Choir Review

Cantabile Choirs of Kingston

Mark Sirett

-formed in 1996

-consists of seven choirs: Junior Choir, Children’s Choir, Young Women’s Choir, Young Men’s Chorus, Youth Singers, Women’s Chorus, Men’s Chorus.

-over 250 voices

- known for providing high standard performance and quality choral literature

-choral season consists of five themed concerts with invited guests of national and international acclaim.

-All seven choirs participate in season concerts.

-repertoire consists of old and new songs from Canada and around the world.

- 19^th choral season titled “postcards” will launch in November 2014

Mark Sirett:

-a Kingston native

-Queens University Graduate

-Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from University of Iowa

-won two international awards, and several others

-also an award winning composer

-his works are frequently performed by some of Canada’s leading ensembles

Five repertoire recommendations:

-all of these pieces are new compositions by Mark Sirett

1.      It Is Good To Give Thanks – this piece can be used as a new anthem for Thanksgiving praise. It is an easy and accessible work that can be used for the average church choir.  

2.      Immortal Love- this piece was composed in honor of Dr. F. R. C. Clarke, a noted church musician and Canadian composer. This piece is moderately easy, yet delivers a powerful statement of faith and hope. Thus making it acceptable and effective to use for less advanced choirs.

3.      Beltane-A Branch of May- this piece can be used for a children’s or women’s choir, a SATB choir and chamber orchestra. It is a major concert work, running approximately twenty minutes. This is a more difficult piece that can be used as a good pedagogical tool to increase the choir’s skills in the process of preparing for a more serious performance.

4.      The Curragh of Kildare- a traditional Irish folksong. This piece is fairly easy and can be used in concert setting to balance out the difficulty of more difficult pieces.

5.      Every Child Has Known God- this piece is a treble work based on a spiritual by a Persian Poet, Hafiz. I chose this piece because it can be equally effective for children’s, teens and women’s voices, thus providing one with much flexibility for use with different ages and choirs.