(press release)
Our spring program is named “Made in Canada” and will be performed at two concerts on Saturday May 6 at 7:30 pm and Sunday May 7 at 2:00 pm at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1817 Richardson Side Road in Kanata.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Goulbourn Jubilee Singers, the longest running community choir in Ottawa’s west end. In honour of the occasion, as well as Canada’s 150th, the choir commissioned three original pieces by Canadian artists which we will perform, along with a lovely selection of Canadian music, at the spring programme. Performing with us will be Command Performance, a community choir from Picton, ON with whom we will be doing an exchange, with concerts in both home cities.
The three commissioned pieces were composed by Ottawa-based artists James Wright, Stephen Eisenhauer and Laura Hawley. Ms. Hawley’s composition, “Music Makers” was inspired by “Ode”, a poem by a poem written by the English poet, Arthur O’Shaughnessy and first published in 1873. Composed for the Junior Jubilees, Ms. Hawley loved the idea of young people singing “yet we are the movers and shakers of the world” because as we know, our youth are not just our future, they are very much our present.
Mr. Eisenhauer has created two compositions from a set of four reflecting Canadian seasons and based on text by L.D. Foster, a published poet. The winter movement, “Gathered Strong”, was inspired by the tragic events at the National War Memorial in the fall of 2014, and the procession on the Highway of Heroes that followed. In his text, L.D. Foster metaphorically connects the strength of Canadians to a winter storm in which one fragile snowflake is beautiful, but many together can cause quite a wallop!
James Wright was most recently known for setting the late Jack Layton’s words “To Young Canadians” to music, which has become a viral internet sensation. His composition, “Sleep Softly Spirit of the Earth” used an excerpt from the late Alfred (“Al”) Purdy’s “The Dead Poet”. He notes it has been deeply inspiring to work with the poetry of Al Purdy, a great creative figure who was long regarded Canada’s unofficial poet laureate.
Tickets for the Ottawa show at Trinity Presbyterian Church are $15 for adults, $10 for children or seniors. Contact any member, email GJSingers@outlook.com, or contact us through our website www.gjsingers.com for tickets. The concert in Picton will take place on May 14th at 2:00 pm at the Regent Theatre. Tickets are $20 and are available at (613) 476-8416 or www.theregenttheatre.org/
About Goulbourn Jubilee Singers
The Goulbourn Jubilee Singers is a non-auditioned community choir organization, offering a wide variety of musical and social experiences. There are ensembles for adults (SATB), teens (ages 12–16), and children (ages 8–13). All three groups rehearse on Wednesday evenings, in Stittsville. Each choir performs on its own in the community, and they also perform together. This inter-generational focus is unique in the community!
The Choirs participate in many different musical events: large choral concerts, informal community sing-outs, Music Monday, an annual Junior Jubilees school tour, special commemorative events, and festivals. In 2016, an adult ensemble toured Austria and the Czech Republic.
The GJS choirs perform classical, folk, jazz, Christmas, sacred, Broadway, film, and pop repertoire. They sing in several languages, and guest instrumentalists from the community are often included. GJS is a proud member of Choirs Ontario, and strives to promote Canadian compositions and composers. Their first CD, “Why We Sing” (2014) reflects the many and varied reasons why members enjoy singing in the GJS.