The Chorale is a select mixed choir made up of voice majors, instrumental majors, and non-music majors. The choir performs music from a wide variety of styles and eras, ranging from Renaissance madrigals to contemporary compositions. In addition to their own concerts each term, the Chorale joins Western's other choirs for the Choral Celebration concert each fall, and choral orchestral concerts with both the UWO Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London Canada. It has previously been conducted by Ken Fleet. It is currently conducted by Jen Moir.
Western’s advanced women’s choir has a strong reputation across Canada as a result of their many national awards from both the CBC Choral Competitions and the Canadian Music Educators’ Association. Les Choristes have been featured in concerts for MusicFest, Contemporary Showcase, the Ontario Music Educators’ Association, and the American Choral Directors Association.
Although the choir performs repertoire from all musical eras, they specialize in music originally written for treble voices, particularly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Les Choristes has commissioned and premiered new compositions from such esteemed Canadian composers as Nancy Telfer and Ruth Watson Henderson. Les Choristes have been conducted by Robert Wood and Victoria Meredith. It is currently conducted by Jen Moir.
The St. Cecilia Singers is the Don Wright Faculty of Music’s most-recently formed women’s choir. It is an exciting ensemble capable of performing varied and interesting music. Membership is by audition and is made up of both music and non-music majors from across campus. The St. Cecilia Singers perform their own concerts on and off campus as well as joining the other choirs for the annual Choral Celebration and large choral-orchestral works. Past conductors have included Mark Bartel and Hugh McLean. It is currently conducted by Gloria Gassi.
Formed in 1999 by Gerald Neufeld,
Thames Scholars is a small choir dedicated to historically informed
performances of vocal repertoire from the Renaissance to the 19th
century. This vocal ensemble of 16 singers collaborates with the Early Music Studio
but has also explored more contemporary repertoire suitable for a small
vocal ensemble in recent years. In 2002 Thames Scholars won an
honorable mention in the CBC National Competition for Amateur Choirs’
hotly contested chamber choir category. The ensemble’s CD, Chiaroscuro, shades of love, life, and beyond,
features a variety of masterworks from the Renaissance to the
present. The name "Thames Scholars" reflects the location of the
Faculty of Music buildings situated next to the Thames River in London,
Ontario.
The University of Western Ontario Opera Workshop program has enjoyed a colourful and successful history. UWOpera continues to be a major part of the growth of the vocal program at the faculty of music. One of its claims to fame is being the first university program in North America to make use of surtitles generated by computer program. Surtitles™ (Canadian Opera Company trademark, used by permission) are projected translations for productions in a foreign language.
Audition Information
See Events
The University of Western Ontario Singers (formerly known as the
Faculty of Music Singers) has long been recognized as one of Canada's
most outstanding university mixed choral ensembles. The choir has been a
repeat winner of the CBC Radio Choral Competitions and has placed
first in the BBC International Choral Competition. They have toured in
Canada and the United States and have sung for national conventions of
the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors, the American Choral Directors Association, and the Kodály Society of Canada,
and have collaborated with other ensembles in events such as
University Voices and several concerts with Orchestra London and London
Pro Musica. They have premiered numerous commissions and new works,
including R. Murray Schafer's Apocalypsis. The diverse
repertoire styles performed by the choir are reflected in their most
recent recordings, “The King Shall Rejoice” and “Echo: Choral
Creativity in Motion”.
Selected by audition from students across campus, most members of the UWO Singers are voice majors in UWO’s Don Wright Faculty of Music. The choir performs between six and ten concerts each academic year both on and off campus, including regular performances with the UWO Symphony Orchestra.
Preceded by the University Choir directed by Alfred Rosé, the ensemble was developed as a Faculty of Music ensemble by Deral Johnson who conducted the choir from 1969-89. Since Johnson's retirement, conductors have included Ken Fleet, Gerald Neufeld, and current director, Victoria Meredith who has conducted the choir since 1998.
