Dear Friends of Seventeen Voyces
We are pleased to announce Seventeen Voyces’ 28th season – see all the exciting details below.
The choir has sustained itself for 26 seasons through careful management of its limited resources, combining revenue from ticket sales, advertising and sponsorship, generous donations by patrons and audience members, as well as by grants from public arts funders like the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Community Foundation.
But we too suffered from the impact of COVID on public performances, and attendance.
We are reaching out to you for help. This year, a generous donor has offered to match any donation to the choir, up to a total of $5000. We are most thankful for this offer and hope it will provide additional incentive for you to contribute.
We would deeply appreciate your support at this time. Contributions are tax deductible and gratefully received, through the choir’s website at www.seventeenvoyces.ca or by cheque to Seventeen Voyces, 254 Holmwood Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 2P9.
On behalf of Seventeen Voyces, we thanks for your continued support and for any contribution you may be willing and able to provide.
Kevin Reeves
Artistic Director
John Goldsmith
Chair
Ottawa’s chamber choir Seventeen Voyces, directed by Kevin Reeves, has gained a solid reputation as one of the city’s best performing ensembles. The seventeen singers are handpicked from seasoned veterans and are asked to perform some of the most challenging choral music in existence. The small size, the clarity and quality of the overall instrument, and the repertoire, much of it unknown because of its difficulty, is what makes Seventeen Voyces important to discerning concert attendees.
What began as a choir specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music, eventually expanded to encompass works from all eras – including Pop and Jazz.
Seventeen Voyces is proud to have either commissioned or premiered works by Andrew Ager, Gilles Leclerc, Kevin Reeves, Jana Skarecky and Elma Miller, of which the latter three have been aired on CBC national radio. Additionally, the choir has been a regular performing partner with the Ottawa Baroque Consort, Thirteen Strings, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, working with many different conductors.
Seventeen Voyces’ biggest successes have been various multidisciplinary productions; the ensemble has staged rarely-performed operas such as John Blow’s ‘Venus and Adonis,’ Telemann’s ‘Don Quixote’ and Ager’s ‘Casanova.’
The really popular evenings have been those involving a blend of live music and silent film – including classics such as ‘La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc,’ ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame,’ ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘Nosferatu,’ ‘Faust,’ ‘The General’ and ‘Peter Pan.’
In 2016, in a co-production with the 100-voiced Ottawa Choral Society, Seventeen Voyces presented the 1925 silent film ‘Ben Hur,’ accompanied by the chamber version of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Seventeen Voyces takes part in Thirteen Strings’ annual Candlelight Christmas concert, one of which was broadcast worldwide on the EWTN American network to 30 million viewers. If you enjoy great choral music, please feel free to donate to Seventeen Voyces via the ‘Canada Helps’ button.
Kevin Reeves
Well-known on the classical music scene in Ottawa, Kevin is the founding director of Seventeen Voyces, which has been heard under his direction on national radio and television. He was also Chorusmaster with the Ottawa Choral Society from 2012-2015, In 2003, he was invited to share the podium for CBC Television’s nationally broadcast ‘Easter Sunrise’ at the National Gallery of Canada. As a chorus master, Kevin has prepared choirs for many international conductors – mostly through the National Arts Centre – including Trevor Pinnock, Franz Paul Decker, Lydia Adams, Jiri Belohlavek, Iwan Edwards, Robert Cooper, Jean-Francois Rivest and Pinchas Zukerman. Kevin is also a composer and three years ago presented the world premiere of his comic opera ‘Nosferatu’ – based on the filming of the 1922 silent classic. He has also recently completed a full-length opera based on the true story of Anahareo and Grey Owl’s life in the bush.
