STAIRWELL CAROLLERS SPRING 2026 - A CONCERT FOR ALL TIME AND PLACE

SACRED & PROFANE 

June 6, St. Barnabas Church, 70 James Street Ottawa. 7:30 PM. 

 TICKETS

Join us in an evening of choral beauty spanning the ages.

This diverse evening of religious and secular a cappella songs includes contemporary pieces such as award winning “Eya, eya gaudeamus” - composed by our director, Pierre Massie - and an arrangement of “Jerusalem” by Terry Brynaert, bass. 

Frank Ticheli’s heart-wrenching “Earth Song” is a mere 15 years old and cries out for peace in a time of war. Contrast this with Rob Dietz’ 1999 “Hine ma tov”, a joyous refrain in Hebrew encouraging us to ‘behold, how good it is for people to dwell together in unity’. 

Hear Thomas Morley’s “I Love, Alas, I Love Thee” or “Margot labourez les vignes”. Finally, imagine the church imbued with our choir’s offering of Gabriel Faure’s “O Domine”.

We are preparing some extraordinary works to share for this, our 48th Spring Concert. Join us in joy, in celebration and reflection, as we bring to life music for all the times and places of mankind. 

Pierre Massie and his award-winning a cappella choir, The Stairwell Carollers, invite you to an evening of choral masterpieces from the 15th century to the present day.

Our concert this season consists of 23 sacred and secular works from across the ages. As always, we will perform songs in several languages, including Latin, Italian, French, English, Hebrew and Icelandic.

The repertoire includes Missa brevis by Antonio Lotti, our second most popular sacred video on YouTube. We will also sing works by other well-known Renaissance and Victorian greats such as Tallis, Morley, Hassler, Janequin, Arcadelt and many more. The music spans several eras and includes contemporary works by Fauré, Ticheli, Gjeillo, our director Pierre Massie, and an arrangement by our bass, Terry Brynaert.

Bring your friends and enjoy our springtime musical smorgasbord. You won’t be disappointed!

To learn more about the Stairwell Carollers, visit: stairwellcarollers.com.

And to hear the Carollers singing, visit our YouTube channel.

TONIGHT! Stairwell Carollers Spring 2025 choral Concert

TONIGHT!

Stairwell Carollers Spring 2025 choral Concert TONIGHT  June 7th! 

St. Barnabas church 70 James Street Ottawa Don't miss us! Tickets on sale online and at the door.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-stairwell-carollers/events/-madrigal/

Our concert this season includes our most challenging repertoire ever. More than half of the songs are new to every one of us! The evening will consist of 23 secular and sacred works from across the ages. As always, we will perform songs in several languages, including German, Latin, Spanish, French, English and Swedish.

The repertoire includes the Kyrie from Rheinberger's Mass in Eb for two choirs, along with other works by well-known Renaissance and Victorian greats such as Morley, di Lasso, Dowland, Encina, Janequin and many more. The music spans many eras and includes contemporary works by Poulenc and Holst. We will also be singing the beautiful theme from the popular TV series, "Outlander".

Bring your friends and enjoy our springtime musical smorgasbord. You won't be disappointed!

To learn more about the Stairwell Carollers, visit: stairwellcarollers.com.

And to hear the Carollers singing, visit our YouTube channel.

Stairwell Carollers Spring Concert, Sat, June 1st 2024 at 7:30 pm

Prima Vera ~ The Stairwell Carollers 2024 Spring Choral Concert 

After an amazing weekend of choral workshops with choral technician Gabriel Lewis O’Connor, the Stairwell Carollers now are looking forward to their Spring Concert, Saturday, June 1st 2024 at 7:30 pm. 

Gabe leads the Stairwell Carollers at weekend choral workshops

Lots of new Stairwellers at our workshops 

For this concert the choir is returning to St. Barnabas Church, 70 James Street Ottawa, Ontario Canada, where they recorded their CD, Cantate Domino ( Sacred songs from the Renaissance).

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Get your tickets online HERE 

Dress rehearsal for our 2023 Spring Concert at St Barnabas

The Stairwell Carollers 2023 St Barnabas concert

Posts to come about the fantastic workshops with Gabe and all our new singers in the Stairwell!

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.

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. 

STAIRWELL CAROLLERS 2023 Spring Choral Concert MADRIGAL, Smashing Success!

 photo credit Drew Gragg

New Singers in the Stairwell!

Pierre Massie and his award-winning a cappella choir, The Stairwell Carollers, hosted an evening of choral masterpieces from the 16th century to present day. We saw so many old friends who said they enjoyed our springtime musical smorgasbord, with songs in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Latin and Gaelic.

photo credit Drew Gragg

The Stairwell  Carollers, now celebrating their 46th year singing in the National Capital Region, is also proud to introduce five new singers for this season! Irina, Lisseth, Rita, Kristy and Lance - altos, sopranos and a tenor!

 photo credit Drew Gragg

We returned to one of our favourite singing spaces, Saint Barnabas Church at 70 James St. Ottawa for our Spring '23 concert, Saturday, June 3rd, 2023. It was a  a "masks optional" performance - our first since 2019! 

"Madrigal", a welcome introduction to spring program included choral gems by Dowland, Costeley, Palestrina, de Lassus, Poulenc, Bairstow and Gjello. It also featured Pierre Massie's "Verbum Patris umanatur" and "F'hir a' bhàta" a traditional Gaelic folk song by Sìne NicFhionnlaigh.

This concert was also the farewell performance for one of our long time singers, Helen, who recently switched up from alto to singing tenor alongside Pete. We wish her all the best in her future adventures, traveling the world with her husband in their retirement. Much love Helen, you can never be replaced!

Helen and Tina - longtime alto stairwellers - photo credit Drew Gragg

To learn more about the Stairwell Carollers, visit https://www.stairwellcarollers.com/en/home/

And to hear the Carollers singing, visit our YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/StairwellCarollers 

FALL SEASON AUDITIONS COMING UP! END OF AUGUST - email Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your time.

The Stairwell Carollers is a registered Canadian charity. 

Net proceeds benefit local Ottawa Gatineau charities. 

Southminster Concert was the perfect start to my Christmas season!

Our first Xmas concert in 3 years was about to happen! I was a bit concerned about the look of the masks with our cheerful Christmassy cloaks, but no worries we were still cute as buttons ( cloak buttons that is) .

The sound was not affected either by the masks, according to our MC (former bass, but forever Stairweller, Keith). Thanks for being a great MC! We love you!

Warmup time! Pete runs us though the beginnings of all the songs before we go on and hums the first note of the first carol to us all the way till we enter.

 What a great beginning to a new chapter! Southminster was a resounding success! A lovely, warm and generous audience (even some in the choir loft!) and our new members shone!

Denyse said it best " I don't know how long I've been in the choir, it's many years, but this is a brand new choir! And all the new people are Stairwell Carollers just like me! This is your choir"

I just realized our green caroling cloaks are 24 years old! 

I made them 24 years ago!!! Oh... my... goodness...

Well, not ALL of them. Some were made through the years as the group grew larger, but they have weathered very well, and still look fresh and festive. Vogue patterns are the BEST!

Oh, and you may have noticed, the men are in much newer black cloaks - about ten years ago we needed more and surprise - the green fleece was NO LONGER AVAILABLE! 

I was freaking out at that point. We made an executive decision - I think it was Pete who said we could just use black for the guys - luckily the red fleece was still available.

Here is a link to a blog post I did about making the cloaks

But, I digress... 

More thanks are in order!

Thanks to David Ayer (bass) and his crew for lighting and tech setup!

No pics of the concert yet, but we have video "in the can" thanks to Michèle Auger, with closeups by Drew. Combined with professional audio recorded by our old friend Tom Barnes, Pierre will create YouTube videos to upload for next Christmas. I'll try to pull some stills to post from the video if no photos were taken.

And, many many thanks to our CD table and front of house people, headed by Matthieu Brennan.

Looking forward to our final concert of 2022 - this Wednesday at 7:30, St. Columba church 24 Sandridge Rd. Ottawa. 

Online is almost SOLD OUT !

LAST CHANCE Tickets at the door $25 - NO RESERVED SEATING, doors open at 7:00pm.

See you there!

Auditions - Join 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.

The Stairwell Carollers OPEN REHEARSAL - Wednesday Nov 2nd 2022 - all welcome!

The Stairwell Carollers are holding an OPEN REHEARSAL Wednesday evening, Nov 2nd 2022 from 6:30 PM (EDT) to 9:00 PM (EDT). Please REGISTER HERE

EN FRANÇAIS

Come join the fun and hear who we are as we rehearse. Everyone is invited.

It's a great opportunity for anyone interested in joining our group to see how we do things.

Come do warm-ups, learn about singing choral music from Director Pierre Massie - and sing along from the pews.

Register yourself by purchasing a free ticket here.  Rehearsal is at St. Columba Anglican Church, 24 Sandridge Rd, Manor Park, Ottawa.

COVID protocols

We ask that you sit in the church pew social distanced. The carollers wear masks when rehearsing. We strongly request the participants wear a mask.

Questions about this event?

The Stairwell Carollerscarollers@rogers.com

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.

O vos omnes by Tomas Luis de Victoria - Ottawa Stairwell Carollers choir - YouTube

 

Having been on Youtube for over 12 years now, the Stairwell Carollers has fought a few battles over copyright. Not the silliest being ones for our Director, Pierre's own original compositions! 

Sure enough, we uploaded our video of  O vos omnes by Tomas Luis de Victoria from our Spring concert last June. Bam. A copyright notice!

For an obviously Public Domain piece!

There are scammers everywhere, and YouTube is not by any means free of them.  (Imagine trying to get a piece of our already meagre YouTube earnings.)

Of course, I am disputing it. Details to come... (I'm usually successful fighting these fakes)

Here it is!

Ottawa choir, The Stairwell Carollers, perform O vos omnes by Tomas Luis de Victoria.

O vos omnes is on our “Cantate Domino” recording.  Net proceeds from our music benefits local charities. You can purchase or songs on our website in both CD and MP3 formats.  Get our professional recordings here.. https://stairwell-carollers-buy-christmas-carol-cds-music.square.site

Visit our website

Recorded at St. Columba Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 4, 2022. 

Videographers: Michèle Auger, Drew Mason

Video Editing: Pierre Massie

Auditions ongoing until end of August 2022 - we are especially searching for tenor and bass voices. Also soprano.

Email Holly info(at)stairwellcarollers.com to set up your virtual audition time.

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.

O Jesu Christe by Jacquet de Mantua - sung live by Ottawa's Stairwell Carollers - YouTube

Here is our next YouTube offering - O Jesu Christe - from our St. Columba June 4th 2022 Spring Concert. 

One of my personal favourites, I have been singing the alto part in this song for easily 20 years :P

You may have noticed, we are singing and rehearsing with masks on still. Many of our members are seniors and some are immune compromised, so we made the decision to continue masking.

The amazing thing is, I actually got used to singing through a mask, in fact, it helped with my allergies (churches can be very musty) 

Bonus -  the sound is just as good! I know, wierd, eh?

Ottawa choir, The Stairwell Carollers, perform “ O Jesu Christe” by Jacquet de Mantua.

O Jesu Christe is on our “Cantate Domino” recording.  Net proceeds from our music sales benefit local charities.  Buy our songs from our website in both CD and MP3 formats.  

Purchase our professional recordings here.

The Stairwell Carollers, an a cappella group formed in 1977 by director Pierre Massie, has earned the distinction of being ranked amongst the best of Ontario choirs.   Our choir took first place in both the 2010 and 2013 Ontario Music Festival Association provincial competition.

Visit our website

Recorded at St. Columba Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 4, 2022. 

Videographers: Michèle Auger, Drew Mason

Video Editing: Pierre Massie

Auditions ongoing until end of August 2022 - we are especially searching for tenor and bass voices. Also soprano.

Email Holly info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your virtual audition time.

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.

El Grillo - The Stairwell Carollers on Youtube - Auditions still on!

 Fresh from our first concert since Xmas 2019, here is “ El Grillo” by Josquin des Prez sung by The Stairwell Carollers.

This version of El Grillo is on our “Audite nova” recording.  Net proceeds from our music benefits local charities and are available to buy from our website in both CD and MP3 formats.  Purchase our professional recordings here... https://stairwell-carollers-buy-christmas-carol-cds-music.square.site/

Visit our blog http://www.stairwellcarollers.blogspo... or our website http://www.stairwellcarollers.com/ for updates.

Recorded at St. Columba Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 4, 2022. 

Videographers: Michèle Auger, Drew Mason

Video Editing: Pierre Massie Audio recording by the master of local choral audio, Tom Barnes.

We're looking for a few good Men!

The Stairwell Carollers are seeking tenors and basses to join our safe, fully vaccinated choral ensemble. A solid voice, a good ear, a great attitude, and proof of vaccination are all candidates need to qualify. Reading music is an asset but not a necessity.

Auditions for tenors and basses continue till August 2022 or until positions are filled. Auditions are held via zoom, Skype or Facetime. During the audition, the candidate must have access to software to read PDFs and play MP3 files.

Contact Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time.

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.

A Great Come-Back Concert - Much Thanks To All from Nirvana

Thank you all for such a wonderful concert last night! The audience was so appreciative of the performance -- and in addition to that, I'm extremely appreciative of all the work that went into the staging, work that escapes the notice of many of the audience members. 

Many thanks for all the 'background' work that went into the concert, particularly those on the Tech Crew, the Workshop Committee, the Steering Committee, and a huge thanks to all the singers who made last night so very special. 

I feel like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, being able to sing in a public concert after so much time. My very best wishes to all, especially Erin and Katherine, who are each embarking on a brand new journey. We'll miss you, but hope you continue to stay in touch.

And most of all, thanks to Pete, for so many things -- 

having the vision to create the choir in the first place; having so much artistic integrity that it gives us such a unique, well-balanced sound; for all the pushing to make us unsatisfied with a good performance when a better one can be achieved with more effort; for years of instruction, for I have learned something with each and every rehearsal over the years; for the blunt (yet spot-on) comments when I inadvertently get lazy, for you know I can do better; and, most of all, for allowing me to be part of such a wonderful ensemble -- I feel such soul-affirming joy and awe when we hit on all cylinders! 

And that's also thanks to everyone giving their best. Together we are nirvana.

{Nirvana is a place of perfect peace and happiness, like heaven. In Hinduism and Buddhism, nirvana is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away.}

Enjoy a well-deserved respite, and have a terrific summer. ;o)

Maggie

Auditions ongoing until August 2022 - we are especially searching for tenor and bass voices. Also soprano and an alto.

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.

A Message from Gabriel Lewis O'Conner

We just got this lovely email from Gabriel (Gabe) Lewis-O'Conner, who recently did a weekend of choral workshops with the Stairwell Carollers choir here in Ottawa. It was a really inspiring event in preparation towards our first public choral concert since Christmas 2019!

The whole choir was thrilled to see him again and I will post more about the workshops soon.

Hi Pete (and the whole group)-

I just wanted to write a quick note and tell you how much I have been thinking about all of you leading up to your concert this Saturday.

It makes me so happy to see that the concert is moving ahead, and it seems like you have a pretty solid registration for tickets at this point. Those in the audience are so lucky to be a part of what you all will share.

I am confident that all of the effort it has taken to keep singing through the pandemic and then to come back together to sing in person will manifest in the passion, joy,  and personal storytelling that this repertoire allows.

Please know that I will be in the audience in spirit, beaming and clapping more loudly than anyone (even if you can’t actually see or hear me). I feel like my weekend working on this music with the group allowed me a rare glimpse into how this concert has evolved, and what this music means to each person singing it.

Send my love to everyone, and I can’t wait to hear how the concert goes. I hope everyone has recovered fully that was ill, and you have the full compliment of healthy boisterous singers!

Much love from Kansas,

Gabe

We're looking for a few good Men!

The Stairwell Carollers are seeking tenors and basses to join our safe, fully vaccinated choral ensemble. A solid voice, a good ear, a great attitude, and proof of vaccination are all candidates need to qualify. Reading music is an asset but not a necessity.

Auditions for tenors and basses continue till August 2022 or until positions are filled. Auditions are held via zoom, Skype or Facetime. During the audition, the candidate must have access to software to read PDFs and play MP3 files.

Contact Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time.

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.

Stairwell Carollers Ottawa Choral Concert this Saturday June 4th 8:00pm

Alle psallite cum luya, loosely translated as ' let us sing together, alleluia!' is more than just the name of one of the pieces we sing this season. In fact, it seems to encapsulate how we feel these days for several reasons.  RESERVE TICKETS HERE

To begin with, this is our first live musical offering for the public after two years of pandemic-induces silence - so for that alone, let us sing together, alleluia! 

 Second, during the late 13th and 14th century when this motet was composed, the first bubonic plague was starting to ravage Europe, sowing death and stoking fear and panic. 

Yet, one anonymous monk, shivering in his cloister, found the means of offering defiant praise against the specter of a frightening new world with a musical call to arms: Let us sing together, alleluia! 

The fact that his melody and words have survived 800 years into our century so that we might sing it during our own trying time: alleluia! 

Finally, having made it through the Covid-19 epidemic, the Stairwell Carollers have persevered, but in reduced numbers of male singers along the way. Moving forward, we need to build up our membership in order to sing at our optimum best. 

My challenge to any musically oriented guys reading this message: heed the call of the anonymous thirteenth century monk and join us: let us sing together, alleluia!

Director, Pierre Massie (thanks to Terry B. for the wonderful words)

We're looking for a few good Men!

The Stairwell Carollers are seeking tenors and basses to join our safe, fully vaccinated choral ensemble. A solid voice, a good ear, a great attitude, and proof of vaccination are all candidates need to qualify. Reading music is an asset but not a necessity.

Auditions for tenors and basses continue till August 2022 or until positions are filled. Auditions are held via zoom, Skype or Facetime. During the audition, the candidate must have access to software to read PDFs and play MP3 files.

Contact Holly at info@stairwellcarollers.com to set up your audition time.

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.