ENSEMBLES 2009
The Hastings and Prince Edward Youth Chorale
The Youth Chorale is the touring choir of The Hastings and Prince Edward Children’s Chorus, an organization that includes also two training choirs, and is affiliated with the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board and the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board. The Chorus, conducted by Rudolf Heijdens was founded in 1986 to provide talented and gifted students with an outlet to perform music that is classical in nature. Its choristers represent an area approximately 200 by 90 kilometres, with some of its choristers having to travel to rehearsals up to 112 kilometres each way twice per week. Depending on the occasion its repertoire includes sacred and secular music from the middle ages to the present representing many nationalities, including the Canadian premiere of Austria’s Anton Heiler’s ‘Passionsmusik’. Its main thrust, however, is to perform music by Canadian composers and its library contains compositions by such notable Canadian composers as Bevan, Butler, Daley, Glick, Hatfield, Patriquin, Raminsh, Sirrett, Telfer, and Watson-Henderson.
Since its founding the touring choir has undertaken seven European concert tours. Besides local music competitions the choir has competed in the International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna in 2000 (2nd place standing) and 2003 (3rd place standing) and performed in the Dom in Salzburg and sang the ‘Missa Brevis’ by Imant Raminsh in Salzburg’s St. Peter. In 2005 the choir toured the Netherlands as part of the sixtieth anniversary festivities of the liberation of that country by Canadian Forces. In 2007 the choir sang, in addition to local performances, the ‘Gloria’ by Vivaldi in Carnegie Hall, New York. The Chorus was honoured when Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General of Canada accepted the Chorus’ invitation to become the patron of the Chorus.
The choir is conducted by Rudolf Heijdens, assisted by Jennifer Curtis and Jane Lavery, and accompanied by Patricia Ross.
