The Elora Singers
75A Melville St N0B 1S0 Elora, ON, Canada

Congratulations to Barbara Croall for her appointment to the Order of Ontario. Barbara is an outstanding talent and we were fortunate to work with her on our most recent CD.

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope 2021 brings you success, happiness and adventure!

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families. We hope you are having a day full of happiness and love.

How are you spending New Year's Eve? Why not ring in your new year with one of the concerts from our Nativity Festival? All three concerts, "A Quiet Village", "A Village Messiah", and "A Festival of Carols" are available to watch until January 4.... www.elorasingers.ca

If you liked our 2020 season, sign up for news on our upcoming 2021 concerts and plans for the 2021 summer Elora Festival. www.elorasingers.ca

Picture this: it’s the last weekend before Christmas. You’ve got all your shopping and wrapping finished, the cookies are baked, school is done for the year, and the holidays have begun. You and your household put on your coziest pajamas, grab a mug of hot cocoa, and snuggle around the fire, while Colm Feore, Malcolm Gladwell, and Karen Kain settle in to read you a Christmas story, and listen to some music. ... Just a typical Saturday night, right? We're so pleased to welcome these three Canadian icons to our program on Saturday, December 19. Join us for A Festival of Carols, our program of holiday favourites, featuring festive readings from Colm Feore, Malcolm Gladwell, and Karen Kain. You’ll have to sort out the pj’s, cookies and cocoa on your own...but tickets to our broadcast are available at: www.elorasingers.ca

Decadent Descants It’s the moment you wait for all season. For one verse, the sopranos get the soaring high notes of their dreams, and the altos might just get the melody for a moment. The tenors sigh jealously and the basses get to laugh about it. Descants add drama, decoration and a bit of extra altitude to some of our favourite Christmas carols. ... But what are they exactly? Why do we sing them? Which one is THE best? Read on to learn more, and leave a comment if you dare to weigh in Taken from the latin discantus or singing apart, a descant is unique from other harmonies, in that they generally sit above the melody. While the meaning has evolved over time, the modern choral descant is a soaring line given to the top voice, which ornaments and embellishes the tune. They are most commonly associated with liturgical singing (and carols, by extension) and lend variety to hymns, which are generally stropic (*cough* repetitive *cough*). In the same way that soloists often add elaborate, florid notes to decorate a repeated melody in baroque music (did you notice the ornaments in Handel’s Messiah last week?), descants keep carols interesting. Descants are a bit like tinsel on a tree: a little goes a long way, and people tend to have strong opinions about when and where to use it. The descant is often reserved for a later verse...sometimes the penultimate verse - before ending in unison - or as a showstopping finale. As for the BEST descant, we’ll leave it for you to debate** below. And once you’ve cooled off, don’t forget to join us on December 19 for A Festival of Carols. You might just hear a descant or two! www.elorasingers.ca (**For the record, the correct answer is Hark! The Herald Angel Sing, for the funky dissonance in the last line...with an honourable mention to O Come, All Ye Faithful for the noodling on glory)

Thank you also to our Artistic Director Mark Vuorinen and Executive Director Laura Adlers for their creativity and guidance for "A Nativity Festival". Mark and Laura found creative ways to record new, in-person recordings for these concerts, managed changing health regulations, and helped oversee strict COVID-19 protocols. This was a huge project and involved a lot of planning and superb teamwork. The success of this original online festival gives us new ideas and encourageme...nt to produce future online offerings to share our music with all of Canada and beyond. Thank you both for all your hard work - we are so fortunate to work with you!

We also want to thank the team behind the scenes, who helped produce the videos, broadcast, and promote our concerts: Choir Manager Christina Stelmacovich Patron Services Manager Nikki Neelam Gomes... Our sound editors at JK Sound Studios Lighting design from Soundbox Productions Videographers Dave Wettlaufer, Jaron Kemp, and Jason Ransom Post-production and broadcast team of Michael Fisher, Jeremy Bernard and Micah Sky at Soundstream Studio Cathy Landolt, Louise Reynolds, and Victoria Borg at Blue Elephant Productions our amazing volunteer team of Ann Hill, Jane Rapp, Ben Wallace, Francesco and Nicholas Lai, Charlotte Logan, and Tez Darnell K & K Greenhouses for the beautiful poinsettias and Revel Coffee House for the use of their space to record Colm Feore

Our audiences have shared such kind words with us about our Nativity Festival concerts. We're so glad our music is making a difference. Our series concludes on Saturday, December 19 with "A Festival of Carols". Don't miss out on this wonderful online concert experience! Tickets at: www.elorasingers.ca... *Concerts are available to watch on demand until January 4.*

Our Nativity Festival has been included in this list of concerts not to be missed! Thank you to our friends at Ludwig van Toronto!

We want to thank the following organizations and people for their ongoing support for The Elora Singers. Their contributions make it possible for us to continue to develop programming and initiatives like the digital concerts featured in "A Nativity Festival" and to support Canadian talent. Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada Canadian Heritage Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario... Celebrate Ontario Temerty Foundation Ontario Arts Foundation And our major donors: Estate of Rick Durst Peter Barr and Wendy Donohue Spaenaur Inc. Temerty Foundation Jo-Ann Martin Alan Ralston Bank of Nova Scotia Ken and Susan Edwards Chris and Jean Houston Randall Howard Jeff and Debbie Ostic Wallenstein Feed & Supply Ltd. Charitable Foundation Hania and Peter White

We celebrate along with our Executive Director Laura Adlers as she was officially appointed an Officer of the Cross of Recognition by His Excellency Krlis Eihenbaums, Ambassador for the Republic of Latvia in Canada on December 18. Laura is recognized for her many years of promoting Latvian culture and artists to an international audience, especially in Canada. Of note are her many years of promoting guest artists of the Toronto Latvian Concert Association and producing and ...promoting concerts for the last three Latvian Song Festivals in Canada. She was instrumental in organizing international tours for the Latvian Youth Choir BALSIS, and producing choral workshops for conductor Ints Teterovskis. Laura co-produced the award-winning Nordic Light Symphony Tour for composer riks Ešenvalds, in collaboration with Artistic Director Robert Cooper, Managing Director Lisa Griffiths, and the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, and most recently produced the State Choir LATVIJA's Canadian debut tour in 2019. In addition to her work as an arts manager and producer, she is also a published translator and regular contributor to the award-winning Latvian Literature platform, which was established in order to promote Latvian literature and its distribution abroad. Congratulations, Laura! What a great way to end your year.

The final concert in our Nativity Festival premieres this Saturday, December 19 at 8pm via YouTube. Tickets are available now: www.elorasingers.ca All three concerts in "A Nativity Festival" are available for viewing on demand until January 4.

Calm and Bright: Silent Night in times of trial Throughout the country and around the world, we’re preparing for a Christmas unlike any we’ve experienced. For many, it will be an unusually quiet affair, amidst a backdrop of trials and turmoil. This juxtaposition of serenity and chaos was present at the advent of Franz Gruber’s Silent Night, and has followed the piece throughout history. More than 200 years ago, on December 24 1818, Stille Nacht premiered in Austria. Th...e region was in upheaval after years of war, occupation, bubonic plague, and famine. Priest and poet Joseph Mohr penned the peaceful lyrics and shared them with his friend, composer Franz Gruber. Mohr and Gruber premiered the piece at Christmas eve mass, with Mohr accompanying on guitar. While the first performance was, by all accounts, unremarkable, the piece continued to be performed locally, and began to grow in popularity in Austria and beyond. Nearly a century later, Europe was once again in chaos, as World War I ravaged the continent. On Christmas eve 1914 -- a few months into the war -- parts of the Western front went silent. Weapons were set down, and in some places soldiers were able to place small Christmas trees in the trenches. The quiet was punctuated by singing of carols, and it’s recalled that Silent Night -- which would have been known to many of those on the front -- became a unifying melody, sung in a myriad of languages. 100 years later, the sweet serenity of Silent Night seems the perfect balm for a weary and worn soul, as we crawl to the end of a challenging year. We hope it will bring you calm and brighten your spirits when you hear it on December 19th at the Elora Singer’s final holiday concert, A Festival of Carols Tickets available now: www.elorasingers.ca

Happy Hanukkah to everyone celebrating this week!

Our Christmas-Related Traditions Around the World series continues! This week we're visiting Venezuela, where the religious celebrations of Christmas begin on December 16. Misa de Aguinaldo (early morning mass) services are held every morning until December 24th. Early each morning, firecrackers explode and bells ring to call worshippers from bed in the predawn hours. While some may attend all the services, most Venezuelans make it a point to observe at least one of the nine ...carol services. In Caracas, the capital city, it is customary to roller-skate to this service, with many neighborhoods closing the streets to cars until 8 a.m. To ensure they wake in time for mass, children tie one end of a piece of string to their big toe and hang the other end of the string out the window before they go to sleep. The next morning, rollerskaters give a tug to any string they see hanging down. After Mass everyone rushes home for tostados and coffee.

As seen on CTV Kitchener! Our second concert is tomorrow night: A Village Messiah Tickets available at www.elorasingers.ca

In a shameless bit of favouritism, your social media manager presents one more sort-of-Messiah: Not The Messiah This truly superb superb spoof by Eric Idle had its world premiere in 2007, during Toronto's Luminato Festival. [Ed note: Saw it. LOVED it.]... "Not the Messiah", took its story from Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and gave it a "baroque 'n' roll" musical treatment. While the musical influences (and parodies) are all over the place, there are a few nods to Handel’s melodies and texts. Check out "We Love Sheep" and Hail to the Shoe...there may be a few familiar elements, but it’s DEFINITELY Not the Messiah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IflQGsy2aIY

And now for something completely different: Memorable Messiah interpretations After its contentious opening in Dublin, Messiah was heard in a number of cities, and underwent a series of edits and alterations, with Handel customizing the arias to suit his soloists. As a result, there is no definitive version: there are multiple editions of the score penned by the composer himself. Since then, composers, conductors and directors have put their own spin on the work...with varyin...g degrees of success: Mozart’s Messiah: In 1789 - 30 years after Handel’s death - Mozart led a private performance of Messiah in the Esterházy palace. The composer presented his own arrangement, which featured extensive reinstrumentation - replacing the organ line with woodwind and brass, and adding flutes, clarinets, trombones and horns. He also took the aria Rejoice, Greatly from the Soprano soloist and gave it to the tenor (Uh oh). Bernstein’s reordering: In 1956, Leonard Bernstein conducted Messiah at Carnegie Hall. Described as completely unconventional, Bernstein reduced the work to two parts, dividing it into Christmas and Easter sections, cutting movements and adjusting others, and taking dramatic liberties with tempi. He also engaged a countertenor to sing the contralto solos. While this is a common practice today, it was an exceedingly unusual casting choice in the 50’s. Speaking of exceedingly unusual Young Messiah: Written in the 80’s and produced throughout the 90’s, Young Messiah takes most of Handel’s notes, some of his rhythms, and adds an instrumentation and vocal affects that make it almost unrecognizable. Featuring electric guitar, synthesizer, and a couple of drum kits, the arrangement is genre-defying, while the hairstyles defy gravity. Look it up- you’ll be glad you did. Join the Elora Singers for a more...traditional...performance, premiering December 12! www.elorasingers.ca

Among the groups hit hardest this year were students and people whose jobs are based in the arts. We wanted to make our concerts more affordable for them, so we have a special ticket rate. Visit our website for more information! www.elorasingers.ca

We try to get to as many of your calls and messages on broadcast nights, but we thought the answers to the top questions that we're asked might be helpful: 1. We send the broadcast links out around noon and again around 7:00pm on concert day to the email addresses used when purchasing tickets. 2. The link is not included in the ticket confirmation. Unfortunately, the ticketing software is not set up to allow for this. We are investigating options for our spring conc...erts as we realize this would make the process simpler for so many people. 3. If your audio and video seem out of sync at times, this is 99% due to fluctuations in your internet connection. If you refresh your browser, it should reset. Also, please remember that these concerts are available to rewatch, so if you are having a particularly troublesome internet evening, you do have opportunities to watch again and again until January 4. We hope this helps!

The Messiah: A dramatic premiere! Today, Handel’s Messiah is considered an elegant, refined work of art. It might conjure images of powdered wigs, opulent baroque garments, or at the very least, sleek and sophisticated concert halls. It’s hard to imagine that the opening night of this piece was beset by scandal. First, there was the location. Messiah premiered in a Dublin theatre in 1742. While this might seem an obvious venue to a modern audience, producing sacred subject m...atter in a secular space was considered sacrilege. When Handel tried to hire choristers from the local cathedral, the dean (author Jonathan Swift!) forbade his singers from participating, citing the moral dangers they might encounter. The Handel’s casting of the alto soloist caused quite a stir, too. Susanna Cibber was an acclaimed singer and actress, but she had gone through a particularly salacious - and highly publicized - divorce. Despite Swift’s warnings, at least one member of the clergy was present at the premiere. It’s said that Cibber’s performance of "He was despised" was so deeply moving that a local Reverend jumped to his feet and exclaimed "Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!" It seems that the rest of the church came around too; Cibber is buried in the cloisters of Westminster Cathedral. Despite - or perhaps because of - the controversies, the premiere drew such a large audience that the venue begged the ladies to refrain from wearing hoop skirts, and the men to leave their sabers at home, to make room for additional audience members. On December 12, you can enjoy all the drama of Handel’s Messiah from the comfort and safety of your home- hoop skirts and sabers optional! www.elorasingers.ca

Good artists borrow, great artists steal: recycling in Handel’s "Messiah"! You may have heard that Handel wrote his masterwork in an astonishingly short period of time- three to four weeks, or 24 days, depending on the source. Handel had a few tricks up his sleeve to hurry the process along slightly. He borrowed - nay, stole - portions of the music...from himself. For Unto Us a Child Is Born, and All We Like Sheep are taken from HWV 189 ( No, di voi non vo' fidarmi or ...No, I do not want to trust you.) which Handel wrote in 1740, around the time he first received the libretto for Messiah. His Yoke Is Easy and He Shall Purify were taken from another duet, also written a year earlier (HWV 192, Quel fior che all’alba ride or That flower that laughs at daybreak.). And though it’s a looser transcription, some have drawn parallels between "O Death, where is thy sting?" and HWV 193 (Se tu non lasci amore or If you don’t leave love). Borrowing was common at this time; long before recordings, when sheet music was copied by hand, it was unlikely that the first Messiah audiences would have encountered these earlier works, and recognize the recycled themes and melodies. Handel retrofitted the Messiah text onto these existing pieces, which resulted in some awkward syllabic settings - something conductors and their choirs have grappled with for hundreds of years. Give a listen to the source material, and join The Elora Singers on December 12 to hear them woven throughout Handel’s "Messiah". www.elorasingers.ca

A behind-the-scenes look at our recording session for tomorrow night's "A Quiet Village" concert. Everyone was spaced 10-feet apart, masks were worn the entire time, and pieces were rehearsed and recorded in 45-min segments, with time spent outside in fresh air in between. Once again, we are well past the 14-day mark with no one showing any symptoms. We're thankful to all the musicians and technicians for helping us stay safe and following strict protocols.... Photos by Mark Zelinski.

The team at CanadaHelps reports that Giving Tuesday was a HUGE success in Canada with over 11 MILLION DOLLARS raised, supporting more than 9,000 organizations. Thank you, again, to everyone who participated.

Another Christmas tradition from around the world: Jolabokaflod (yo-la-bok-a-flot) - the Icelandic tradition of holiday book giving. The Yule Book Flood originated during World War II when foreign imports were restricted, but paper was cheap. Iceland’s population was not large enough to support a year-round publishing industry, so book publishers flooded the market with new titles in the final weeks of the year. As a result, Icelanders began giving books as Christmas prese...nts and a lasting cultural tradition was born. On Christmas Eve, it is tradition to settle in for the night with hot cocoa or an alcohol-free Christmas ale called jólabland and your new books until you fall asleep. Icelanders eagerly await the delivery of the Bokatidindi - a free yearly catalogue of new books that is mailed to every home - to kick off the season. Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country, selling most of them between September and November.

Thank you! Thank you to everyone who donated on Giving Tuesday - whether to us or to any number of wonderful, deserving groups around the country. Thank you to everyone who volunteered time for the same groups.... Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past year - our patrons, donors, supporters, artistic team, musicians - our entire community. #ThankYouThursday

Lux Aurumque: the first virtual choir! 2020 could be considered the year of the virtual choir. Over the last eight months, innumerable singers have lent their voices to virtual projects as a way to keep the music alive, and to stay connected during isolation. From Beethoven to the Beatles, silly to sublime, there’s been a virtual choir project for every genre and style of singing. BUT......... Did you know that the first virtual choir actually premiered in March of 2010? Ten years before so many of us sat at our computers to record solo takes of popular pieces, Eric Whitacre and his tech team assembled 185 singers from 12 countries for a digital performance like nothing that had been seen before. Since then, Whitacre has led a number of virtual choirs, most recently uniting 17,572 singers from 129 countries for a pandemic project called Sing Gently. (Ed note: not to be confused with Speaking Moistly). But the piece that started it all was Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque. With its shimmering harmonies and simple text (Light, warm and heavy as pure gold, and angels sing softly to the new-born babe), Lux is a seasonal favourite for many choirs. While virtual choirs have been immensely popular and helpful throughout the pandemic, there’s nothing like the sound and experience of making music together in real time. In a year where virtual choir concerts outnumbered traditional ones, Elora is excited to share their newest interpretation of Lux Aurumque, recorded live - with extensive safety protocols in place - and premiering on December 5th. Get your ticket now for A Quiet Village www.elorasingers.ca