Choirs Ontario At Your Service...

Take a look at what your Choirs Ontario membership provides...

News Items...

Dynamic newsletter, published quarterly, includes choral news and articles from around the province.
E-newsletter, keeps members informed throughout the year.
Concert Listings, an online calendar of concerts and events. Concert information posted free for member choirs!
Singers Wanted, Job Postings and Available for Hire, our online listings to help you find new choir members, hire new choir employees, or find work!

Children's Choir Handbook (2003) contains information about CO member choirs' artistic team, audition process and contact information.
"How To" Series (2007) are publications that help volunteers and professional choral administrators handle the day-to-day operation and management of running a choir. Titles include:
- How to Apply for a Charitable License by Linda Beaupré
- How to Plan a Programme by Michael Tansley
- How to Organize a Concert by Mary Davis Little
- How to Make a Recording by John Barron
- How to Build a Budget by Beverley Hurlbut
- How to Manage a Choir by Marlene Fagan
- How to Audition Choristers by Gerald Fagan
- How to Organize a Library by Beverley Hurlbut
- How to Fundraise by Nigel J. Sivel
- How to Incorporate by William A. Wilson, Q.C.
Foreign Language Pronunciation for Choirs (2000) contains pronunciation guidelines for Latin, French, German, and Hebrew. Each guide serves as a reference for proper vocal pronunciation, a must for today's multi-cultural programming. Free for member choirs!

Children's Choir Reference Library is a collection of over 350 single copies of music suitable for children's choirs, chosen in consultation with conductors of children's choirs, free to CO members. If you live in the GTA, drop by the office and have a look.
Music Lending Library contains multi-copy sets of over 1,000 choral titles. The catalogue is downloadable from our website, complete with search feature. While requests for music are made through the CO office, volunteers at the University of Guelph oversee the lending of library materials. A set of single-file copies is available in the CO office to facilitate easy repertoire searches.
Provincial Intra-Choirs Library Database contains the catalogue records of participating member choirs throughout the province via the Choirs Ontario website. Each catalogue entry will list the composition details, including title, composer/arranger, publisher, voicing, accompaniment requirements, designation of Canadian content, number of copies etc., as well as the name and contact information of the host choir(s). Choirs applying to use the Library Database must be willing to have their own libraries listed. Rental policies and fee structure will be determined by individual choirs.

Ontario Youth Choir provides a unique opportunity for young singers from across Ontario to work with some of Canada's outstanding choral professionals. Every summer, 40 talented young singers are selected to participate in OYC's exciting programme of rehearsals, masterclasses and voice lessons. Members of the OYC experience musical challenges while enjoying the camaraderie of talented young colleagues from all over Ontario. Visit the CO home page for details of the next OYC summer programme.
VOCAL workshop is a four-day workshop designed for adult choral singers. The workshops present vocal and choral sessions as well as masterclasses with some of Canada’s leading clinicians. Sessions cover warm-ups, vocal health, diction and much more. Masterclass topics include: Baroque/Classical Arias, Italian Art Songs, German Lieder, Romantic music, 20th/21st Century songs, as well as stage music including opera, operetta, and musical theatre.

Ruth Watson Henderson Choral Composition Competition is a biennial competition for new choral works with categories alternating between music for treble voice choirs and music for mixed adult choirs. A panel of judges review submissions and the winning entry receives a cash award and a performance at a public concert.
Presidents' Leadership Award recognizes individuals who reside in Ontario who have made an exceptional contribution to the promotion and advancement of choral music in their communities. Candidates must have demonstrated an exceptional leadership role, vision and cultural activism and must be nominated by a CO choir or individual member.
Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting, awarded biennially since 1973, was established to support and encourage promising young choral conductors. Choirs Ontario, after a six-year hiatus during which the Ontario Arts Council managed the award, is pleased to announce that it has joined with the OAC to begin jointly administering this award. The Leslie Bell Prize will recognize “emerging” conductors, defined as choral conductors within the first ten years of their professional career. The prize, valued at $10,000, can be an important milestone in the career of a young choral conductor.

Advocacy; We support the growth and development of choral music and celebrate the achievements of exceptional individuals who have contributed to choral music throughout Ontario. We facilitate communication and strengthen relationships within the choral community and raise the profile of the choral community to the world at large. We advocate at the provincial and federal levels on behalf of our community and strive to maintain a powerful presence of choral music in Canadian society. We serve as a referral service to the public at large who wish to join or hire a choir. We maintain a news page on the CO website for the posting of newsworthy items and current developments in the world of choral music.

Member choirs may apply for reduced insurance rates for directors, as well as liability and theft coverage for choral groups.
Discounted rates for Choirs Ontario activities and events, such as VOCAL workshop, Ontario Youth Choir concerts and more – just show your Choirs Ontario membership card!
Choirs Ontario is pleased to introduce a vendor partner program providing our membership with group buying discounts! We recently negotiated an agreement with Trophy-Craft Limited. Trophy-Craft is a full service awards provider offering a wide range of products to the marketplace: custom castings, signs, plaques, ribbons, carabiners, pins, badges, pens, fleece wear and much more. Many items can be branded with your choir or organization logo! Visit the following websites to view some of the product offerings made available to our membership.
Members of Choirs Ontario will be provided with special pricing, depending on the order volume, on a per order basis. If you are a member of Choirs Ontario, you can contact Trophy-Craft directly at (905)795-1790.

Links to member choirs are posted on the Choirs Ontario website making it easy to contact choirs throughout the province.