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Wednesday November 29, 2000 2000 United Way of Oakville Campaign Total THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B8 amount raised L_ O U R GOAL 6SN s2 .7 m illion t ' L 52.043.000 U nited W a y Formore into: 845-5571 Entertainment ^peppercorns N.Y. Steaks · Pasta · Ribs "It's what's next"...Downtown Oakville Reservations --845-8623 218 Lakeshore Rd. E. Oakville Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 Ext: 254; Fax: 337-5567; Email: baldwin@haltonsearch.com 'k Choir celebrates 40 years o f m usic By C arol B aldw in ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Forty years of singing and still going strong. The Oakville Choral Society (OCS) was recently presented with a special letter of recogni tion from the mayor honouring its 40 years of ser vice to the community. And, in turn, the choir pre sented her with one of its new scarves. But that was just a rehearsal. The choir will begin celebrating this momentous milestone in earnest with its annual Christmas concert on Dec. 15th and 16th. Choir director Bev Stainton, who has been with the OCS for more than half its lifetime, said the organization conducted its first rehearsals in a church basement. It later moved to the Pine Room of the Oakville Arena and finally to its current rehearsal space at Sheridan College. Its final move was executed by Gifford Mitchell, who was hired from McGill University by Sheridan College to head up its musical theatre program and was eventually "strong-armed" into taking over the musical direction of the OCS. "And the next year, he brought them into the col lege as a course, which we still are," Stainton explained, adding, "I've only ever granted three credits (for choral music)." However, the current director remembers his predecessor more for his ability to acquire sheet music than for his musical skills. Apparently, Mitchell saved a substantial amount of sheet music from collecting dust, or worse maggots, for the low price of $1. "There was this tractor-trailer load of music sit ting at McGill and they wanted it out of there. He bought it for a buck (for Sheridan College's music library). That's how we have such a good music library...We have a music library that we lend all over the province. We've got 1,000 titles sitting there and we only use about 30. We lend to between 25 and 30 choirs because they can't afford to buy it," he exclaimed, adding that the collection almost got given away a few years after Mitchell left the college. "We brought in two trucks and we stole it. It just disappeared in the middle of the night...The Ontario Choral Federation got what we didn't want or what we couldn't spirit away that night." Mitchell, who left as choir director in the mid seventies, was succeeded by Don Horsburgh for Photo by Riziero Vertolli Mayor Ann Mulvale, right, joins Lisa Allain, left, president of the Oakville Choral Society, and its musical director Bev Stainton, in mock rehearsal. about a year, followed by Stainton, who accepted soprano; Deborah Overes, contralto; David the baton in 1978 and has been wielding it ever Playfair, tenor; and Peter Wiens, bass. since. "Peg has been with us for nearly 10 years," "It's pretty outstanding that a group this size has Stainton said, "A year ago, she won the New York been around this long...It was such a 'white' choir, oratorio competition and has sung in Carnegie but this year we have two black and two Korean Hall. She has also done vocal workshops for me singers.. .It's nice to see a mix happening," he said, with the choir and she's also taken on a few of the noting that the choir now boasts about 85 singers choristers as private students...And she's come with males showing more of a presence this year out to Oakville and done group lessons - what as well. "One of the Korean women - she's a they call a master class. And that's why the choir music teacher from Korea, barely speaks English keeps getting better and better." - has a voice to die for, solo quality...Everything Evans sings with the Canadian Opera we're doing is in English, and she goes out of there Company (COC) as do Overes and Playfair, he added, noting that the latter two have also sung at night, just floating." The OCS's December concerts at St. Dominic's with the Shaw and Stratford festivals, worked with Roman Catholic Church will feature the different productions of 'Phantom of the Opera' Christmas portion of the 'Messiah', as well as and sung with various orchestras and choirs. 'Hallelujah', and 'Amen.' Also, a few seasonal Wiens, he quipped, was in the OCS's Gilbertfavourites will be added along with an audience and-Sullivan production last year and "he played sing-along. The choir will be accompanied by everybody. Janet King and joined by guest soloists Margaret "If we had to pay them what they're worth, we Evans (affectionately known to choristers as Peg), couldn't afford them. They like to sing for us because, we're fun, and we treat them nicely. This ,is what's happened to this choir - it is a family. And they are part of the family," Stainton said sug gesting that choir members also socialize after hours. Stressing the fun-loving side of the chorus, he related a story about a rehearsal at Halloween time. "We said that all the choristers who came to rehearsal without a costume on would have to sing a solo. I think there were two people without cos tumes and they weren't there the week we said you had to be in costume." Next month's concerts will be held in a church for the first time in years, moving from its usual venue at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts because acoustics at the centre, said Stainton, swallow up the choir's voices. "We simply will not go back to the Oakville Centre. If you put an orchestra on that apron, you may as well send the choir home. The voices go straight up into the flies...And we've asked, and asked and asked, and so have other groups, includ ing the orchestra: Would you please spend a little money on some baffles in the ceiling?'...The cost would be about $400...They won't do anything acoustically," he said, with more than a hint of irri tation in his voice. "Unless we do another Gilbertand-Sullivan nonsense thing, we're out of the cen tre for good. And it's too expensive." The two December performances, therefore, will be held in the church on Rebecca Street, near Bronte Road, at 8 p.m. And choir members will be donning their "2000 look...gold liquid lame" scarves and pocket handkerchiefs that add a little "sparkle and glisten" to their black-and-white out fits. Refreshments will be available at intermis sion, thanks to the church, said Stainton. Tickets are $15, a price which Stainton said hasn't changed in six years, and are available in advance by calling Penny at 845-5359 or Anne at 827-4587. The next OCS concert, in the spring, will fea ture 'Haydn's Creation' a major work by the 18thcentury composer. "I don't think it's been done here in the Toronto area for 35 years or more. I don't know of anybody who's performed it, and it's a magnificent piece of music," Stainton explained. "We're going to do an abbreviated version because it runs three hours, and I couldn't ask anybody to sit there for three hours on a church bench. We re going to cut it down to about two and we're just going to use organ (accompaniment)." TRUST. THAT'S THE LONG AND SHORT Or IT! P R O FES S IO N A L H A IR C A R E THAT K EEP S Y O U C O M IN G B A C K . G IF T S A A SNAP MINOLTA AF 50 QD KIT INCLUDES: CASE AND BATTERY All automatic: focus, flash, reload-rewind, red-eye reduction. Also quartz date and film door lock. S 89M© Konica $ z -u p u s q d W/ BONUS REMOTE CONTROL 3X 38-118 auto focus zoom with macro and infrared focusing. 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