The Bach-Elgar Choir is a community chorus of long standing in Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. The Choir is composed of accomplished amateur singers from Hamilton and neighbouring cities of Burlington

Burlington, Ontario

Burlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...

, Oakville

Oakville, Ontario

Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...

, Mississauga and Simcoe

Simcoe, Ontario

Simcoe is an unincorporated community and former town in Southwestern Ontario, Canada located near Lake Erie. It is the county seat and largest community of Norfolk County....

. Notable performances by the ensemble include the North American première of Verdi's Requiem

Requiem (Verdi)

The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...

and the Canadian premières of Górecki's Miserere and Mahler's Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)

The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...

(the Resurrection). The choir has had several distinguished directors throughout its history and has performed in several notable venues including Roy Thomson Hall

Roy Thomson Hall

Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...

 in Toronto, the Brantford's Sanderson Centre, with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Its regular concert season features gala concerts, classics programming of core repertoire, Pops...

, and at the Boris Brott Summer Festival. The choir enjoys frequent guest appearances with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra

Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra

The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra in Hamilton, Ontario.It was founded in 1949.Starting in 1969, under the leadership of Boris Brott, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra changed from an amateur ensemble to a professional orchestra. Brott raised the profile of the orchestra with...

.

History

The Bach-Elgar Choir was founded by Bruce Carey

Bruce Carey

Bruce Anderson Carey was a Canadian choir conductor, baritone, and music educator. He began his career in Hamilton, Ontario where he notably founded the Bach-Elgar Choir in 1905...

 in 1905 under the name the Elgar Choir. The choir was subsequently conducted by G. Roy Fenwick, W. H. Hewlett

W. H. Hewlett

William Henry Hewlett was a Canadian organist, conductor, composer, and music educator of English birth.-Early life and education:...

, and Edward Stewart. The choir disbanded for a few years during World War II, and reformed in 1947, joining with another disbanded amateur chorus, the Bach Choir (founded 1931 by Graham Godfrey), to form the renamed Bach-Elgar Choir. The Bach-Elgar Choir made its debut in 1947 in Handel

HANDEL

HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

's Messiah

Messiah (Handel)

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...

under Charles Peaker at Hamilton's Centenary United Church. Subsequent conductors have been Cyril Hampshire 1948-55, John Sidgwick 1955-60, Frank Thorolfson 1960-2, Charles Wilson

Charles Wilson (composer)

Charles Mills Wilson is a Canadian composer, choral conductor, and music educator.-Biography:Wilson began studying piano at age six with Wilfred Powell and later studied organ with Charles Peaker. He studied composition with Godfrey Ridout at the University of Toronto, earning a Bachelors of Music...

 1962-74, Donald Kendrick 1974-8 and 1981-3, Philip David Morehead

Philip David Morehead

Philip David Morehead is the Head of Music Staff of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, and the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center...

 1978-80, Denise Narcisse-Mair 1980-1, Gerald Fagan 1983-4, Wayne Strongman 1984-97, Philip Joseph Sarabura 1998-2000, and Ian Sadler 2000-2005. Howard Dyck

Howard Dyck

Howard Dyck, CM is a Canadian conductor and broadcaster. He was born in Winkler, Manitoba. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, he has a long and distinguished career in classical music...

was named artistic director in 2006.

The Bach Elgar Choir has presented a subscription series of three to four concerts per year, at Centenary United Church (beginning 1947), followed by Central Presbyterian Church (1960s), Christ's Church Cathedral (1970s-80s), Toronto's Rosedale United Church (1990s), Hamilton Place (where it has been a resident ensemble since 1975), and Melrose United Church (2006). For a number of years, the subsidiary Bach Elgar Chamber Singers (a 36-voice ensemble founded by Charles Wilson in 1969) and the Bach Elgar Children's Chorus (established 1981) gave small concert series and performances in Hamilton and southern Ontario.