The German Canadian Male Chorus of Calgary has been singing since 1971.
Currently there are 36 members in the choir, many of whom have ethnic backgrounds other than German. The sound of an all-male choir draws many men to sing with the chorus.
Susan Woodward, our Director, began with the choir as their accompanist in 1976 at a very young age. She took over as Music Director in 1988 (with a short hiatus from 2001-2005). Susan is an accomplished pianist and organist and has directed numerous community and church choirs throughout her career.
In May of this year the choir travelled to Germany and presented concerts in conjunction with men’s choirs in Stadthagen (northern Germany) and Huegelsheim (southern Germany) as well as performances in churches and cathedrals, including the great cathedral in Strasbourg (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg) during a day trip to France. This was the Choir’s 11th European concert tour.
The Choir feels so privileged to continue to receive an invitation to sing as part of the ProArts Society Concert Series. And by the way, in case you were wondering, the average age of the choir is 77.4 years!
The familiar carols of Christmas resonate everywhere at this special time of year. The German Canadian Male Chorus will perform some traditional German carols as well as some original Christmas songs written by German contemporary composers. A selection from Camille Säen-Saints Christmas Oratorio will be presented in German, as well as the music of Handel’s Aria Lascia ch’io pianga rewritten with German words. The joyful sound of a few English Christmas songs will complete the choir’s performance.
