PRESS RELEASE - 10th annual Stairwell Caroller Scholarship

Award-winning choir gives back to the community

The Stairwell Carollers at the National Gallery Christmas season 2009

Talented student to receive prestigious music scholarship 

May 9, 2011

For Immediate Release

(Ottawa) – What do a University of Ottawa singer, a Concordia guitarist and a McGill tuba player all have in common?

Selina McDonell (2004), Geoff McNeely (2008) and Gabrielle Porter (2010) are all past winners of the Stairwell Carollers’ Scholarship, given annually to a talented Ottawa-Gatineau high school student going on for music studies at a Canadian university.

To date, the choir has awarded the Stairwell Carollers Scholarship to nine gifted grads, each of whom has demonstrated a very special love of music. They represent a wide range of local high schools, including Nepean, John McCrae, Canterbury, De La Salle, and Ashbury College.

On June 18, at the Stairwell Carollers’ gala spring concert at St. Barnabas Church, the choir will announce the 10th winner of this prestigious award.

This concert, titled O Vos Omnes (“O all ye who pass by, pay attention and see”), is in honour of the hauntingly beautiful Renaissance motet by Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, whose death 400 years ago is commemorated this year. The audience will also have the pleasure of hearing the Carollers’ a cappella renditions of Italian and Elizabethan madrigals, French chansons and a Latin Mass by German composer Hans Leo Hassler, among other sacred works.

The Stairwell Carollers, who have received both provincial and national recognition for singing excellence, are equally proud of their philanthropic initiatives. They raise funds through concert ticket sales, an anniversary cookbook and profits from their 6 CDs. In addition to the $7,500 granted in scholarships, the choir has donated a total of $41,350 to dozens of local charities. At the June 18 concert, they will present the VONOttawa with a $2,000 gift. 

2011 Spring ConcertSeason

Sunday, June 5, 3:00 pm: National Gallery of Canada, Rideau Chapel, 380 Sussex Dr.

Wednesday, June 8, 7:30 pm:  St. Columba Anglican Church, 24 Sandridge Rd.

Sunday, June 12, 4:00 pm (mass): Eglise St-Joseph de Hull, 245 Blvd Saint-Joseph, Gatineau

Saturday, June 18, 7:30 pm: St. Barnabas Church, 70 James St. (at Kent Street)

Tickets for the June 18 concert are available in advance from The Leading Note (370 Elgin St.), and at the door, for $15 (admission is free for children 12 and under). A reception will follow.