(Delivered to the Board of Directors,
at the Amabile Annual General meeting,
Highland Country Club, January 25, 2017
by Wade Baillie, Chair, Amabile Choirs Board of Directors.)
Our 31st season of the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada was full of many wonderful and exciting events, topping it off with a collective recording project for the music of our own alumni Matthew Emery.
Our season started off with Freude! (Joy), as the senior choirs of Amabile joined forces with #WePlayOn Musicians (now newly constituted as London Symphonia) and several other choirs for a concert of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
The girls and women’s side of the organization saw many wonderful artistic collaborations and events. The AYWE hosted a successful Cabaret to kick off their season. The choirs also focused their energies on fundraising and were very successful financially. The JAS joined forces with El Sistema for their spring concert. June was very busy for the Amabile Young Women’s Ensemble as they prepared for their European tour and were offered three additional performance opportunities, the Brescia Baccalaureate, the 8th Annual Bishop’s Dinner, and an Ontario Government Event. We said Bon Voyage to them at their spring concert and they were off to Prague, Saltzburg, Vienna and Budapest to delight audiences with their artistry and musicianship.
The fall of 2015 saw the remounting of the Amabile Chamber Choir, after several years on hiatus. They performed at 3 concerts and recorded a track on our new Sing Your Song cd.
With the success of previous Prima / Primus collaborations, the adult choirs were invited to join the Canadian Chamber Choir in January in concert, and their conductor, Amabile alumna Julia Davids.
Mark Sirett brought his style of energy to the 26th Annual Festival. We welcomed him back with many of his musical arrangements.
On the boys and men’s side of the choir, the season was busy with 19 unique performance opportunities. The TTC humbled themselves in the 1st –ever performance for most as they sang for HORCO in November, realizing that not all children are granted the same opportunities in life. They joined forces with their big brothers to present In Remembrance: Last Letters Home, a concert that weaved song and letters from soldiers home to their families.
The boys and men of Amabile continued this collaboration with the orchestra and presented their holiday concert with Brian Jackson. The new year saw the Young Men travel to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as invited guest artists of the All-Carolinas Honor Male Choir Festival.
And the AB&MC ended the season, just as they started it, with Joy. Leahy, and their infection enthusiasm for music were the guest artists for their spring concerts.
Along with the artistic endeavours that lead the way through out 31st season, Amabile added fresh energy to the organization. After careful consideration, the Animato early years education program began it’s first full session of educating and exciting youngsters about the joy of music. The organization also accepted the retirement of our longtime bookkeeper Linda McNaught. We wish her well in retirement!
On your behalf as your Board Chair, it is my pleasure to serve alongside you. I would like to say thank you to the moms and dads, guardians, and siblings, who give of their time, so we may collaborate with your children and feed the human soul. I also owe debt of gratitude to each and every volunteer. Thank you for giving of yourself and your time to make Amabile what it is.
Not-for-Profit Organizations Amabile assisted in raising funds for in 2015-2016
#WEPLAYON
Canadian Chamber Choir
El Sistema Aeolian
Hope for Rural Children and Orphans (HORCO)
London Jazz Orchestra
New St. James Presbyterian
St. James Westminster
St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica
St. Peter’s Seminary
Sincerely,
Wade Baillie, President,
Board of Directors
Amabile Choirs of London, Canada
