Canadian Children's Opera Company
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The Canadian Children's Opera Company (Previously called the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, CCOC) was founded in 1968 by Ruby Mercer and Lloyd Bradshaw. The company consists of five divisions of approximately 240 boys and girls aged 6 to 19. The Principal Chorus has over 80 choristers, and they participate as the children's chorus in productions by the Canadian Opera Company (COC). The current artistic director/music director are Dean Burry/Teri Dunn. The CCOC performs many times in the year; in addition to COC productions, they perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,[1] Soundstreams Canada, the Hannaford Street Silver Band, as well as on their own.[2]
The CCOC has toured across Europe and Canada, and continue to expand its repertoire of music in various languages including English, French, Italian, Serbian, Russian, Mandarin (Chinese), Hungarian, German, Inuit, as well as several African languages.
The company's repertoire consists of a mix of traditional music and modern classical pieces. The group also sings various genres of music including folk songs, opera, musicals and jazz. They have released five CDs.
Touring Across Europe
Every few years, the CCOC goes on a tour across Europe with choristers from the CCOC's Principal and Youth Choruses. The tour generally lasts a few weeks. Over the course of the tour the CCOC does many concerts and in 2011, had the privilege to compete in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival in Vienna for the first time. The CCOC placed 2nd in the treble category of the competition during their tour in July, 2011.
Commissioned works
The CCOC has commissioned a number of works in the past, including the following:
- Alice in Wonderland (2015)(Errol Gay)/(Michael Patrick Albano)
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon (2014) (Norbert Palej)/(K.T. Bryski)
- Laura's Cow: The Legend of Laura Secord (2011) (Errol Gay)/(Michael Patrick Albano)
- The Secret World of Og (2010) (Dean Burry)
- Dragon in the Rocks (2008) (Alexander Rapoport)
- A Dickens of a Christmas (2005)(2006)(2007)(2010) (Errol Gay)/(Michael Patrick Albano)
- The Hobbit (2004) (Dean Burry)
- The Star Child (1998) (John Greer/Ned Dickens)
- The Snow Queen (1993) (John Greer/Jeremy James Taylor)
- A Midwinter Night's Dream (Harry Somers/Tim Wynne-Jones)
- Dr. Canon's Cure (Derek Holman/Robertson Davies)
- Chip and His Dog (1978) (Gian Carlo Menotti)
Discography
- Dandelion Parachutes
- Creatures Great & Small
- Sir Christëmas
- There and Back Again
- A Midwinter Night's Dream
- Lullabies
Past artistic/musical directors
- Dean Burry/Teri Dunn(2015–present)
- Ann Cooper Gay (2000–2015)
- John Tuttle (1985–2000)
- Derek Holman (1975–1985)
- Donald Kendrick (1974–1975)
- Lloyd Bradshaw (1968–1975)
Awards
- National Award for Outstanding Choral Record (1989) for Derek Holman's Sir Christëmas awarded by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors[3]
- First Prize (1992) in the CBC Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, Children’s Choir category
- First Prize (1993) in the CBC Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, Children’s Choir category
- Second Prize (1998) in the CBC Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, Children’s Choir category
- Recording of A Midwinter Night's Dream Nominated for a Juno Award in 2007
References
- ^ 2008 press release from the TSO mentioning a performance that includes the CCOC
- ^ CCOC entry at The Encyclopædia of Music in Canada, retrieved 2009-12-07
- ^ Outstanding Choral Recording Award Recipients from the Association of Canadian Choral Communities, retrieved 2009-12-07