Dear All,
Thank you for your patience over the past few months! Way back in May, at the initial meeting at the OMA offices, the four of us were tasked with moving this project forwards and I am delighted to report that we are now able to announce the official launch of the Toronto Physicians Choir!
The initial idea for the choir came out of a Doctors’ Lounge event organized by Dr. Harold Pupko on behalf of District 11 of the OMA. We have tried to honor that original vision of a choir open to local physicians and medical students with a variety of previous musical experience and diverse musical tastes. We have also taken note of the feedback we received from our first email to you all. We were very encouraged that even with the minimal information available then, enough people were willing to commit to allow us to move ahead.
Barbara Stubbs and Bill Logan interviewed five stellar candidates for the position of choral director and we feel that we have found the ideal candidate in Paul Genyk-Berezowsky. You can read more about him in the attached info sheet, but he is a multi-instrumentalist who already leads three choirs and has a great vision for this choir.
Mary Lilley, again ably assisted by Bill Logan, has found a great location for our rehearsals at Fairlawn Avenue United Church, near Yonge and Lawrence. It is close to the subway line and has lots of parking nearby. The church leadership has been flexible, supportive and welcoming.
The choice of the evening for our rehearsals was challenging. The feedback from yourselves was that while many people were fairly flexible, four people could not make Tuesdays and four people could not make Wednesdays. We also had to take into account the availability of the choral director and the venue and that is why we settled on Wednesdays. Our sincere apologies to those who could not make the Wednesday slot – we very much hope that you will be able to join us at some point in the future. We plan to meet three times a month from 7.30-9.30pm. Two of the sessions will be for members who have committed to the whole year and want to work on a defined repertoire. The other session (which will usually fall in the middle of the month) will also be open to “pay-as-you-go” singers who are looking for a more informal session of singing.
For info on fees, dates, registration, please contact us at torontophysicianschoir@gmail.com
Thanks,
Claire Middleton for the Toronto Physicians Choir