King
Edward Barrie, Ontario |
“Bringing superior choral music to the communities in and around Barrie for over 50 years” |
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| About the Choir ♪ Choir Biography |
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Choir Biography
It was within
the halls of The King Edward School, in the year 1952 that the King
Edward Choir first took roots. This
historic landmark built in 1907 still stands in the heart of Allandale,
a community within Barrie. The
choir’s founder, the late Jean Dobson, gathered a small group
of teachers and parents together and formed the King Edward Ladies’ Choir. The
Home and School Choir quickly increased in size and reputation. Some of Barrie’s best male singers
were added to the ranks and, before long, both the choir and its
audiences had grown in leaps and bounds.
The secret of
success throughout its history is threefold. The King
Edward Choir has enjoyed excellent leadership, for 30 years by
Jean Dobson, then by Charles Woodrow and the late Morley Calvert. Our current Director Barbara McCann has
conducted the choir for 17 years. She
is a multi-talented musician with an impressive list of credentials
as a concert pianist, a former Music Consultant with the Simcoe County
District School Board, and as an astute and widely respected Conductor.
The second
secret to the choir’s longevity is in the varied and challenging
repertoire offered to the choristers and their audiences. Our
three-concert season includes familiar and sometimes contemporary
music, and always some of the best works from the great classics.
And finally the quality of music
and the fine leadership provide the incentive for some of the area’s
best choristers and some outstanding accompanists to be a part of the
choir. We are currently
extremely fortunate to have Jim Leonard, a virtuoso at the keyboard,
as our regular Accompanist. As
with Barbara McCann’s, Jim’s Curriculum Vitae is long and
noteworthy. These two musicians and the 75+ choristers
synchronize their skills and their interpretation of the music into three
exceptional performances each season.
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Barbara McCann is a graduate of the Crane School of Music of the University of the State of New York. She taught music in the schools of Hastings-on-the-Hudson, Scarsdale and Cornwall-on-the-Hudson before moving to Barrie with her husband Mike and their three children. Her mother-in-law, Jean, took her to a King Edward Choir concert during her first year in Barrie and she joined the choir as a chorister soon afterward. She worked for the Simcoe County Board of Education as a music teacher and as county Music Consultant for twenty-three years. She directed the Barrie Boys' Choir and founded and served as Musical Director for The Teachers' Music Theatre productions. Recently, Barb was the musical director for The Kempenfelt Players' 2006 production of "Sound of Music" as well as the musical director for their 30th Anniversary show.Barbara is in her twenty-first year as King Edward Choir's Conductor and Artistic Director. During her tenure with the choir, the annual concert season increased from two to three concerts. The choir participated in The Joy of Music Festival in Toronto, singing under the baton of Swedish conductor, Eric Ericson. It sang with the Cantabile Chorale in North York, spent ten days on a choir exchange in Zweibrücken, Germany, sang in the opening evening concert for the Colours of Music festival in 2006 with the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Lyrica Choir under the baton of Lydia Adams. This season the choir joins forces again with the Cantabile Choir in November in a Remembrance Day tribute in Barrie on November 9, 2007 and Thornhill on November 11th. The choir regularly shares its programmes with professional orchestras or ensembles and renowned vocal and instrumental soloists from across Canada. In her appreciation of those qualities that make a good conductor, the choir’s founder, the late Jean Dobson, expressed the hope that one day Barb McCann would become her successor. The Barrie musical community is privileged to have someone of Barb’s talent and experience to provide her musical leadership. |
Meet our Director
When
Jim and his wife, Lenore, took up residence in Barrie, he became
organist at Collier Street United Church and Head of Music at Innisdale
Secondary School where he taught for 27 years. Jim
has composed choral music for church, school, and community choirs. His “Gloria” for organ and trumpet has
been published in Canada.♪ Choir
sings out about Zweibrücken trip
Published in the Barrie ADVANCE
August 17, 2003
Written by Al MacLeod
I,
along with my good wife and over 60 members of the King Edward Choir
and escorts, have recently returned from a 10 day trip to Barrie’s
twin city of Zweibrücken, Germany. This
trip was part of the exchanges which have been happening between
our 2 cities since 1996. The most recent ones include:
·
several Zweibrücken city
officials who were here as guests of Barrie during the Sesquicentennial
celebrations in June
·
Students of Innisdale Secondary
School along with Ald. Dave Morrison were in Zweibrücken as their
guests also in June.
During
this visit, we were billeted (that is such a military term)…we
were guests in the family homes of citizens of Zweibrücken. Let
me clarify that one step further. We
were family in those homes. Even
the guests who chose to stay in the hotel were afforded special treatment. Anyone
I talked to during the 10 days said their hosts could not do enough
to make us feel welcome. They wanted us there. They wanted us to feel a part of their
community and family. They
wanted to show off their community and country.
I
would like to write pages about the highlights of the trip and the
awe-inspiring scenery and history of Germany (in fact I have over 200
photos and 15 pages of journal notes to that end). But
the importance of this article is how the trip was made possible, and
the effects it had on the Choir members and guests.
Jean-Maurice
Pigeon, a native of Zweibrücken (with family still there), and
resident of Barrie had a vision which started over 10 years ago to
bring the two cities he loves closer together. He
found a champion in Zweibrucken in Fritz Presl who was at that time
the Director in the Culture Office—similar to our Tourism Branch—and
an avid hockey fan. Together, they convinced Past Mayor Janice
Laking to incorporate this twinning project. The
project was then embraced in Barrie by Ald. Rob Warman who has chaired
the German Twinning Committee for the last 10 years.
Since
then, over 800 people from both cities have been guests in 18 exchanges
of culture, sport and the Youth Ambassador Exchange Programme. This has not been an easy task. There has been resistance (in both cities)
and the consequent lobbying and arm-twisting as well as the usual mix-ups
and SNAFUs that come with such a venture on this scale. However, the people associated with this program have the
tenacity to see these projects through.
Anybody
who has had the privilege to be a part of one of these exchanges, such
as the members of the King Edward Choir, benefit from the experience.
But Barrie also benefits. It also goes a bit further than that. You may appreciate a bit of it the next time you attend a
King Edward Choir concert. I
am not a member of the choir but I did attend the 3 (yes THREE) performances
it performed during the 10-day visit.
What
I found was this:
As
ambassadors for Barrie and as musicians of such high caliber, the group
rose to a challenge that compelled them to perform to a higher standard
than usual. The members
did not set out to achieve this; it just happened. In
fact, Jim Leonard the choir’s accompanist composed a special
organ piece for this event. Because
of a newly created bond among the members initiated by this trip, the
choir was more cohesive. It
gained an intimacy that manifested itself in the concerts. Now
the choir has a new paradigm to which it can measure its performances.
This is a direct result of the interaction of the choir members both
among themselves and with the citizens of Zweibrücken and Germany.
That
is the effect this type of program has on those who experience it.
With
that in mind I wish to thank:
·
Jean-Maurice Pigeon and Herr Presl
for initiating this process…
·
All the host families in Zweibrücken,
Germany for putting up with us for the 10 days.
·
The citizens of Zweibrücken
for supporting the concerts and events associated with the visit.
·
All those who had a small part to
make this trip the event it was…
·
And my gracious wife who as a member
of The King Edward Choir made it possible for me to be a part of this
visit and provide me with a lifetime of new friends and memories.
With
the success of these exchange programs, it is gratifying to see that
they will continue. Hockey
players will be here in October and there are plans underway for other
exchanges in 2004 to Germany and 2005 to Barrie. Perhaps
we may include a program that could involve businesses through the
Chamber of Commerce.