Director Pierre Featured in the Ottawa Citizen - and Concert Reviews

Thanks to Lynn Saxberg, Arts editor of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper for the wonderful interview with Pierre which graced the cover of the Arts section on Saturday Dec 3rd!

This assured a successful Christmas concert season for the choir. Both concerts at Southminster United Church and St. Columba Anglican were packed (with a little space considering the pandemic) 

Early reviews of the concerts state unequivocally that the masks did not get in the way of the sound.

What a relief to hear!

Dec 14, 2022 - David Rain 

What a delight it was to hear you guys live last nite, after such a long gap!

So many familiar carols, I found it really tough to resist singing along, having memorized most of the tenor parts of course. 😊

It was really cool to hear you sing Carol of the Bells in Ukrainian, hope that becomes a lasting tradition.

My other favourites were Personent Hodie, En el portel (you guys were rocking!), Un flambeau, Dors ma colombe, and then it is a toss up for me which I liked better, they were both so good: Psallite or the Breton carol, a real winner, that one should come back again too!

The imaginative concert program design was just about the best I’ve seen, Dr Brynaert, I presume?

Keith, your song introductions were brilliant, and there were lots of chuckles in my 

section toward the back.

And Holly, your “cloaking devices” have definitely stood the test of time, and with 

the matching masks, you all looked great on stage.

Speaking of masks, I take mine off to salute you all, having been to 6 choral concerts this year, I have observed how tough it can be to sing just one a cappella piece with masks, but a whole program, that’s a major physical achievement, on its own terms. Plus, you achieved what few others could, a really good articulation of the words, you must have worked long and hard on that.

Again, thank you for a wonderful experience last nite, shared by a couple hundred 

other souls, so glad you got a full house.

Greetings to all!

David

Dec 14, 2022 - MC, Keith Bailey

Thank you for the invitation to MC the Christmas concerts. Such an honour for me; it's greatly appreciated.

I was amazed at the quality of singing (and for almost 90 minutes!) through those damp and muffling masks.  Well done everyone. The repertoire was perfectly chosen for the occasion and locations.

Please convey my congratulations and appreciation to Pierre, the Steering Committee, and the members. 

With my best wishes to you all for Christmas and The New Year,

Keith

Spring 2023 Auditions - Sing with us!

About The Stairwell Carollers:

Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs. 

A registered Canadian charity, The Carollers also help local charities with net proceeds from concert tickets, CDs, Digital Downloads and Streaming sales.  Since 1997 we have donated over $143,800 to local charities and scholarships.

Stairwell Carollers singers featured in Vistas Article

Stairwell Carollers in rehearsal - photo credit, Katherine Marek

In a new article that just dropped in Vistas - the local Alta Vista newspaper - two Stairwellers, one new and one long time member, speak about singing and performing with a choir through and despite the pandemic. 

Veteran journalist, Courtney Tower, spent hours interviewing Maggie,  Anita, myself and Director, Pete, in preparation to writing the article. He co-created the piece with a Ridgemont journalism student, Skyler Josephson.

Here is a link to the entire online paper - Paper copies may still available locally.

Auditions still ongoing until August 2022 - we are especially searching for tenor and bass voices.

About The Stairwell Carollers:

Pierre Massie created our a cappella choir in 1977 while he was a music student at Ottawa University. With wins in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association competitions, we are ranked among the best of Ontario choirs. 

A registered Canadian charity, The Carollers also help local charities with net proceeds from concert tickets, CD and cookbook sales.  Since 1997 we have donated over $143,800 to local charities and scholarships.

The Arts in Ottawa - fresh to you from @StairwellChoir - Twitter

As you know, we have a twitter profile, @StairwellChoir.

For a couple of years now, I have used a news aggregator called Paper.Li to curate great content from our Twitter feed for everyone to have access to and read.

Here is one of our papers, which comes out once a week. Click the link below to view the full interactive online edition. You can even subscribe to us. And of course, follow us on Twitter.

The Arts in Ottawa

This paper strives to represent tweets pertaining to The Creative and Performing Arts here in Ottawa.

I'm always amazed to see how vibrant the Arts community in our little town is.

The link will bring you to this issue. Current issues can be accessed easily once you are on their site.

I hope you'll find a great show to attend or a workshop to inspire your own creativity!

and...

Please DONATE to make our 40th year special for everyone!

Our upcoming Chelsea concert - behind the song!

Thanks for a lovely article promoting our upcoming concert in Chelsea, Quebec Nov. 26th at 7:30pm.

As all of our concerts, doors open at 7:00pm and there is no reserved seating so be early to get a good seat! Tickets at the door for $20 or in advance for $15 by contacting the church at ststephens1879@gmail.com .

Thanks to Suzanne G. for scanning this article, as I don't think its online yet. Thanks to Ben Bulmer for writing it and thanks too Rene for forwarding it to us.

Ottawa Citizen - The Upbeat: Ottawa Choir sings a Charitable Duet

A duet of American goldfinches

David's original article as submitted is below:

Ottawa choir sings a charitable duet this spring

May 18, 2016, For Immediate Release (Ottawa) –



Founded in 1977, the Stairwell Carollers give back to the community in so many diverse ways. Musically, they are an award-winning a capella choir, led by an award-winning composer, their director, Pierre Massie.

The Stairwell Carollers also sing in a humanitarian key, as they are a registered charity themselves. Over the years, including this spring, proceeds from their CD and ticket sales have allowed them to donate over $130,000 in music scholarships to students and special gifts to local charities.

Continuing this tradition, the choir is thrilled to announce this year’s winner of the Stairwell Carollers music scholarship, Charlie Watson. Charlie is a grade 12 student at Canterbury High School, who plays the piano and trumpet and also sings in the male chorus. He is excited to receive this $1000 award, which will help him as he enters the University of Toronto music department in performance this fall.

The Stairwell Carollers are also pleased to present their next $2000 donation to the Ottawa Chapter of Parkinson Canada. From diagnosis to discovery, Parkinson Canada guides the way for Canadians to live well with Parkinson’s disease through education, advocacy and support services.

The Carollers will make an official presentation of their gift to Parkinson Canada at their spring concert
at Saint Barnabas Church (corner of James St & Kent St) on June 4^th, 7:30pm.

Tickets are available at the door for $20, or in advance for $15 from The Leading Note, 370 Elgin St; Compact Music, 190 & 785 1/2 Bank St; Books on Beechwood, 35 Beechwood Ave, or online at http://www.stairwellcarollers.com/Concerts.html.
And if you’re looking for a great gift, the Stairwell Carollers’ latest CD, “O magnum mysterium”, will be on sale at the concert. Your purchase of a CD will help the Carollers offer their next music scholarship or donation to a local charity.

To learn more about Parkinson Canada, visit parkinson.ca.

David Rain, who sings second tenor, has been receiving his musical cues from the back of Pierre Massie’s head for 23 years with the Carollers. For more information, please visit www.stairwellcarollers.com.

Manor park Chronicle Newspaper -- This Jay sings in a different key

Jay Fee, Conduction Mastering records Stairwell Carollers CDs

Our latest CD for Christmas, o Magnum Mysterium

Our latest CD for Christmas, o Magnum Mysterium

Lit by the light of his Mac, Jay works intently

The Stairwell Carollers are proud to have worked with Jay Fee for all our CD and thanks to him, they all have the same high quality and sound production. He really understands the Stairwell Carollers sound and the detailed audio needs of an a cappella choir.

Jay Fee, Conduction Mastering

Jay's recording company is Conduction Mastering and he has worked with many up and coming independent musicians, producers and even Sony. His impressive list of credits is HERE .

We can't say enough to recommend him for your recording needs whether you are a solo musician, pop group, a cappella ensemble or choral group. He records us on location in church venues but a large proportion of his record work is done in studio.

Our full compliment of Christmas, Sacred and Renaissance madrigal CDs can be perished and purchased directly from us HERE.

The Upbeat -- Ottawa Citizen article on Stairwell Carollers

This season we are so fortunate to have so much lovely Ottawa media coverage, and now an article by David Rain, published in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday.



AND...

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.

All our other CDs are available on our website in both CD form and as MP3 downloads.

The Stairwell Carollers are an Ottawa, Canada cased a cappella choral 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.

Buy our CDs and help Ottawa/Gatineau charities reach their goals!

Visit our blog or our website for updates.

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