Exclusively made up of Pierre's arrangements and compositions, the concert features a carillon setting of his "Nouvelle Agréable" by Wendy Earl - one of Andrea McCrady's graduate students.
If you missed the LIVE performance, here is a recording of a past performance of Stairwell Carol by Dominion Carillonneur, Andrea McCrady.
About The Stairwell Carollers:
Pierre Massie started our a cappella choir in 1977 while a music student at Ottawa University. The Stairwell Carollers are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs, winning both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions.
A registered Canadian charity, we also help local charities with our concert, CD and cookbook sales.
Number 1 - Wonderful friendships; here, Dr. Andrea McCrady, our Dominion Carillonneur poses with director Pierre and a fresh new Program Booklet designed by Terry Brynaert for our 40th Xmas concerts!
Number 3 - Doing what we do best -- fundraising for worthy causes. This money for Shepherds of good Hope was raised through a clever "Sponsor a Song" idea by David Rain (tenor).
Number 5 - Fundraiser for OCISO - bonus - brilliant photos of us by Irena Zamchevska.
Hosted by Adrian Harewood - exciting!
Number 6 - So thankful for our Stairwell Front of House Team - led by Michèle Auger.
Number 7 - Always a joy to rehearse with fellow Stairwellers - what a wonderful group of people - and so talented!
Number 8 - Hardworking singers that go the extra mile to make all the concerts about more than just the music. David just took over PR Head so I could focus on our social media, blog and Youtube. Josée heads the crew for reception food. Manon "puts out fires of all kinds" and liaises with our venue contacts. Maggie is one of our Latin experts, catalogues our practise tapes and monitors the website for errors. Susan handles advertising and has been Treasurer for years, and Andrea is our secretary.
And of course all of you I failed to mention here -- what a fantastic, committed group! A blog post outlining all of you and your specific tasks is in the works.
Number 10 - Our Taskmaster /Master maestro / Composer/ Director, Pierre Massie, keeps on truckin'- despite a crazy health scare that he fought through the whole season! We all love you, Pete!
The Stairwell Carollers:
Pierre Massie began our a cappella choir 40 years ago, in 1977, while he was a music student at Ottawa U. The Stairwell Carollers are now ranked withthe best of Ontario choirs, winning both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions. A registered Canadian charity, we also help local charities with our concert, CD and cookbook sales. Net proceeds benefit charity.
It was an easy elevator ride up the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada for this very special Carillon Concert.
Thanks Andrea! So proud of Pete :)
Carols by Pierre Massie, arranged for carillon by Andrea McCrady
Wassail Song
Ça, bergers, assemblons-nous
Dans cette étable
Mourning Dove
The Stairwell Carol
An excited group of Stairwellers joined us to watch Andrea play the carillon in the tiny performance room.
Hard to believe that instrument controls one of the largest carillons in Canada!
Andrea again played Pierre's Stairwell Carol so beautifully! It's my personal fave!
Here is a video I made of a past carillon performance by Andrea.
Dr. McCrady is thrilled that she has found a composer "in her own backyard" whose compositions and arrangements seem so fitting to the requirements of the Carillon.
Pierre Massie started our a cappella choir in 1977 while a music student at Ottawa University. The Stairwell Carollers are ranked with the best of Ontario choirs, winning both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions.
A registered Canadian charity, we also help local charities with our concert, CD and cookbook sales.
Michel also worked with Pierre Massie in his a pop cappella group SAIJ (pronounced "sage") from 1997 to 2003. They performed in the Ottawa region at many venues and festivals - including the St. Jean Baptiste festival at Nepean Point, which was televised. They also sang on the Parliament Hill main stage for Canada day - televised Nationally. To top off their accomplishments, SAIJ won a Trille Or (the French counterpart to The Juno).
In 1999, Michel founded LGS (Le Groupe Swing), a Franco-Ontarian musical group whose first album brought widespread attention. LGS has performed over 200 times across Canada and around the world. To date, the group has won 12 Trille D'or awards and Attracted over 1.5 million YouTube views.
Dr. Andrea McCrady was named Dominion Carillonneur in 2008. She plays the Peace Tower every weekday and on request to serve parliamentarians.
She took up the carillon in 1971 as an undergraduate at Trinity College, CT. A medical doctor, Dr. McCrady retired in 2006 to continue her study of the carillon and received her Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from the University of Denver in 2008. She now serves as instructor in carillon studies at Carleton University.
She has adapted for the carillon, and performed, five of Pierre's carols - including Mourning Dove.
For nearly 30 years, Joel Haslam has been the Host and producer of Regional Contact - a local Ottawa "good news" show (now a segment of CTV news). He champions the heartwarming stories of everyday people engaged in extraordinary life adventures. Regional Contact has featured the Stairwell Carollers on a number of occasions, helping the choir increase its audience base along the way. Soon after the first segment, Joel joined the choir as a tenor and sang with the Stairwell Carollers from 1991 to 1993.
Joel holds degrees in journalism and political science from Carleton University. He is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Dave Rogers award, presented to a Canadian journalist producing and reporting the best national television feature.
Denyse Mageau is a soprano and has sung with the Stairwell Carollers since 1978, shortly after the choir made its official debut.
Born in Sturgeon Falls, Denyse was a teacher for 36 years. She taught Secondary level French and Cinema in schools through Ontario and in Germany. After retirement, she published children's stories and tales of her world travels. Thanks to a program of the Arts Council of Ontario, she was able to introduce poetry to children through singing and wordplay.
Come hear the Stairwell Carollers sing “A Canadian Christmas” TONIGHT at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, 7:30pm (December 15th, 2017).
The Stairwell Carollers will present a special 40th anniversary donation of $3,000 to the Shepherds of Good Hope on the 15th - a result of their first ever “Sponsor a Song” fundraising campaign.
Another fun trip up the Tower for a very special Carillon Concert. This time, our Dominion Carillonneur, Andrea McCrady, treated Pete with a program all his own!
The elevator was out of service, so we all huffed and puffed our way up to the keyboard room.
A cool stop on the way up was to check out the clock mechanism that runs the Westminster chime strikes. It looks and sounds like a giant music box!
As I mentioned in the post announcing this upcoming concert, Dr. McCrady is gratified that she has found a composer "in her own backyard" whose compositions and arrangements seem so fitting to the requirements of the Carillon.
She played Pierre's Stairwell Carol so beautifully! Here it is! Enjoy! Concert date was Noon, Monday, December 12th, 2016.
(Copied with permission from Pierre's composition website )
"Now, if you were not aware that the music that rings out from Ottawa's Peace Tower is played live by a human being, you are not alone! In Ottawa, with technology at every turn, many take the ubiquitous Tower Bell sounds for granted -- and assume that they are somehow a digital or machine powered creation. Not so.
A diminutive artist "dances" on the keys of the Carillon -- playing almost every day -- to her unseen audience of Ottawa listeners. If you are within earshot of Ottawa's Parliament Peace Tower bells you will hear them strike the traditional clock chimes ( the only mechanised sounds the 53 bells play ). Then, if you are very fortunate, you will hear Andrea McCrady play -- and it is glorious! Here is a playlist of some of her work -- check out her recent spot with Rick Mercer!"
Did you know that there is a real, live person playing the music that you hear ringing from our Peace Tower on Parliament Hill?
Ottawa's Peace Tower stands out in view from Byward Market
Her name is Andrea McCrady ( actually Dr. McCrady, since she was a family doctor for many years) and she "dances" concert on the Carillon keys almost every day at noon.
Andrea McCrady, our Dominion Carillonneur welcomes guests
If you are very lucky, you may get a chance to sit and watch the music happen -- right there in the tiny keyboard room. But, be warned, the Carillon itself makes it's own rhythmic melody of mechanical clinks and clunks, belying it's gorgeous ringing tones to all outside the Tower.
View of the Peace tower clock face from the observation deck
So, if you are downtown at lunchtime, make sure to notice the music of the 53 Peace tower bells, and think of the diminutive artiste that is playing the most challenging instrument, the Peace Tower Carillon -- our "Voice of Canada", our Dominion Carillonneur and "National Treasure", Dr. Andrea McCrady.
Rick Mercer recently did a feature on our Dominion Carillonneur -- check it out!
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Our Brand New Christmas Carol CD, “O magnum mysterium” is now available online, at our concerts, and from individual members of the choir, CD format only.
The Stairwell Carollers are an a cappella group, formed in 1977 by director Pierre Massie. Ranked amongst the best of Ontario choirs in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competition, we are a non-profit organization, that raises funds for local charities through concert, CD and cookbook sales.
It was great seeing Joel Haslam again -- as some of you know, Joel was a member of the Stairwell Carollers for almost three years, following our first appearance on his local show many many moons ago.
When Joel heard about Pierre's compositions receiving attention from our Dominion Carillonneur, Dr. Andrea McCrady, he was eager to follow up on the story.
Here is his little jewel of a piece, positive and uplifting, as always. Thanks, Joel:)
A registered Canadian charity, we also help local charities with our concert, CD and cookbook sales.
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