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really improve the quality and that will hopefully attract new mem- bers, attract new audience mem- bers and keep us strong for anoth- er 50 years. However long the choir has been around, he said it could not have been without the support of the communi- ty, which he said the choir members are grateful for. To make the concerts more accessible for entire families, children 12 and under are now free to attend concerts. During the spring concert we will have an awesome orchestra, awesome soloists and an awesome venue, he said. In the entire sea- son we want to underline how much were grateful that weve been around for 50 years and that the choir has served the communi- ty for 50 years. The organizations history is so long it is difficult to pinpoint its origin. Johnstone believes the group was formed by a small group of residents who just simply want- ed to sing. The group began singing throughout various loca- tions in the community and even- tually it got a music director. According to an archived letter written by a former president of the group, Doug Bevans, in 1980, the choir went through several directors and moved around from church basement to basement for its rehearsals. In 1969 Gifford Mitchell was hired as a music director and remained in that capacity for nine years. It was also at that time, in 69, that the group changed its name to the Whiteoaks Choral Society and started to hold its rehearsals at Sheridan College. Conducting was later taken over by Bev Stainton in 1979, who was the choirs music director for 30 years before retiring recently. In 1996 the name was changed back to the Oakville Choral Society, The current choir president, Lynda Sturgeoff, who is with the group for her eighth year and third as president, said the organization faces similar challenges as any other choir in Canada. One challenge is to maintain and attract an audience. The other, a nation-wide choral problem, she said, is attracting men to sing. Attracting women is usually easy, she said. Attracting men is not so easy and in particular tenors. However, despite the challenges the choir has persisted on and Sturgeoff said it starts with the choirs good reputation, which was helped by the long tenure of the former music director of 30 years, and its members having fun. Now, she said the choir has a new director who is bringing some fresh ideas and the choir is intro- ducing different types of music. The need for male singers was echoed by the choirs longest standing member, Anne Deathe, who has been in the group for 39 years. Her husband, Clifford, remained a member of the group for 25 of his wifes 39 years. We are always welcoming new members and certainly we need more men in the choir. I think most choirs will tell you they are lacking tenors, Anne said. If any- one has a love of music they should come out and try us out. Over the years the members of the choirs have changed. Despite that, Johnstone said the organiza- tion has continued its course as usual for all those years. Different directors have differ- ent ways of directing but the choir itself, even though people have changed, come and gone, it does seem to maintain a life of its own in terms of what we sing and how we sing it. You get any group of people together that big, youre going to maintain that kind of sound or quality to it, she said. Shes currently with her third director at the choir. She said peo- ple will come and go, some will return and some stick around for a number of years and that the choir itself generally stays at around 70 members but there have been times when it has reached 100. Some people even come with minimal musical knowledge. People have come in because they just want to come and sing and after a year or two they find that they really learned some- thing, Johnstone said. Over the years the organization has performed all types of music and the varied genres help keep choristers and audiences enter- tained, she added. Over the last 30 years, within a five year period, weve done every- thing. We have done Gilbert and Sullivan, we have done Broadway several times, we had done Last Night at the Prom or English Pub Nights, weve done cabarets and of course the serious music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, she said. It appeals to some of the people all the time but not all the people all the time. Of course, since the societys start in 1960, other choirs have formed in Oakville, but Johnstone said this has not resulted in a reduced audience for her organiza- tion. She said the choirs perform on separate dates and some singers belong to multiple groups. One of the most memorable aspects of the choir for Johnstone is a music camp the group used to attend regularly. It consisted of a Friday to Sunday getaway for the choristers during which time they learned from various musicians OAKVILLE CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS TUES, DECEMBER 21, 2010 2 SHOWS! 3:00 & 7:30PM TICKETS $50, Seniors $45 ORDER ONLINE WWW.OAKVILLECENTRE.CA OR CALL 1-888-489-7784 www.johnmcdermott.com IN SUPPORT OF McDERMOTT HOUSE CANADA www.johnmcdermott.com/mhc CHRISTMAS MEMORIES JOHN McDERMOTT & FRIENDS with special guests DAN HILL and ROSIE MACKENZIE YOU THINK Were Closer Than J U N I O R K I N D E R G A R T E N A N D M O N T E S S O R I T O G R A D E 1 2 w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , D ec em be r 1 0, 2 01 0 2 6 Thanks to generous donors, we have collected over 100 amazing items! Gift Certificates Toys Gift baskets Maple Leaf tickets Spa Services Nintendo Wii Cottage Weekend Sport Memorabilia and lots more! Bidding Started: Monday Dec 6th 9:00 am Bidding Closes: Sunday Dec 12th 9:00 pm Spend a Little for Something Big! Check it out at: www.bbbshalton.ca Shop for Kids Sake ON-LINE AUCTION Thanks to our Title and Event Sponsors: Oakville Lydia Moritz, Family Lawyer Karen A. Thompson, Mediator and Arbitrator Family Law Lawyers Choir grateful to community for 50 years of support In the entire season we want to underline how much were grateful that weve been around for 50 years and that the choir has served the community for 50 years. David Bowser, music director Oakville Choral Society See Friendships page 29 Continued from page 25 www.playmobil.ca OUR RETAIL STORE IS NOW OPEN We Look Forward to Serving You Again! We Are Now Located at 6430 Kennedy Road, Unit D, Mississauga. L5T 2Z5 Self Watering planters made in Germany incorporating many stylish designs. PLANTERS