Hills across Newfoundland and Labrador are alive with the sound of choral singing, thanks to the creativity and passion of choristers and generous project funding from Drs. Jean and Angus Bruneau through the Bruneau Centre for Excellence in Choral Music (BCECM) at Memorial University.

The BCECM was pleased to support four research grants and six community project grants in its inaugural 2014 grant competition. The 10 successful projects demonstrate the vitality of choral singing and choir-related initiatives across the province, from symposia and visiting artist residencies to choral theatre and new recordings. The diversity of the community groups involved ranges from amateur and established choirs for all ages and backgrounds to Aboriginal singing and drum groups and church choirs. 

“As the first director of the BCECM, I am delighted by the number and wide diversity of the projects that we have managed to help bring to fruition in our relatively short life as an organization,” said Dr. Douglas Dunsmore, who is a retired professor of music at Memorial’s School of Music.

The first completed community project took place in February 2015 in Churchill Falls, a small community of 600 people in Labrador. Hosted by Eric G. Lambert School and organized by local music teacher Kerri MacPhee, the Churchill Falls Choral Symposium brought choral director Kellie Walsh and music teachers Michelle Chippett and Jennifer Hart to work with student and adult members of several local choirs in the Northern community. The collaboration culminated in a final public concert that filled the community’s Donald Gordon Center to the brim.

Other community projects funded by the BCECM are also underway. In January of this year, a CD documenting the aria tradition of the Moravian Inuit Church was recorded, and arrangements and workshops of Newfoundland and Labrador Christmas songs are in full swing with the Potluck Singers, led by Ladle Cove resident Eric West. Following several months of intense rehearsals, Lady Cove Women’s Choir will present a new choral theatre piece by Newfoundlander Jonathan Monro at the LSPU Hall  in St. John’s from April 18-19. More information about this event can be found here.

Established by Memorial University of Newfoundland through a visionary gift from Drs. Jean and Angus Bruneau, the Bruneau Centre for Excellence in Choral Music promotes research and community projects that seek to understand, encourage and enhance the powerful impact that choral singing can have on individuals and communities. The resources of the centre assist in the realization of projects that have the potential to stimulate excellence in community music-making at local levels both across the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and on national and international levels. 

The 2015 grant applications will be available online in July 2015, with an application deadline of Oct. 1, 2015. More information on the grant process can be found on the BCECM website. Please send enquiries to choralcentre@mun.ca.