THE SAINTE-ANNE SINGERS

Season 2022-2023

"Your concert was for me the surprise of the evening ... so very beautiful, so eclectic"

 Donald Patriquin, composer and conductor

“… an exquisite performance. Thank you for bringing my music to life with such artistry ..."

 Dr. Benjamin Bolden, composer and professor of music

A word on our 35th year

From its beginnings as a small a cappella group in 1987, the Sainte-Anne Singers has attracted members who take a particular pleasure in creating beautiful harmonies with the voice alone. Its original repertoire of Renaissance, folk and pop music has expanded to include contemporary choral music, featuring many Canadian composers. But the devotion to a cappella has not changed!

Over the years, the Sainte-Anne Singers has enjoyed multiple collaborations with Montreal choirs and choral events. It has performed twice at Podium, Canada’s biennial choral conference, with a third performance in 2020 cancelled due to the pandemic.

The ensemble has twice been awarded second place in the chamber choir category of the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs, and was designated a “Choeur fleuron” by the Alliance chorale du Québec from 2019 to 2021.

But our biggest thrill is to return to live performance after a hiatus of two years – just in time to celebrate our 35th. We hope you will join us!

For more on the choir, click here.​​

Christmas songs

Saturday November 19, in the afternoon

Rue principale, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue

Details to come

O Magnum Mysterium

Saturday December 10, 8:00 P.M.

Cedar Park United Church

204 Lakeview, Pointe-Claire

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Renaissance motets by Sweelinck and Handl-Gallus.

Contemporary carols by Sarah Quartel, Eleanor Daley, Mark Sirett, Martin Fairbank, Paul Halley and Ivo Antognini.

Songs celebrating the harsh beauty of winter, by Kathleen Allan and Toby Young.

And a soupçon of jazz…

From its beginnings as a small a cappella group in 1987, the Sainte-Anne Singers has attracted members who take a particular pleasure in creating beautiful harmonies with the voice alone, and in communicating that pleasure to their audience. It now includes 20 singers from the West Island, Greater Montreal and beyond. 

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Much of its repertoire is contemporary, especially Canadian, American and Northern European, but the group also performs works of the Renaissance and the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as sophisticated pop and jazz arrangements. 

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Over the years, the Sainte-Anne Singers has enjoyed multiple collaborations with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra (Wanda Kaluzny), the McGill University Children’s and Youth Choirs, the John Laing Singers (Hamilton) and the St. Lawrence Choir. It has been a frequent participant in events such as the Mondial choral Loto-Québec, the Canadian Connections concert series sponsored by the Montreal Choral Institute, the Festival de musique religieuse, the Nuit des Choeurs of the Festival Bach de Montréal, the Festival de la Voix (West Island) and the Classical  Spree concerts sponsored by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

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The Sainte-Anne Singers has performed at Podium, Canada’s biennial choral conference, in 2012 (Ottawa) and 2014 (Halifax). A third performance at Podium in Montreal in 2020 was cancelled because of the pandemic.

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The ensemble has received numerous awards, including first place at the advanced level of the ARCIM competition (2001), and second place in the chamber choir category of the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs (2010, 2015), as well as finalist in the same category in 2019. 

Along with the Choeur de chambre du Québec and the Chœur du Plateau , the Sainte-Anne Singers  was designated a ”Choeur fleuron” by the Alliance chorale du Québec from 2019 to 2021, in recognition of its musical quality and its contribution to Quebec choral life.

Passionate about a cappella, Margo Keenan studied voice privately and has sung for many years in several a cappella quartets in and around Montreal. She has taught music at the primary level and founded and directed numerous choirs in elementary and secondary schools in the Montreal area.

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Margo founded the Sainte-Anne Singers in 1987. She studied conducting privately with Peter Schubert and Michael Zaugg. In 2013, she was presented with the Prix Jean-Pierre Guindon in recognition of her contribution to choral singing in Quebec over more than twenty-five years.

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Since 2014, Margo Keenan also directs the Philomela Singers, a West Island community choir, as well as a 60-voice choir which forms each spring in order to perform at the West Island-based Festival de la Voix.

Many of the singers in this auditioned group have a solid vocal or instrumental background; others are experienced choristers.

SOPRANO​

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Marie Dallaire

Robin Hornstein

Christelle Jacquet

Isabelle Lafrenière

Katrina Lowe

Roxane Millette

Michèle Ross

ALTO

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Annika Diehl

Barb Forton

 Isabelle Ivanov

Nancy Lepine

Georgia Smith

Wanda Taylor

Mary Tsartolias

TENOR​

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Martin Fairbank

Chih-Ying Lay

Luc Ménard

René-Michel Paquet

Gilles Pesant

BASS

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Jean Jeukens

Drew Pascoe (guest chorister)

Daniel Taillon

We are looking for bass and soprano voices

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Do you love a cappella? The Sainte-Anne Singers, designated Chœur Fleuron by the Alliance chorale du Québec, is the West Island’s award-winning chamber ensemble dedicated to singing contemporary repertoire by Quebec, Canadian, American and Northern European composers, as well as standards of a cappella repertoire from all eras. Our concerts always include a variety of styles, from the sublime to the silly.

Rehearsals, which are bilingual, are in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on Monday nights, September to May. Two extra rehearsals are scheduled prior to concerts.

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We hold auditions whenever there is an opening. Since these often fill quickly, singers interested in joining are encouraged to contact us without waiting for the beginning of the season.

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If you enjoy a challenge, have choral experience, excellent pitch and some sight-reading ability, contact Margo Keenan at mkeenan@videotron.ca to arrange an audition.