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News Release

May 01, 2006

U of G Women's Chamber Choir Heads to National Finals

The University of Guelph’s women’s chamber choir is among three choirs that will vie for top honours Wednesday at the CBC/Radio Canada National Competition for Amateur Choirs. The competition will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. on CBC Radio Two, FM 94.1.

There are 10 categories in the two-day competition, which can be heard Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. U of G is competing in the contemporary music category. This is the first year Guelph choirs have participated.

The semi-final round of the contemporary music category, which aired April 30, featured 10 choirs from across the country. Guelph’s 21-member women’s chamber choir, along with the Toronto Children’s Chorus and the Vancouver-based Phoenix Chamber Choir, were selected to move on to the final round.

“I’m incredibly proud,” said conductor Marta McCarthy, a U of G music professor. “To be one of the top three in the country is amazing.”

A second U of G chamber choir also competed on Sunday as one of four semi-finalists in the university category.

The biennial competition, hosted by CBC’s Howard Dyck, was created in 1975 to promote Canada’s amateur choirs and showcase them to a national audience. Choirs are judged on musicianship, technique and program by a panel of internationally renowned choral adjudicators.