Ottawa Choir – The Stairwell Carollers
More than 45 years of charitable song in Canada’s Capitol
Photos by Holly Massie & Drew Gragg – All rights reserved
The Stairwell Carollers, an a cappella Ottawa choir, sing sacred and secular music from all eras, as well as settings of traditional and contemporary Christmas carols.
Photos, Holly Massie (unless otherwise noted) – all rights reserved
Placing FIRST in the OMFA 2010 and 2013 Provincials and SECOND in the 2010 FCMF Nationals, they are ranked amongst the best of Ottawa choirs and have provided $146,319 in scholarships and donations to local charities.
Director, Pierre Massie, has composed many original pieces for the choir, as well as creating lively and contemporary arrangements of traditional carols.
One of his original carols, “Mourning Dove”, caught the ear of Canada’s Dominion Carillonneur, Dr. Andrea McCrady, via YouTube. She performed “Mourning Dove” on the Peace Tower Carillon at 12:00 noon, and again at 3:00 pm, Monday Dec 17th. (http://stairwellcarollers.blogspot.ca/2012/12/pierre-massie-composition-mourning-dove.html) and again in her summer program for 2014. She continues to perform his music to this day.
Sad Departure – The Stairwell Interviews
It’s not always that when a singer departs, she leaves a gaping hole in our hearts.
That rhymes! How fitting! Katherine style.
I’ll mostly miss her devilishly adorable sense of humour, her dancing with and miming out song lyrics, her fantastic crochet and knit creations, her beautiful photos – and, well, just HER.
A Message from Gabriel Lewis O’Conner
We just got this lovely email from Gabriel (Gabe) Lewis-O’Conner, who recently did a weekend of choral workshops with the Stairwell Carollers choir here in Ottawa. It was a really inspiring event in preparation towards our first public choral concert since Christmas 2019!
Ottawa Choral Concert this Sat June 4th 8:00pm
Alle psallite cum luya, loosely translated as ‘ let us sing together, alleluia!’ is more than just the name of one of the pieces we sing this season. In fact, it seems to encapsulate how we feel these days for several reasons.
Ottawa Choir News – Stairwell Carollers featured in Vistas
In Ottawa choir news, a new article that just dropped in Vistas – the local Alta Vista newspaper – two Stairwellers, one new and one long time member, speak about singing and performing with a choir through and despite the pandemic.