Friday April 19, 2024
Begone Dull Care
Celebrate the coming of spring with the Monday Morning Singers!
‘Folk Songs of the Four Seasons’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams brings us the collected tunes of the English countryside...(we are, understandably, skipping the winter portion)...that sing of the land, the work and the people of the land. We also bring you folk songs of other places, from Ireland and Scotland to Cape Breton and the USA. Selections from Benjamin Britten’s ‘Friday Afternoons’ sets texts from nonsense rhymes and folk tales. Add some joyful Bach duets, some Canadian Composers, guest violinist, Wesley Bells and our friend, Chris Saunders on guitar and we have an evening of entertaining, beautiful music.
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Magnificat
The Monday Morning Singers is excited to present their plans for the Christmas choral season. The major work for this concert is the hauntingly beautiful Magnificat by Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen. This piece was commissioned by the Nidaros Cathedral Girls’ Choir and performed by them in 2010 in the medieval cathedral of Trondheim, Norway. The traditional words of the Magnificat are the response of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth “...my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoices”.
The choir will be joined by soprano soloist, Leslie Higgins and by the renowned organist, Ian Sadler. This concert also includes shorter works by composers such as Bob Chilcott, Mark Sirett and Peter Tiefenbach. Our guest artists will also perform solos of their favourite Christmas music for organ and soprano.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Heart Songs
The Monday Morning Singers, directed by Anne Mizen, and accompanied by Elaine Brandon, are pleased to announce the spring concert, Heart Songs. The choir will present Heart Songs with guest artist, Beverley Johnston. Beverley Johnston is a Canadian percussionist renowned internationally and at home as a gifted performer and a dedicated teacher. She will join the choir in a performance of "Heart Songs of the White Wampum", by Canadian composer Timothy Corlis. The music is set to poetry of E. Pauline Johnson using four poems from the collection Flint and Feather. The concert will also include other music celebrating the vast diversity of our country, Canada.
December 2, 2022
A Ceremony of Carols
This work by the esteemed composer, Benjamin Britten, is an extended choral composition for treble choir, soloists, and harp. There are eleven movements framed by a processional and recessional which include harp solos, two soprano soloists, and choral pieces sung in Latin, Middle English, and modern English. The piece was written in 1942 and has been beloved choral music for Christmas ever since.
Canadian harpist, Sharlene Wallace, who has played concert harp and solos all across the country, joins us for this performance.
The choir will also present shorter Christmas pieces from several cultures, and as always, the audience is invited to join us in singing their favourite carols.
June 10, 2022
Gloria
The Monday Morning Singers were thrilled to be singing together again and to present this spring concert, ‘Gloria’
The popular work, Gloria in D, by Antonio Vivaldi will be performed together with our guests, the Uxbridge Chamber Choir, director Thomas Baker. Our soloists are local musicians, soprano, Grace Rogers and mezzo, Jennifer Neveu. Once again, the renowned organist, Ian Sadler joins us for this concert.
Each choir will perform separately some of their favourite choral works, such as Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Fauré , Rise up My Love by Healey William as well as Red Boots by Bob Chilcot, and Alleluia by Canadian composer, Stephanie Martin.
APRIL 25, 2020
Cancelled
BEGONE, DULL CARE!
A Concert For Spring
Join the Monday Morning Singers, director, Anne Mizen, in a joyful concert of music to celebrate the coming of spring. Once again, we welcome special guest, internationally renowned organist, Ian Sadler. We are also joined by local lyric soprano, Grace Rogers. Together with our guests, the choir of 35 women, who come from a wide circle in and around Uxbridge, are delighted to present an eclectic programme. Works by Benjamin Britten, including his Missa Brevis, and his charming Friday Afternoons, combine with early music by Henry Purcell and lead to modern folk settings by Mark Sirett and original music of Connie Kaldor.
DECEMBER 1, 2019
SNOW ANGEL
Monday Morning Singers is excited to present Snow Angel, a Christmas concert featuring the major work of Canadian composer, Sarah Quartel.
Snow Angel, written for women's voices, narrators, piano, cello, and djembe, is an evocative work that depicts the world through the eyes of children and the angels who want to protect them. The choir welcomes actor Kenneth Welsh and two young friends as the narrators- Imogen Butcher and Darby Butcher. Cellist, Sybil Shanahan, also joins the choir as an instrumental soloist, along with Dan Simmons on djembe.
The concert also features Christmas choral work by both old and new composers including music by Ola Gjeilo, Gustav Holst, and John Rutter. As always, the audience is invited to sing favourite Christmas carols with the choir.
World Premier
CHIAROSCURO
APRIL 13, 2019
“CHIAROSCURO, the Italian word for the balance of painterly light and shadow, is the theme of this concert.”
The choir sings music from the time of J.S. Bach and William Byrd, as well as music from celebrated contemporary Canadian composers that include Imant Raminsh, Ruth Watson Henderson, and Mark Sirett.
However, the concert is centred around a newly revised composition by Christos Hatzis. This eclectic piece is written for choir, ambient soundscape, audience participation and guest bass clarinetist, Jeff Reilly.
Christos Hatzis, renowned Canadian composer , describes Agnus Dei as "a dark composition for our dark times with apocalyptic warning but also community-bonding through singing."
Special guests for this composition include the Uxbridge Chamber Choir, directed by Thomas Baker and Jeff Reilly, for whom the piece was also dedicated.
Jeff Reilly is a virtuosic bass clarinetist, based in Halifax, who has played in concerts and festivals all over the world.
The choir is excited to present this world premiere and invites every music lover to participate!