The following people won at our Grand Prize draw on January 20th (License number 853412):
First prize, $1000: Sharon Wadley, Kitchener, ticket 0759
Second prize, $800: Greg Fichter, Kitchener, ticket 0013
Third prize, $700: Weixi Fan, Kitchener, ticket 1015
Fourth prize, $500: Ernie McCullough, Kitchener, ticket 0964
Early bird prize winners:
November 25 – two tickets for Swan Lake with State Ballet of Ukraine at Centre In The Square: John Harder, New Hamburg, ticket 1230
November 25 – two tickets to a show of the winner’s choice at the Registry Theatre: David Imrie, Kitchener, ticket 0702
December 2 – two tickets to a concert of the winner’s choice from Elora Singers: Kate Pasula, Waterloo, ticket 0525
December 9 – $100: Lynda Smith, Waterloo, ticket 0378
December 16 – $200: Tomas Guidolin, Stratford, ticket 1187
January 6 – gift basket from Vincenzo’s worth $100: Ingrid Armbruster, Waterloo, ticket 0254
January 13 – $300: Helen Basson, Waterloo, ticket 0270
Thanks to all for supporting the choir!
We’re thrilled to welcome Greer Schatz to our artistic team starting this fall!
Our Raffle (Licence # M853828) had its final grand draw on November 20, 2023.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this fundraiser for the choir!
The winners are:
Neil Craik of Kitchener, ticket number 835, $1,000 prize
Michelle Oran of Kitchener, ticket number 0916, $800 prize
Angie MacDonald of Goderich, ticket number 0899, $700 prize
Marhee Clifton of Waterloo, ticket number 0530, $500 prize
Early bird draw winners:
Nancy Regehr of Waterloo, ticket number 0438, t-shirt and gift certificate for Apollo Cinema, $49 value
Nancy Regehr of Waterloo, ticket number 0438, tour of TWB Brewery for four plus two growlers of beer, $150
Serena Blanchett of Kitchener, ticket number 0829, tickets to State Ballet of Ukraine, value $123
Helen Basson of Waterloo, ticket number 0699, $110
Helen Basson of Waterloo, ticket number 0700, Vincenzo’s Gift Basket, $100 value
Gemma Ricker of Kitchener, ticket number 1400, Green Goddess gift certificate, and basket of olive oils from the Olive Experience, $128.99
Falcon Ottara of Woodstock, ticket number 1273, $200
A spellbinding new choral and orchestral work about water – and a community’s struggle to protect this precious resource – will be premiered at the final concert of the 100th season of the Grand Philharmonic Choir on May 28 in Kitchener.
Water: An Environmental Oratorio is written by composer Stephanie Martin, with lyrics by playwright Paul Ciufo and guidance from Indigenous environmental activist Vicki Monague. It tells the story of a small community that has the chance to bring in an industrial development that would create jobs, but would also pose a risk to the environment.
This evocative oratorio describes the wrenching debate that ensues, but also explores water on other levels – as an entity with a voice of its own, surrounded by water spirits; and as a life-giving element that has inspired Hildegard von Bingen, Confucius and Goethe, among others.
For the past two years, the oratorio’s creators have worked with the Philharmonic Choir singers and choir artistic director, Mark Vuorinen, while the piece was taking shape. There have been workshops, conversations and recounting of personal history.
Monague, whose own work as a water protector activist provided inspiration for the piece, has brought guidance throughout the creative process. She also is a founder of the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Languages working group.
“It’s been a very collaborative process,” said Vuorinen. “It’s always both exciting and daunting to bring life to a new work.”
“Water is everywhere, around us and in us, yet we rarely stop to consider how much we rely on this essential element,” Martin said.
“We assume it will always be there when we need it, but we don’t appreciate how fragile and threatened this resource is.
“It’s helpful to disrupt our stagnant modes of thinking and consider this Anishinaabe teaching: it is a sacred duty to protect Water. Our existence depends on it.”
Martin is a composer of note, whose works have been performed across North American and internationally. Her cantata, Winter Nights; an opera, Llandovery Castle (about nurses who perished in the First World War); and Babel: a choral symphony, written for the 40th anniversary of the WiIfrid Laurier University faculty of music, have been performed in Waterloo Region by the Philharmonic Choir, other choral ensembles, and opera and choral students at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Martin said she’s excited to start a conversation about water with this new work, which was commissioned thanks to a donation from Dan Leader and Deborah Finlayson of Toronto.
She said she expects listeners to see themselves in some of the roles and complex relationships expressed in the oratorio.
Martin asked, “What will you do when confronted with a difficult decision?”
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Water: An Environmental Oratorio will be performed Sunday May 28 at 3 p.m. at the Centre In The Square in Kitchener, by the 140 combined voices of the adult, youth and children’s choirs, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and soloists: Katy Clark, soprano; Marion Newman, mezzo-soprano; Jean-Philippe Lazure, tenor; and Phillip Addis, baritone.
Bruckner’s powerful Romantic work, Te Deum, opens this concert, which is the final performance by the choir in the year it celebrates 100 years of continuous singing.
Tickets ($10 to $40) are available at www.centreinthesquare.com or 519-578-1570.
A chamber version of the work will be performed June 4 at the Huron Waves Music Festival, 3 p.m. at Trivitt Auditorium in Exeter. A six-metre-wide sculpture of the Earth accompanies this performance. For more information, visit huronwaves.ca
For more information contact:
Mark Vuorinen, choir artistic director, Grand Philharmonic Choir: mvuorine@uwaterloo.ca
Stephanie Martin, composer: stmartin@yorku.ca
Paul Ciufo, lyricist: paulciufo@gmail.com
Vicki Monague, adviser: onjibiisaa@gmail.com
Stephanie Martin
Paul Ciufo
Vicki Monague
Mark Vuorinen
Chamber Singers and Adult Choir rehearsals are cancelled for February 27 due to weather. Stay warm, and we’ll see you next week!
Our Raffle (Licence # 853779) had its final grand draw on February 6, 2023.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this fundraiser for the choir!
The winners are:
Kathy Stephenson of Woodstock, ticket number 1621, $1,000 prize
Sarah Moroz of Waterloo, ticket number 0190, $800 prize
Shannon Blake of Toronto, ticket number 0274, $700 prize
Erich Rueb of Kitchener, ticket number 0572, $500 prize
Early bird draw winners:
Janet Craik of Kitchener, ticket number 0491, gift basket from Vincenzo’s, value $100
Jenny Shantz of Waterloo, ticket number 0964, $200
Roger Musselman of Kitchener, ticket number 1320, tour and gifts from Together We’re Bitter Brewery
Tereza Korbel of Waterloo, ticket number 1532, $100
Ellen Couchman of Newmarket, ticket number 0998, $200 gift certificate to Sole Restaurant
Paul Marchment of Kitchener, ticket number 1137, $300
Meet our new Assistant Conductor!
The Grand Philharmonic Choir is pleased to announce that Thomas Corken has been appointed as its assistant conductor.
“Tom brings infectious enthusiasm and strong musicianship to his work on the podium, and he will strengthen the organization’s ability to take on outreach and educational opportunities,” said Mark Vuorinen, who is artistic director and conductor of the choir.
Corken began in November, and his term will continue until June 2023, with the possibility of being engaged with the choir for an additional year.
He will lead sectional rehearsals and enrich other aspects of the choir’s concert preparation. He will also take on outreach and other public events; and he will choose the repertoire and conduct a full concert in March 2023 with the choir’s Chamber Singers ensemble.
“I am thrilled to start my work with the Grand Philharmonic Choir,” Corken said.
“I am a great supporter of Canadian choral music, and relish the opportunity to share music with the singers from a variety of contemporary composers. I look forward to sharing my love of choral music, and I hope to learn more about my craft as a conductor.”
Corken is currently completing a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at Western University, where he is the assistant conductor of Chorale, a mixed-voice ensemble. He is a Canada Graduate Scholar and was awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the Deral Johnson Legacy Award in Choral Conducting. He completed his undergraduate work at McMaster University, and has also worked with the Hamilton Children’s Choir, as co-director of its changing-voice ensemble Profunda, and as a rehearsal assistant for several years with Zimfira Poloz.
Tom is currently the assistant conductor of the Pride Men’s Chorus of London, and sings with the Huron College Chapel Choir as a choral scholar. He is Kodály Level One certified, and has contributed to Dynamic, Choir Ontario’s online magazine.
The Grand Philharmonic Choir manages four choirs in one organization: adult symphonic; adult chamber; youth; and children. We present a total of eight formal concerts a year, and our singers also perform at other events such as Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony concerts, and at Christkindl Market in December. Our choirs also provide music education to singers of all ages, and we share our deep love of music with the public through outreach events.
Vuorinen has been the choir’s artistic director since 2010. Under his leadership, the choir has presented some of the most innovative and ambitious programming in the country, while also offering the well-loved classic choral works to appreciative audiences.
This season, the choir is also celebrating its 100th anniversary with a rich array of concerts and special events.
We are seeking a part-time Administrative Assistant to be part of a three-person administrative team, which supports music activities, singers, conductors, families and other stakeholders of the choir.
Details can be found here: Job posting for GPC AA