Terry Edwards, Artistic Director, Choirmaster, and Conductor of the Calgary Bach Choir, leads one of Calgary’s premier classical music organizations. Under his direction since 2008, the Calgary Bach Choir has grown into a thriving ensemble dedicated to performing choral masterpieces spanning over 500 years. With a passionate group of auditioned amateur choristers, the choir presents three major concerts annually, featuring collaborations with professional musicians and guest vocal soloists.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
The Calgary Bach Choir is a dynamic organisation offering an exciting, three-concert season to Calgary audiences.
Our auditioned choristers are adults from all walks and stages of life who are passionate about classical music and the music of the Baroque period. We strive for musical excellence in our performances. We provide experienced, auditioned, amateur choral singers with an inspiring and challenging opportunity to immerse themselves in this wondrous music and to experience the thrill of performing it with professional musicians for the public.
We are a strong, welcoming, affirming and inclusive choral community and registered charity in existence since 1988.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our goal is to present quality Classical choral music (from a broad spectrum of 500+ years of choral music) to Calgary audiences, performed by talented, auditioned, amateur choristers, accompanied by professional musicians.
When did you start/join it?
The Calgary Bach Choir was formed in 1988 under the name “Calgary Bach Festival Society”. I became the Artistic Director in 2008 – the year that it was celebrating its 20th anniversary.
What made you want to get involved?
My passion for choral music and live performances! I hold university degrees in French, German, Music and Education and a Master’s Degree in Music from McGill University. I have been a choral director for over half of my life. The Calgary Bach Choir has provided me the opportunity to use all aspects of my education and training, and to use my knowledge and imagination to present wonderful concerts of fantastic music performed by a great choir!
What was the situation like when you started?
When I started with the choir in 2008, we performed two concerts per season–one in fall and one in late winter, at one of Calgary’s more intimate church venues. There were between twenty and thirty choristers at that time. The choir performed with professional orchestral musicians as well as guest professional and upcoming professional vocal soloists.
How has it changed since?
The choir has grown to over forty choristers, and our audiences have grown as well. We now perform three choral concerts per season–in November, March, and June, and all of them are at the much larger Knox United Church in downtown Calgary. We continue to be accompanied by professional orchestral musicians and we provide opportunities for guest professional and upcoming professional vocal soloists to perform with us. We have performed with other groups like Cantare Children’s Choir, Altius Brass and Kensington Sinfonia. In our upcoming November 17, 2024 concert our guest chorus will be the UCalgary Concert Choir.
What more needs to be done?
There is space in the choir for experienced Soprano, Tenor and Bass choristers who would like to audition to become members of the choir. We invite those who are familiar with singing Classical choral music in German, Latin and English to try out for us. We rehearse on Monday evenings in southwest Calgary.
In addition, we want to invite more enthusiasts of live choral music to spend a Sunday afternoon with us listening to great choral music by master composers such as J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart and others!
How can our readers help?
If you are an experienced chorister and would like to audition for us, you can contact us through our website to request an audition.
If you love listening to live choral music, we invite you to come hear us at our concerts in November, March and June, and bring a friend or two along, too!
If you believe in the powerful combination of words and great music as a way to change lives, bring joy, and transform communities, and would like to help us in our mission to bring more choral music treasures to Calgary audiences, you could consider donating to us through our website or leaving us a legacy donation. Donations over $20 are tax-deductible. The costs of rehearsal and performance venues, hiring professional musicians, and purchasing music for our choral library continue to rise, and your assistance is invaluable to our future as an organisation.
Do you have any events coming up?
This season our performances take place on November 17th, March 23rd (2025) and June 8th (2025). All of our concerts take place at Knox United Church at 3:00 pm. You can purchase individual tickets or a 3-concert season pass online at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
I love to support Inn From the Cold, and I believe in their mission of helping families who are experiencing a housing crisis.
