- Meet our Director - Meet our  Accompanist - Meet some of our Members - The Choir

Meet our Director

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.

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. The choir joined forces again with the Cantabile Choir in November 2007 in a Remembrance Day tribute in Barrie and Thornhill. 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.

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Blair Bailey will be the organist for the first three concerts. Blair is a private piano and organ teacher in the Orillia area. He has been organist and choir director at St. Paul's United Church in Orillia for twenty-three years, as well as music director of many musical productions, both in Orillia and Coldwater. He is artistic director of the Orillia Kiwanis Festival, and past president of the Simcoe-Muskoka Royal College of Church Organists.

Nena LaMarre will be our accompanist for the Spring Sing. She has performed over the past 37 years as a soloist, recitalist, collaborator and teacher. During her varied career, she was the winner of many top festival awards as a soloist and chamber musician. She received a scholarship to study with Boris Berlin at the Royal Conservatory of Music, earning an ARCT in both piano performance and teaching. She continued her studies at the University of Western Ontario, obtaining a Bachelor of Music with honours in piano performance. Nena has been invited as a guest teacher to Concordia and Sir Wilfred Laurier Universities. Nena currently resides in Barrie, where she is working to complete her Suzuki Teacher Training certification, in order to share her expertise in teaching piano to young children.

We welcome these talented musicians to our concert season.

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Meet some of our Members –Who sings in the Choir?

Jennifer Harris is returning to the choir after having sung in it as a teenager along with her sister. Now with two children and a busy job, Jenn enjoys a night out singing with the gang. A recent soloist in the Spring 2008 concert, Jenn got a chance to show off her talent for gospel music. Jenn is also a frequent guest pianist and soloist at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she also sings in duos and trios. She’s also part of the Barrie trio, Lumina. In addition to music, Jenn is active at Westminster and is an integral part of their Vacation Bible School camp as lead “camper” this summer. Watch for Jenn in the Alto section of the Choir.

Susan Cowan is not only a member of the Soprano section but also the choir’s vocal coach and a frequent soloist. She is a University of Toronto graduate with a degree in Music Performance, and sang with the Canadian Opera Company, Orpheus Choir, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before moving to Barrie. Her solo performances have included Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Rutter's Magnificat and Mass of the Children, Mozart's Requiem, Poulenc's Gloria, and Leonard's Maria Chapdelaine Mass. Opera, operetta and stage credits include roles in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief, Harron and Campbell's Anne of Green Gables, Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, Princess Ida, The Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, and The Mikado. She was thrilled to perform as a choir member and soloist on the King Edward Choir tours to Germany and Newfoundland.

A committed music educator, Susan is a faculty member of both Georgian College and Laurentian University, and she teaches music for the City of Barrie Community Program. She is a member of the Barrie Opera Society and a board member of Colours of Music.

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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 over 21 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 four-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. Susan Cowan, one of the choir's sopranos, is a graduate of the Opera School at the University of Toronto. She is the choir's voice coach, and we credit much of our fine choral sound to her coaching. Jim Leonard, our accompanist and resident composer for the past nine seasons, is moving to British Columbia. Margie Padfield, who had been our accompanist before Jim's tenure, is returning to accompany the choir this season. Blair Bailey will play harpsichord or organ for our first three concerts. These musicians and the 75+ choristers synchronize their skills and their interpretation of the music into four exceptional performances this season.

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