Ottawa Choral Society

Over the last 135 years there have been several Ottawa choirs known as the Ottawa Choral Society or as the Ottawa Choral Union. The first Ottawa Choral Society was formed in 1865 by Herbert G.R. Fripp and is known to have been active for at least two seasons. An Ottawa Choral Union was formed in 1874 with Frederick W. Mills as its conductor. A second Ottawa Choral Society was conducted by Edward Fisher from 1875 to 1879. He then moved to Toronto where he was later to found the Toronto (now Royal) Conservatory of Music. A third Ottawa Choral Society, conducted by J. Edgar Birch, was active from 1897 to 1914.

The Ottawa Choral Society in 1898

The present Ottawa Choral Society, originally named the Ottawa Choral Union, was formed in November 1940 under the direction of W. Allister Crandell, organist of First United Church. The choir of eighty singers first performed in a concert for War Charities in the Glebe Collegiate Auditorium in January 1941. Two years later, under the patronage of the Governor-General, it performed Handel's Messiah in May 1943. The community interest was so great that the single performance was sold out well in advance and a second had to be arranged.

Sometime in the 1940's

Dr. Karam with the OCS in 1959

In 1967 Brian Law was appointed Music Director, a post he held until November 1991. Mr. Law was involved in a wide range of musical activities, as organist and choirmaster at St. Matthew's Church, music director of the Cantata Singers and Ottawa Symphony, and founding conductor of the chamber group Thirteen Strings. Under his leadership the season expanded to four concerts, usually large symphonic works co-produced with the National Arts Centre Orchestra or the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Memorable concerts during his tenure were Britten's War Requiem (1977 and 1985) and the Berlioz Requiem, presented at the fiftieth anniversary concert in 1991. The choir toured Italy (1983) and Spain (1989) with Mr. Law.

Brian Law

Ottawa Choral Society on Parliament Hill in 1982

Ottawa Choral Society in the Foyer of the National Arts Centre

Brian Law, Barbara Clark and accompanist Paul Halley preparing Missa Gaia in the NAC in 1985

Iwan Edwards, CM, was appointed Music Director in January 1992. McGill professor and Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chorus Master, he brought to the position a wealth of experience, and the choir flourished under his leadership. In recognition of his choral conducting skills, Maestro Edwards was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1995. Major undertakings during this period were Bach's B Minor Mass and The Christmas Oratorio, and an extensive tour of Germany and the Czech Republic (1996), with performances in Eisenach, Prague and Munich.

Iwan Edwards and the Ottawa Choral Society at the Museum of Civilization in 1995

Dr. Daniel Gordon of the Crane College of Music in Potsdam, New York succeeeded Maestro Edwards for the 1998-1999 season. Dr. Gordon led the choir on a highly successful tour of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in October 2000. BBC Northern Ireland produced a fascinating documentary which was televised across Britain, featuring the Choir's collaboration with the Belfast Philharmonic Choir in Michael Tippett's masterpiece A Child of our Time.

Following his retirement as Chair of Performance in the Faculty of Music, at McGill University, the Choral Society invited Maestro Edwards to return as Artistic Director in 2001. Maestro Edwards' interpretation of Handel's Saul at the NAC in March 2004 will be remembered as a milestone in the Choir's history.

Iwan Edwards conducts the OCS and St. Lawrence Choir at Eglise St. Jean Baptiste, Montreal for the Beethoven/Hatzis Performance of February 2005

Throughout its history the choir has fostered the musical development of young people in the community. A notable occasion from the early years was the 1947 performance of Pierné's The Children's Crusade, in which five school choirs participated with the Choral Society and the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the soloists who have performed with the choir over the years are illustrious Canadians Maureen Forrester, Lois Marshall, James Milligan, Gary Relyea, Catherine Robbin, Joseph Rouleau, Jon Vickers, Ben Hepner, Richard Margison, Gerald Finley, Daniel Taylor, Benjamin Butterfield and Ottawa natives Julie Nesrallah, Shannon Mercer and Matthew White, all of whose careers are now in the ascendancy.

Through the services of CBC Radio 2 the Ottawa Choral Society has been heard across the country in broadcasts of concerts given with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, including the Mozart Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's The Creation and Bach's Saint Matthew Passion. On CBC television the choir was seen annually from 1977 to 1995 in the Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill, attended by the Governor General and Prime Minister.

Now, more than sixty years after its formation, the Ottawa Choral Society regularly appears with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the chamber ensemble, Thirteen Strings of Ottawa, in repertoire which ranges from the Baroque and Classical through to the Contemporary period. The historic 100-voice symphonic chorus is honoured to have been invited to perform under the baton of many distinguished conductors, among them, Pinchas Zukerman, Helmuth Rilling, Mario Bernardi, Franz-Paul Decker, Trevor Pinnock, Jiri Belohlavek, Nicholas McGegan, Franco Mannino and Roger Norrington.

The Choir celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Season in January 2001. A particular highlight of that season was the Choir’s participation in the world-première of Canadian composer, Peter-Paul Koprowski’s Millennium Cantata, with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. On October 1st, 2001, the Choir continued its long-time collaboration with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Verdi Requiem, to mark the 100th anniversary of Guiseppe Verdi’s death.

In 2004-2005, The OCS participated in two major performances, Berlioz Requiem with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Dwain Wolfe, Chorus Master of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, rehearsing for the performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the National Arts Centre, in 2005.