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SING OPERETTA PLAIN FUN FROM START TO FINISH
PLAIN FUN from start to finish - that’s what the audience can expect when the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC) presents its fourth and final concert of its 25/26 Season on Saturday, May 23rd at Avondale United Church (Stratford). SING OPERETTA presents a collection of the most joyful music on the planet. A thrilling spring treat, the program will feature some of the frothiest, silliest and downright most absurd songs ever sung – works by none other than Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Strauss and Herbert. And adding their talents to this unmatchable lineup of memorable melodies will be soloists Julie Ludwig, Yanik Gosselin, Giles Tomkins and special guest Maria Soulis.
SCC fans who have already been moved earlier by CHRISTMAS ACROSS CANADA, THE MESSIAH, and Mozart’s REQUIEM will find much to enjoy and be familiar with in SING OPERETTA. The program is rich in carefully selected pieces from TRIAL BY JURY, HMS PINAFORE, The SORCERER, THE GONDOLIERS and THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE by the incomparable team of Gilbert and Sullivan. Less familiar perhaps but equally entertaining and engaging are selections from LA VIE PARISIENNE and LES BRIGANDS by French composer Jacques Offenbach, from DIE FLEDERMAUS by German composer Johann Strauss II, and from NAUGHTY MARIETTA by Irish American composer Victor Herbert.
The soloists SCC director Alexander Cann has engaged for SING OPERETTA come from both the east and west coasts as well as closer to home . The range of their individual oratorio and opera and operetta experiences will add to the appeal and richness of this particular program. Since 2015 soprano Julie Ludwig’s career in recital and opera has taken her to stages across Canada while tenor Yanik Gosselin is based in Halifax where he celebrates exploring a variety of musical genres and finding innovative ways to tell new stories through music. Canadian/British bass-baritone Giles Tomkins enjoys an enviable reputation for his rich characterizations in both opera and operetta productions from coast to coast, paralleling his appearances as a guest soloist with many of Canada’s finest choirs and ensembles. And special guest artist mezzo soprano Maria Soulis has been praised internationally for her “warm and powerful” voice which has also been described as “gorgeous, dusky-toned” with a “ruby-red timbre”.
Alexander Cann is himself an unapologetic fan of comic opera (aka operetta), the forerunner of today’s popular musicals, and this is never more fully evident than when he is grabbing a moment during rehearsals to share with his choristers a snippet from the history and evolution of this comedic form of musical entertainment. “Much of the appeal of these pieces,” Cann emphasizes, “lies not just in the incomparable music, but also in the cleverness of the libretti, - the words and how they are crafted for the best effect.” He adds, “In that regard, there is no one better at their craft than Victorian satirist William Gilbert whose zingers still surprise, astound, tantalize and delight audiences today.”
SING OPERETTA will be accompanied by SCC pianist and choral coach Paula Ortelli.
The Stratford Concert Choir under the baton of Alexander Cann presents SING OPERETTA at Avondale United Church, Stratford, Ontario on Saturday, May 23rd at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at stratfordconcertchoir.org or at Blowes Stationery, 34 Wellington Street, Stratford.
Welcoming our new Artistic Director, Alexander Cann
Stratford Concert Choir is delighted to welcome Alexander Cann as our Artistic Director for this coming 2025-2026 season. He brings a wealth of experience and love of music covering a wide range of styles and history. We are excited to work with him to bring you a great musical variety, some familiar, some older, some new works, and together looking forward to exploring more by Canadian composers.
Born in Toronto, Cann attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and has degrees from McMaster and McGill Universities. He is known for his extraordinary musicality and is an accomplished and multifaceted music leader as a choral conductor, pianist, and teacher.
Cann has served as Artistic Director of Hamilton's Bach Elgar Choir since 2010. Their performances, since 2019, include three substantial works for choir and orchestra by contemporary Canadian composers: Stephen Chatman’s Magnificat, James Rolfe's Open Road, and Jean Coulthard's Quebec May.
His achievements include two innovative film projects: 2019’s critically acclaimed original soundtrack for Fritz Lang's film, Metropolis; in 2023 and 2024, Space Journey, an original film project combining cosmic imagery with a live soundtrack of French and British choral masterworks. Cann has developed innovative and entertaining programs, such as Baroque Opera Choruses, Canadian Folksongs, and Music from World War One.
We look forward collaborations with outside groups, a vision shared by Cann. Our first joint venture is sharing the stage with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s great masterpiece - Messiah. This year we have added a Sunday afternoon performance to our usual Saturday evening time, December 14th and 15th. Start your Christmas season with this wonderful celebration!
Cann is also a founding director of the Three Choir Festival, a rotating choral festival featuring Bach Elgar with the Georgetown Bach Chorale and Oakville Masterworks Chorus. The most recent concert, in October 2024, featured the Festival Chorus in Handel’s Coronation Anthems as well as Cann as a soloist in Bach’s Concerto for Three Harpsichords in C Major. He has been the Director of Music at Melrose United Church since 2013.
We are excited to invite you to join us in our coming season. We see exciting times ahead under Cann’s leadership. He is creating a variety of programs that you will find st enjoyable and entertaining.
Join us in song
Have you ever noticed how music can transport you to a different place, another time, or perhaps even an altered frame of mind? Listening to Gordon Lightfoot’s Sit Down Young Stranger album replays fond memories of early courtship days with my wife, Yvonne.
Any genre of music can work wonders this way. Stéphane Potvin, Director of the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC), remembers his first choir experience in college, learning a Mozart Mass, then going grocery shopping with his school mates and singing one of the fugues on the way to the store. “It was glorious”, he says.
Scientists, of course, have been busy figuring out an empirical, measurable reason for why we should enjoy music. Apparently there’s a neurological basis for all this. The human brain is hardwired for tunes. There are six neural centres that respond to sound. One of these is devoted exclusively to music.
Studies have also shown that endorphins and dopamine are released when we listen to music. Endorphins increase feelings of wellbeing and foster social closeness. Dopamine gives us highs when we do something pleasurable – chocolate, sex, drugs (legal, of course!) - you name it.
Here’s the most interesting take-away from all this research. If you listen to music, you get a high. If you perform music with others, such as in a choir, you get a greater high. If you sing in a large choir, you experience an even greater high. It’s like dopamine on steroids. So who needsdrugs? Or chocolate for that matter, although that might be going a bit too far. All you need to do is sing together. As one SCC member puts it: “I feel a sense of joy and connection that is hard to replicate”. Another says: “Sharing in the making of music with friends old and new…is good for the soul”.
Naturally this involves some practice and dedication but you are part of a supportive group under the guidance of an amazing director. There is work to do but there is also humour, banter, and immense satisfaction. You will be introduced to beautiful music you had no idea existed. When the songs come together there is a “wow” moment. “It feels like riding a wave”, as one choir member so aptly describes it.
Well, you are in luck. By sheer coincidence, the Stratford Concert Choir (SCC) needs more voices and is holding auditions in late May, early June and late August. These auditions are welcoming and non-threatening so there is nothing to fear; you don’t need to be a professional singer. So give it a try; there is little to lose and so much to gain. To find out more about the choir and to register for an audition go to: http://www.stratfordconcertchoir.org/join
