of our brains, culture, and lives are centred around talking and communicating with one another. When we sing, unaided and together, it feels like the purest kind of music there is.
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
GPC gives me, of course, the chance to sing. With regular rehearsals and concerts, it’s a fantastic way to keep the hobby prioritized in my life. Once I’m actually in the room, I learn so much from the voices around me and the repertoire that continually pushes my musicianship.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
How much I’ve (re)discovered in great choral works. We know, sometimes from before we can remember, that Mozart and Beethoven and Bach are “great”. But it is quite another thing to be immersed in their greatness, and to be made mindful of the intricate details of these major pieces as if hearing them again for the first time!
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
To hear and be a part of world-class music, all around me, every single time.
Sean Winchester, Tenor
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
3 years
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Brahms Requiem!
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
As unusual and chilly as it was, my most memorable concert so far was the performance in Columbia Forest, where audience members were able to wander through the trails and hear us at various points along the way. The autumn atmosphere made it all a bit surreal, and the opportunity to be singing together in the midst of COVID restrictions made it quite special.
Why do you sing?
Music and community are inseparable for me. Singing is, I believe, one of the most natural forms of music making and is most fulfilling when it is done with others. Because of this, I have always sought out opportunities to sing in choirs or in music theatre productions – very fulfilling!
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
Singing with the GPC provides me with an ongoing musical challenge. Both the repertoire and Mark, himself, (rightly) ask a lot of us to do the music justice. Having an ongoing opportunity to be challenged in this way keeps me from stagnating musically when life gets busy and other opportunities for creativity are more scarce.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
I’m regularly impressed by the breadth of skill and experience that the GPC draws. It’s a real pleasure to work with and learn from such capable folk.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
I’ve done a fair amount of choral conducting and instruction over the years, and I really appreciate that I’m able to learn something every rehearsal to add to my toolkit for the next time I’m in front of an ensemble.
Yi Ye, Tenor
How long have you sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
1.5 seasons
What is your favourite piece to sing with the Grand Philharmonic Choir?
Anything Bach!
What has been your most memorable concert with the GPC, and why?
For me, two concerts come to mind. The concert with Mozart’s Requiem holds a special place in my heart since it was my first concert with the GPC. It felt like a dream the whole time. Before this, I had always seen youtube videos of musicians performing in beautiful concert halls in front of massive audiences and thought to myself “That couldn’t be me”, but in this concert, that was me! I can still remember how cool the whole process was, from dress rehearsals with the orchestra to performing with famous soloists.
The second one was probably the “Music around the World” concert last winter. We sang in so many languages, in so many rhythms, and in such unique ways that I will never forget.
Why do you sing?
I just think it’s cool.
What impact does singing with the GPC have on your life?
Whether it is a Classical masterpiece or some new contemporary music, the music we sing at GPC is unbeknownst to the general population. This means that I can’t really share my passion for this type of music anywhere but Mondays from 7:30-10:00 with the GPC.
What has been the greatest surprise about singing with the GPC?
We are such a formidable force! Whether we are in our usual rehearsal space or elsewhere, we always fill up the room with sound that brings shivers down spines.
What do you look forward to about going to rehearsals each week?
The snacks at break time are too good to pass up!