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SICM Summersong Newsletter
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    SICM Press Releases

    May 21, 2010 - SICM announces finalists in the 21st Biennial Osborne Organ Competition
    March 1, 2010 - SICM announces Faculty and Program Details for 41st Session, July 4-9, 2010
    March 20, 2009 - SICM announces Faculty and Program details for 40th Session, July 5-10, 2009
    March 24, 2008 - SICM announces Faculty and Program details for 39th Session, July 6-11, 2008
    February 10, 2008 - SICM Announces 20th Annual Osborne Organ Competition
    July 12, 2007 - Dr. Kenneth Inkster appointed Director Emeritus; Mizen-Baker and Pace join Board
    March 20, 2007 - SICM announces Faculty and program details for 38th session, July 8-12, 2007
    July 5, 2006 - Aaron Tan awarded first prize in 19th Biennial Osborne Competition
    May 4, 2006 - Finalists in 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition
    April 10, 2006 - SICM announces program details for 37th session, July 2-7, 2006
    March 1, 2006 - SICM announces Core Faculty for 37th Session, July 2-7 2006
    February 1, 2006 - SICM welcomes Heinzle and Mueller as new Governors
    May 19, 2005 - Nancy Telfer joins faculty of SICM 2005
    April 1, 2005 - SICM launches its first website, www.sicm.ca
    April 11, 2005 - SICM announces program details for 36th session, July 3-8 2005
    March 1, 2005 - SICM announces Core Faculty for 36th session
    July 2, 2004 - SICM installs new Director and two new Governors at Annual Meeting
    June 30, 2004 - SICM honours retiring Director Kenneth W. Inkster

May 21, 2010
SICM Announces Finalists in the 21st Biennial Osborne Organ Competition
Final Round Competition: Mon 4 July 2010, 20:00, St. George’s Memorial Anglican Church, Oshawa

    SICM announces that from an impressive field of fine young Canadian organists who applied to compete in the 21st Osborne Organ Competition, three have been selected by a blind jury to advance to compete in the Final Round, to be held Monday July 5th 2010, 20:00 at St. George’s Memorial Anglican Church in Oshawa, Ontario.

    Rachelle Choi1Yoo Kyung (Rachelle) Choi, born in South Korea, immigrated in 1998 to Canada where she continued her piano studies and began organ studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, under Dr. Hwaeja Lee. As a devoted church musician from an early age, Rachelle served many churches as an accompanist, pianist and organist before moving to Montreal to continue her organ studies at McGill’s Schulich School of Music under John Grew. Rachelle has been spending successful years at McGill as a Schulich Scholar and a winner of numerous awards for organ. She is currently working as an organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, under the direction of Patrick Wedd, and as a music teacher at Mont-Royal Music Academy. Rachelle is finishing her Bachelor’s degree at McGill in Organ Performance this summer and entering Master’s program at McGill in Organ Performance this September.

     

     

    Aaron JanesAaron James completed the honours Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance at the University of Western Ontario, where he earned the Faculty of Music Gold Medal. He has won various prizes and scholarships for his organ playing; most recently, he received first prize in the inaugural Howard Fairclough Organ Competition. As assistant organist to the Cathedral Singers of Ontario on two summer tours, he had the opportunity to perform services and recitals in England at the cathedrals in Gloucester, Truro, and Exeter. Besides performing on the organ, Aaron maintains a strong interest in the history and aesthetics of music; his writing has appeared in publications ranging from the musicology journal Nota Bene to the Anglican Planet. He is currently based in Rochester, NY, where he is organist at Holy Cross Anglican Church and is completing a Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music, studying under Hans Davidsson.

     

     

    Rachel MahonRachel A. Mahon, a Toronto native, is a second-year undergraduate performance student of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music currently working with John Tuttle. Previous organ teachers have included Melva Graham and Andrew Ager, and she holds a Grade 10 Piano Performance diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Rachel served as Organ Scholar at Toronto’s St, James’ Cathedral from 2007 to 2010, and continues as Bevan Organ Scholar to Trinity College, UNiversity of Toronto.. She has held several awards and scholarships including the the Arthur Edward Redsell Scholarship, University of Toronto Faculty of Music, the Barwell Organ Scholarship, Royal Canadian College of Organists Toronto Centre, and the Junior St. Cecilia Award from the Royal School of Church Music.

     

     

    The finalists were selected based on a recorded semi-final round based on the organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach. For the Final Round on July 5th they will perform a Canadian work of their own choice, a set piece (The Prelude and Fugue in A major BWV 536) of Bach, and will lead the audience’s singing of “Exultant we Gather”, a new hymn by Nicholas Fairbank and Rosemary Bauchman distinguished with an Honorary Mention in the 2009 Hymn Competition of Toronto’s Pax Christi Chorale.

    The Osborne Organ Competition was first held in 1972 when Summer Institute of Church Music founder Dr. Stanley Llewellen Osborne and his wife Florence endowed a scholarship in their name which has since been awarded by organ competition in even numbered years, alternating with a similar competition held in the odd numbered years by the Royal Canadian College of Organists. It currently awards $2250 in prizes which must be used towards advanced study in organ and church music.

    For further information visit the Institute website at http://sicm.ca, or call SICM at 416-356-3138.

March 1, 2010
SICM Announces Faculty and Program Details for 41st Session, July 4-9, 2010

     

March 20, 2009
SICM announces Faculty and Program details for 40th Session, July 5-10, 2009

    The Board of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music announces the faculty and program details for its 40th Anniversary Session in Whitby, Ontario, which will be held at Trafalgar Castle School from Sunday July 5 to Friday July 10, 2009. Themed “Singing True, Strong and Free”, SICM 2009 offers the musicians of Canada’s churches inspiration and instruction at all levels of abilities, as well as practical skills to support and encourage every church musical ministry.

    The principal choral and organ instructors on the all-Canadian faculty of SICM 40 are, respectively, Mark Sirett and Maxine Thevenot. Dr Mark Sirett, founding Director of Kingston’s Cantabile Choirs, is a native of Kingston and graduate of Queen's University. He holds both masters and doctoral degrees in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa and has taught at the University of Alberta, the University of Western Ontario and Queen’s University. Since founding the Cantabile Choirs in the fall of 1996, the choirs under his direction have received numerous distinctions at the regional, national and international levels including a Gold Award at the Young Prague 2004 Music Competition. Mr. Sirett has won several international awards in conducting, and is frequently in demand as a guest conductor, clinician & adjudicator. This spring will adjudicate the International Choral Festival in Cork, Ireland. Dr. Sirett is also an award-winning composer. 

    Dr Maxine Thevenot (organ) enjoys a distinguished international career performing solo recitals, accompanying choral ensembles, and conducting, throughout Europe, Great Britain, and North America. This season Ms. Thévenot will premiere newly commissioned works by Judith Bingham, Naji Hakim, Tarik O’Regan, Iain Quinn, and Martin Stacey in concerts at Stanford University; Methuen Memorial Music Hall; the AGO Regional Conventions of Seattle and Santa Fe; Niederndodeleben, Germany; Oxford Town Hall and Westminster Abbey, UK as the closing recitalist of the Annual Festival of New Organ Music; and Notre Dame, Paris. She will also present a lecture-recital on Canadian Organ Music at the Royal Academy of Music, London as part of the AFNOM Festival. A regular featured performer at the AGO and RCCO National and Regional Conventions, she has broadcast for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio PipeDreams and has recorded six commercial CDs, mostly on the Raven label.
    A Saskatchewan native, educated there and in Manhattan (where she also served on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music) she moved to New Mexico in 2005, where she serves as Associate Organist-Choir Director at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque; is a member of faculty at the University of New Mexico.

    Sirett and Thevenot are joined by other faculty Andrew Donaldson, Douglas Cowling and SICM Director Christopher Dawes, who will give the keynote address “Singing True, Strong and Free.

    SICM brings together daily worship, study and fellowship in a relaxing and inspiring environment suiting musicians of every level and denomination.

    SICM 40 features an opening banquet on Sunday July 5th with entertainment by Mary Lou Fallis, and Special Sessions on a variety of subjects of interest to church musicians. Students and for the first time, Church Choristers will combine to present a free Community Choral Concert on Wednesday July 8th under the baton of Dr. Sirett, and accompanied by Dr. Thevenot.

    For full details on the faculty, program, schedule and application information for the 40th Session of the Summer Institute of Church Music, visit http://sicm.ca and follow the 2009 menu button, or call SICM at (416) 356-3138.”

    March 24, 2008
    SICM announces Faculty and Program details for 39th Session, July 6-11, 2008

    The Board of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music announces the faculty and program details for its 39th Session in Whitby, Ontario, which will be held at Trafalgar Castle School from Sunday July 6 to Friday July 11, 2008. Themed “Stories and Songs of Our Faith”, SICM 2008 offers the musicians of Canada’s churches inspiration and instruction at all levels of abilities, and particularly addressing the past and emerging stories of the church and its musicians, as well as practical skills to support and encourage every church musical ministry.

    The Principal Organ and Choral Co-Instructor at SICM 2008 is Michael Bloss, a veteran church musician who stunned the church musical establishment when he began an 11-year tenure as Director of Music Ministries at Toronto’s Timothy Eaton United Church at the age of 26. A distinguished church musical career has led him to appointments at St. James’ Cathedral in
    Toronto (where he has served as both Music Associate and as DIrector of Music and Organist), Park Congregational Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and most recently, Dublin Street United Church in Guelph, where his passion for church music shares the stage with his love of commercial flying. Bloss distinguished himself in studies in organ and piano at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario, and choral studies at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. In addition to being the 1982 laureate of SICM’s Osborne Organ Competition, Bloss was winner of First Prize in the 1986 International Organ Competition at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Preisträger at the 1992 IX. International J.S. Bach Organ Competition held in Leipzig, Germany.

    Also Choral Co-Instructor is a returning SICM faculty favourite, Dr. Lori-Anne Dolloff, Organist/Director of Music for Church of Our Saviour in the Don Mills area of Toronto, and Coordinator of the Music Education division of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. She teaches undergraduate courses in elementary methods, and choral conducting. At the graduate level she teaches courses in "reflective practice", narrative research methodology, and music in higher education. Dr. Dolloff has published on teacher identity in the British journal "Research in Music Education" and the Canadian Journal of Research in Music Education. Her monograph, Das Schulwerk provides an excellent philosophical discussion of the role of the Orff approach in the artistic development of children. She is also a contributing author to the text "We Will Sing!" An Associate of the International Association for Choral Music Education, Prof. Dolloff has taught courses on conducting, score study and reflective practice across the United States and in Canada, and in Great Britain and Sweden. An emerging composer/arranger, she has many choral pieces published with Boosey & Hawkes, and is frequently sought out as a guest conductor for choral festivals and workshops.

    Joining and supporting Bloss and Dolloff at SICM 39 are SICM Chaplain the Rev. Dennis Dolloff, SICM Director Christopher Dawes, Organist of Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church Patricia Wright, Whitby-based storyteller Heather Whaley and others. SICM brings together daily worship, study and fellowship in a relaxing and inspiring environment suiting musicians of every level and denomination.

    SICM 39 features two other special elements: the 20th Osborne Organ Competition, which allows Canada’s most talented young organists to compete for cash prizes in support of further study in the field of church music, and “Are we Off-Key?”, a session with an in-progress cross-Canada conversation about church music and musicians initiated by the United Church, which is working to establish theological and practical frameworks for music and musicians within the church.

    For full details on the faculty, program, schedule and application information for the 39th Session of the Summer Institute of Church Music, visit http://sicm.ca and follow the 2008 menu button, or call SICM at (416) 356-3138.

 

February 10, 2008
SICM Announces 20th Annual Osborne Organ Competition

    The 20th Annual Osborne Organ Competition is now accepting applicants wishing to compete in its Semi-Final taped round and Live FInal Round at the 29th Session of the Summer Institute of Church Music in Whitby, Ontario.

    Canadian citizens under the age of 30 on January 1st 2008, playing at an advanced level and seeking to pursue the field of Church Music will compete over the following months for cash prizes in support of their studies. Applicants who submit a complete application including a recording of specified organ repertoire by April 30 will be considered to advance to the Final Round, a live competition to be held Tuesday July 8th, 8:00pm at St. George’s Anglican Church in Oshawa during the 39th Session of the Summer Institute of Church Music. Those who compete in the final round will offer a set piece of Johann Sebastian Bach, a Canadian piece of their choice and will lead the audience in congregational singing of a hymn. $2250 in prizes are available to be awarded by the final round jury, which will be chaired by SICM 39 Organ Instructor Michael Bloss (himself a past winner of the competition).

    Founded in 1972 and held biennially since 1975, the Osborne Organ Competition was founded by the Founding Director of the Summer Institute of Church Music, Dr. Stanley L. Osborne, and endowed by he and his wife Florence Osborne with the proceeds of his widely-known commentary on the 1972 joint red Hymn Book of the United and Anglican Churches of Canada.

    For information on eligibility and application requirements for the 20th annual Osborne Organ Competition, as well as a more detailed history, visit http://sicm.ca and follow the “Osborne” menu button. For other information, contact the SUmmer Institute of Church Music at sicm@orgalt.com, or call (416) 356-3138.

     

July 12, 2007
Dr. Kenneth Inkster appointed Director Emeritus; Mizen-Baker and Pace join Board

    At its 38th Annual General Meeting, at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, the Board of Governors appointed Past Director Dr. Kenneth W. Inkster the Institute’s first Director Emeritus, in the words of the following motion:

      “Whereas Past Director Dr. Kenneth W. Inkster has served the Summer Institute of Church Music with creativity, devotion and an abiding faith since its inception in 1970, and served as Director for its 6th to 35th Sessions until his retirement in 2004, the Board of Governors and the Members of the Summer Institute of Church Music hereby appoint him to the office of Director Emeritus.”

    Additionally, Governors Richard Heinzle and Shirley Mueller were elected to their second two-year-terms on the Board; Anne-Mizen Baker was elected to a new two-year term, and Linda Pace was elected to the office of House Manager, replacing Angela Wakeford. The new Director Emeritus position is an ex-offico position on the Board of Governors.

    The offices of Director, Registrar and House Manager are held on automatically-renewing terms until such a time as the holders of those offices should choose to resign. Other members of the Board of Governors serve two-year terms. Since 2006 the office of Treasurer, held currently by Keith Murfin, has been separate from the Board position of Registrar, and is not a position on the Board of Governors. 

    The Summer Institute of Church Music was founded by Canadian minister and musician Dr. Stanley L. Osborne in 1970, shortly after he retired as principal of the Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar Castle School). For nearly 40 years it has brought Canadian church musicians together with the finest organists, choral directors and thinkers in the North American field of church music, and looks forward to its upcoming 39th session at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, July 6th to 11th 2008.
    Information: contact SICM

March 20, 2007
SICM announces Faculty and program details for 38th session, July 8-12, 2007

    Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music proudly unveiled today the details of the faculty and program for its 38th session, July 8-12, 2007.

    The Faculty of SICM 2007 is headlined by two of Canada’s foremost young university-level instructors of organ and choral music, the University of Guelph’s Marta McCarthy and McGill University’s Jonathan Oldengarm.

    Marta McCarthy is an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph, where she has been directing the choirs and teaching musicianship for ten years. She also conducted the University of Waterloo Choir for five years, and taught choral techniques at Wilfrid Laurier University and at the University of Toronto. A graduate of Westminster Choir College of Princeton (M.Mus), the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT, piano performance) and of the University of Toronto (B.Mus, B.Ed., Ph.D.), Dr. McCarthy was awarded the 1999 Elmer Iseler Conducting Fellowship. She also received an Ontario Volunteer Service Award, was named a member of the June Callwood Circle of Caring and, in 2005, was named a Woman of Distinction for Arts & Culture in Guelph. A veteran church musician principally within the Roman Catholic tradition, she has conducted church choirs and planned liturgy throughout her career.

    Jonathan Oldengarm leads a full life as a church musician, international recitalist and teacher. In addition to his duties at the Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul in Montreal, he serves as Acting Chair of the Organ and Church Music Area, and Instructor of Organ and Harpsichord at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Dr. Oldengarm holds degrees in organ and harpsichord performance from Wilfrid Laurier (BMus) and McGill Universities (MMus, DMus), and also studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart from 2003-2005. His principal teachers include Douglas Haas, Barrie Cabena, Colin Tilney, Hank Knox, John Grew and Ludger Lohmann. In 1996, at age 21, he became one of the youngest ever to earn the Fellowship diploma of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. He is a laureate of the RCCO National and Osborne Competitions and the International Organ Competitions of Calgary and Dublin. Recent performances include the Crystal Cathedral; St. Thomas Church, New York; the Houston Bach Society’s Organ Vespers; the Winnipeg Symphony; the Christuskirche, Mannheim; the Grote Kerk, Vlissingen (Netherlands); and the 2005 RCCO National Convention.

    Joining McCarthy and Oldengarm are returning faculty Andrew Donaldson (Trafalgar Presbyterian Church, Oakville, recently President of the Hymn Society of North America and even more recently an honorary Doctor of Letters of Knox College, University of Toront) and Bev Foster (Church of the Ascension, Port Perry and Room217.com); musicians’ physiotherapist, author and workshop-leader Barbara Paull (Stouffville Musicians’ Clinic) and newcomer Toronto church musician, University instructor and professional lyric tenor Lenard Whiting. The faculty co-ordinated by SICM Director Christopher Dawes will offer sessions individually and collaboratively for students from across Canada, who will converge in the second weekend of July at Whitby’s Trfalgar Castle School.

    For more information on the program and other details, or to register online for SICM 2007, visit the “2007” section of http://www.sicm.ca, where the SICM 2007 brochure is available for download and the detailed program and schedule are available. For further information, call (416) 356-3138.

July 5, 2006
Aaron Tan awarded first prize in 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition

    On Tuesday July 4th 2006, when the jury re-entered the sanctuary of St. George’s Memorial Church in Oshawa, Aaron Tan had won the First Prize portion of the 19th Florence and Stanley Osborne Scholarship in Church Music, $1500. The Scholarship is awarded to Canada’s finest young organists in support of their church musical studies by means of the biennial Osborne organ competition in even-numbered years by SICM. Montréaler and current student at New York’s Julliard School of Music Isabelle Demers was awarded the Scholarship’s second prize, $750.

    AARON TAN received his ARCT (Associateship) in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada at the age of 12. He then went on to earn his LTCL (Licentiate) diploma in Piano Performance from Trinity College of Music (London, England) when fourteen. At fifteen years old, he successfully completed his FTCL (Fellowship) diploma, also from Trinity College. In January 2004, he completed his ARCT diploma in Violin Performance. Aaron performs regularly in the Greater Toronto Area, and has also given concerts in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. In 2004, he began classical organ studies with Dr. John Tuttle, and has so far been a recipient of the Barwell Piano Student Scholarship a winner of the Toronto Competition for Young Organists, and a student of the Organ Academy at Stratford Summer Music, where he studied with James Edward Goettsche, official organist to the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter, in 2005. Aaron, who currently serves as organist and choirmaster at Church of the Ascension (Anglican) in Toronto, is twenty years old, and has recently completed his third year of the Engineering Science Program at the University of Toronto. 

    A field of four finalists was chosen (by means of recorded performances) by a first round jury convened by Competition Co-ordinator Mark Toews, and including Dr. Toews, Thomas Fitches and Janet Macfarlane Peaker. University of Toronto student Konrad Harley also competed as a finalist, and one other finalist selected to advance withdrew in May. The jury of the 19th Biennial competition final round consisted of Paul Halley, Douglas Bodle, and Elaine Broughton.

    The Osborne Organ Competition was endowed in 1972 by SICM Founder Dr. Stanley L. Osborne. It alternates with the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ National Organ Playing Competition, differing principally from its sister competition in its emphasis on leading congregational singing from the organ. In addition to a single required selection by J.S. Bach (in 2006 the Leipzig Chorale Fantasia, “Komm Heiliger Geist, Herr Gott” BWV 651), and a Canadian work of the competitor’s choice, each finalist leads the audience in the singing of a hymn. 

    The Osborne Organ Competition Fund of the Summer Institute of Church Music has recently been opened to donations from those wishing to support the extraordinary young church musicians for whom it was founded. For information, visit the Osborne pages of www.sicm.ca, the online home of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music.

May 4, 2006
SICM announces the finalists in the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition

    A jury convened by SICM’s competition co-ordinator Dr. Mark Toews has selected four finalists to compete in the final round of the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition. 

    The jury of prominent Toronto organists unconnected with the competitors (Dr. Toews, Thomas Fitches and Janet Macfarlane Peaker) evaluated numbered cassette and CD recordings from several excellent applicants before reaching its decision on the final four, who may choose to compete for recognition and scholarship awards in the Final Round Competition at 8:00pm on Wednesday July 5th at St. George’s Anglican Church in Oshawa during the 37th Session of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music (July 2-7, 2006). Public admission to the final round of the Competition is free of charge, but donations to the Osborne Competition Fund are warmly welcomed.

    The finalists for the 19th biennial competition are:

    • Isabelle Demers (Montreal, QC)
    • Konrad Harley (Thornhill, ON)
    • Aaron Tan (Toronto, ON)
    • Michael Oldaker (London, ON)

    Please visit the Osborne pagesTarget=NewWindow of www.sicm.ca for more information and photographs of these fine young Canadian artists.

    The Florence and Stanley Osborne Scholarship in Church Music, established in 1972, is named for Dr. & Mrs. Stanley L. Osborne, the founding Director and ‘first lady’ of the Summer Institute of Church Music. With the proceeds from Dr. Osborne’s popular commentary on the 1971 joint Hymn Book of the United Church of Canada and Anglican Church of Canada (If Such Holy Song (Whitby, 1976)), the couple endowed a scholarship in Church Music to be awarded by an organ competition stressing the skills of repertoire performance and hymn playing. The Osborne Organ Competition is held biennially in even-numbered years: funds awarded support advanced study in organ and/or church music. It is a fully blind competition: the jury chaired by the Institute’s visiting organ Instructor has no knowledge of the identity of, and no connection to, the competitors. The past prizewinners of the competition are some of the finest performers Canada has ever produced. Its jurors include the foremost organ performers, teachers and church musicians from throughout North America.

    The Osborne Competition is currently seeking the support of donors committed to the future of organ performance and church music after the vision of Dr. & Mrs. Osborne. 
    For more information about the Osborne Organ Competition and Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music visit www.sicm.ca or call (416) 356-3138.

 

April 10, 2006
SICM announces program details for 37th session, July 2-7, 2006 and launches annual Summersong Newsletter

    Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music, which on March 1st announced that its principal visiting choral and organ scholar for 2006 would be Paul Halley, today announced the other faculty, launched its online program information at www.sicm.ca, and published its inaugural Summersong newsletter.

    Joining Halley on the faculty of SICM 2006 will be Institute Director Christopher Dawes, Andrew Donaldson (President of the Hymn Society in North America), Bev Foster (Freelance musician and Director of the Praise Team at Ascension Church in Port Perry, Ontario), Alexandra Caverly-Lowery (Toronto spiritual director and liturgical movement artist), Mark Toews (Director of Music at Lawrence Park Community Church in Toronto and former President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists) and Lori-Anne Doloff (Music Education Co-ordinator and Professor of choral conducting at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music).

    Some Highlights:

    • Daily classes in vocal/choral leadership, and organ/piano accompaniment and leadership by Paul Halley, Mark Toews, Lori-Anne Doloff and Bev Foster. Organ classes are streamed to serve students at basic and intermediate/advanced levels.
    • The Great SICM Hymn Challenge: A session for all who accompany congregations with keyboard instruments. Under the guidance of SICM faculty, students test and develop their piano and organ skills with a real congregation.
    • Daily Chapel Services led by the SICM Chaplain, faculty and students.
    • Daily Physical/Free Time for student wellness and mental focus.
    • Church Music Retail Store by Music Plus (Kitchener, Ontario).
      Choral Reading Sessions with repertoire from Music Plus and the Canadian Choral Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba); and a new “Organ Reading” session by Mark Toews & Christopher Dawes.
    • SICM Member’s Free-for-All: New for 2006: a time to share anthems and other “finds,” launch compositions, books, recordings and other work… and… well... funny stuff…
    • Six Special Sessions:
      • Playing the Pew (Issues Panel Discussion)
      • Reimagining Leadership with Andrew Donaldson
      • The Organ in my Music with the SICM faculty
      • Song, Service and Self with Christopher Dawes
      • Injury Prevention for Musicians with Barbara Paull
      • Moving Out with Alexandra Caverly-Lowery.
    • Opening Concert by SICM’s Director Christopher Dawes and saxophonist Daniel Rubinoff.
    • 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition Final Round at St. George’s Anglican Church, Oshawa, with reception.
    • Crucible Service: a special evening service offered by the SICM faculty in fellowship with SICM’s students and the general public, stretching worship horizons & testing assumptions.
    • Gala Concert by Paul Halley at St. George’s Anglican Church, Oshawa, with reception.
    • Closing Community Sacred Choral Concert conducted by Paul Halley and accompanied by Christopher Dawes, followed by a farewell barbecue lunch for students, their friends and families on Trafalgar Castle School grounds.

    Featured at this year’s institute is the final round of the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition. Endowed by SICM Founder Dr. Stanley L. Osborne, the competition awards scholarships for advanced church music study by young Canadian organists.

    For information on the Summer Institute of Church Music, its 2006 Session and the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition, visit www.sicm.ca or call (416) 356-3138 to request a brochure by mail.

 

March 1, 2006
SICM announces Core Faculty for 37th Session, July 2-7 2006

    The 37th Session of the Summer Institute of Church Music (Whitby, Ontario 2-7 July 2006) welcomes as visiting Scholar, Paul Halley, who will teach daily classes for organists and choral directors, perform and conduct throughout the Institute Week.

    Raised in Ottawa, Ontario and educated at Cambridge University, Paul Halley is an internationally known composer, conductor, and keyboardist who has earned four Grammy Awards to date for his contributions as featured writer and performer on many Paul Winter Consort recordings. Commissioning organizations for Halley's compositions include The New Jersey Symphony, The City Mission Society of Boston, The Ottawa Choral Society, baritone Gerald Finley, The Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Pete Seeger, and The Canadian Brass. Performances of Halley's choral works are often heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Public Radio, and are performed by organists and choirs around the world. Halley's professional resumé includes eighteen years as featured performer with The Paul Winter Consort and thirteen years as Director of Music at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where he transformed the Cathedral's music program into a rich combination of classical and contemporary music. Halley now serves as Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church, Torrington, CT and, for the past twelve years, he has been the Artistic Director of Joyful Noise, Inc., the non-profit organization which administers the children's choir Chorus Angelicus, and the adult choir Gaudeamus. In his capacity as conductor of these choirs, Halley is acclaimed for brilliantly conceived concert programs and a natural ability to inspire and motivate singers from age eight to adult.

    For information on the Summer Institute of Church Music, its 2006 Session and the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition, visit www.sicm.ca or call (416) 356-3138 to request a brochure.

 

February 1, 2006
SICM welcomes Heinzle and Mueller as new Governors

    The Board of Governors of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music hereby welcomes Shirley Mueller and Richard Heinzle, who were acclaimed at the close of nominations during SICM 2005.

    Shirley Mueller is Organist and Choir Director at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Lindsay, and has for twenty-seven years been a teacher of piano, organ, accordion, theory and elementary school music. She serves as accompanist to two seniors’ choirs in Coboconk, Ontario, and is completing her Bachelor of Scared Music Degree at Canada Christian College in Toronto.

    Richard Heinzle, a native of Austria, holds a doctoral degree in conducting from Ball State University, and has conducted several orchestras in Canada and the USA. He is Organist/Choir Director at St. Joseph the Worker R.C. Church in Thornhill, Director of the Harmonie Choir in Toronto, and Founding Director of Forte Music School in Richmond Hill. He founded Vivace Orchestra in 1995 to bring orchestral music to smaller cities near the nation’s capital.

    While the SICM Director, Registrar and House Manager positions are without term, and change only through resignation, the Board elects two pairs of governors to two-year terms at alternating annual general meetings. Sitting Board members can stand for re-election at the conclusion of their terms. Nominations (with nominee’s consent) are welcomed by the SICM office at any time.

    For information on the Summer Institute of Church Music, its 2006 Session and the 19th Biennial Osborne Organ Competition, visit www.sicm.ca or call (416) 356-3138 to request a brochure.

 

May 19, 2005
Nancy Telfer joins faculty of SICM 2005

    The Board of Governors of the Summer Institute of Church Music is delighted to welcome back to SICM the Ontario composer, pianist and choral musician Nancy Telfer to the faculty of its 36th session, July 3-8 2005. 

    Nancy Telfer, who last instructed at SICM in 2002, is a Canadian composer who has been a choral clinician and guest conductor for many provincial, national, and state organizations throughout Canada and the United States. For many years she has presented workshops on vocal production to both choral conductors and singers. Since 1979 Telfer has composed over 260 works for soloists, chamber ensembles, orchestra, bands, pianists, and choirs, most of which are published in Canada and the United States. Her music ranges from beginning to virtuoso levels and she has been commissioned to compose music for many fine performers. She believes that all music should delight the ears, capture the imagination of the mind, and feed the soul.

    Telfer will lead choral clinics supplementary to the main Institute choral sessions, and so joins organ instructor Ian Sadler, choral instructor Ann Cooper Gay, Chaplain The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, Institute Director Christopher Dawes and workshop leaders Andrew Donaldson, Bev Foster, Michael O'Connor and Judy Pringle in comprising the Institute's largest ever faculty. For complete information on the SICM 2005 program and faculty, visit the SICM web site at www.sicm.ca and follow the "2005" menu button.

    The Summer Institute of Church Music was founded by Canadian minister and musician Dr. Stanley L. Osborne in 1970, shortly after he retired as principal of the Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar Castle School). For 35 years it has brought Canadian church musicians together with the finest organists, choral directors and thinkers in the North American field of church music, and looks forward to its upcoming 36th session at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, July 3rd to 8th 2005.
    Information: contact SICM

     

April 11, 2005
SICM announces program details for 36th Session, July 3-8, 2005

    WHITBY, Ontario
    Canada’s Summer Institute of Church music is pleased to announce the complete program and supplementary faculty for its 36th session, July 3-8, 2005.

    Joining core faculty (choral instructor Ann Cooper Gay, organ instructor Ian Sadler, Chaplain The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott) will be a distinguished supplementary faculty who will lead special interest sessions throughout the week.

    The 2005 program consists of daily classes in Organ and Choral work (with supplementary piano and Organ/Choral clinics for those interested) and other programming you can remember this way: 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1:

    Eight Distinguished Faculty - Church Music’s leading performers, teachers, creators and thinkers, in church music will provide students with fresh insights, vital skills, useful resources and unforgettable experiences around their work.

    Seven Churches - four historic churches of downtown Whitby and three more in south Whitby, north Whitby and Oshawa broaden students’ experience in worship spaces, instruments, architecture and ideas.

    Six worship services - four 30-minute 8:30 chapel morning prayer services on a variety of themes from Monday to Thursday, a closing celtic-themed service of holy communion at 8:30pm Friday and new for 2005 the Tuesday evening “Crucible Service” exploring the new and emerging in Christian worship.

    Five 90-minute Special Sessions will address aspects of Church Music in today’s world: “Issues in Church Music” (Panel Discussion), “Global Hymnody” (Andrew Donaldson), “The Organ: Myth and Magic” (Christopher Dawes), “Jazz for Ministry and Life” (Rev. Canon Tim Elliott) and “Members’ Show and Tell (SICM Board).

    Four “Worship Crafting” sessions, consisting of SICM’s daily 30-minute chapel services followed by related 45-minute information and skills sessions as follows: “Worship Crafting” (Christopher Dawes), “Piano as Worship Leader” (Judy Pringle), “Convergent Worship” (Bev Foster) and the Royal School of Church Music’s “Voice for Life” program (Dr. Michael O’Connor)

    Three Concerts accompany the SICM program: an opening welcome Duo Piano Concert at 8pm on Sunday July 3rd by SICM Director Christopher Dawes and Chaplain and jazz musician The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott; a gala faculty organ recital at 8:00pm on Thursday July 7th by organ Instructor Ian Sadler, and the closing community concert by SICM students and faculty at 12:30pm on Friday July 8th.

    Two Goals - Professional Development and Spiritual Refreshment for the church musician of churches of every denomination and size who work mainly alone, in somewhat challenging circumstances and isolated from colleagues and new ideas.

    One unforgettable, affordable week of Education, Association, Communication, and Inspiration.

    The Summer Institute of Church Music was founded by Canadian minister and musician Dr. Stanley L. Osborne in 1970, shortly after he retired as principal of the Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar Castle School). For 35 years it has brought Canadian church musicians together with the finest organists, choral directors and thinkers in the North American field of church music, and looks forward to its upcoming 36th session at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, July 3rd to 8th 2005.

    Information: contact SICM

 

April 1, 2005
SICM launches its first web site, SICM.ca.

    WHITBY, Ontario
    Canada’s Summer Institute of Church music is pleased to launch its first web site on the Internet at the domain www.sicm.ca. 

    In addition to containing full details of SICM’s upcoming session (July 3rd-8th, 2005 at Traflagar Castle School in Whitby), SICM.ca is a source of general and archival information on the Institute’s life and work, including its biennial Osborne Organ Competition. Highlights include:

  • SICM upcoming session faculty, schedule, maps, travel and accommodation information, downloadable brochure, and online registration form
  • SICM Online “Institour” - SICM in words and pictures
  • SICM faculty 1970-present
  • biennial Osborne Organ Competition regulations, past winners, downloadable brochure and online registration form
  • SICM governance, constitution, and opportunities for support
  • Links to Canadian denominational and educational institutions

    • Design and hosting for SICM.ca is provided by Organ Alternatives, Canada’s journal of organ culture and creativity (www.orgalt.com)

    The Summer Institute of Church Music was founded by Canadian minister and musician Dr. Stanley L. Osborne in 1970, shortly after he retired as principal of the Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar Castle School). For 35 years it has brought Canadian church musicians together with the finest organists, choral directors and thinkers in the North American field of church music, and looks forward to its upcoming 36th session at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, July 3rd to 8th 2005.

    Information: contact SICM

 

March 1, 2005
SICM announces Faculty for 36th session
(July 3-8 2005, Whitby, ON).

    WHITBY, Ontario
    Canada’s Summer Institute of Church music is pleased to announce its distinguished core faculty for its 36th Session, July 3-8 2005: Choral Instructor Ann Cooper Gay, organ Instructor Ian Sadler and Chaplain the Rev. Canon Tim Elliott.

    Ann Cooper Gay (Choral Instructor) is an accomplished conductor, singer, organist and flautist well known in the artistic community for her enthusiasm, energy, and consistently high level of artistic achievement. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music and Music Education, and a Diploma in Opera Performance. Before becoming Assistant Professor of Music at Houghton College (NY), she toured as soloist with the Canadian Opera Company. She founded the award-winning High Park Choirs of Toronto and served as Artistic Director for sixteen years before beginning her tenure as Artistic/Music Director of the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus in 2000. Ann has served as conductor of the U of T’s Women's Chorus and Hart House Orchestra, and string/orchestra instructor for the Toronto Board of Education. She was honoured by the Toronto YWCA as a "Woman of Distinction" who "has made a profound impact on an entire generation of young musicians in Toronto".

    Ian Sadler (Organ Instructor) is Organist of St George’s Anglican Church, London, and Artistic Director of the Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton and Stratford Concert Choir, cofounder of the Stratford Youth Orchestra and Director of the Cathedral Singers of Ontario. Ian is also adjunct professor Music at Laurentian University. The former boy chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, UK, attended The King’s School, Canterbury from where he won the Organ Scholarship to Bristol University, later returning to St. Paul’s as Organ Scholar during postgraduate study at London University. He holds degrees in musicology and education, with organ degrees from Trinity College of Music and The Royal College of Organists.  In 1980, Ian moved to Canada following his appointment as Director of Music at Toronto’s Grace Church on-the-Hill and Choral Director at Upper Canada College. He has given recitals in Sweden, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Denmark and England, and has six solo recordings on current release and a further five by his choirs. In 2000 Ian and his wife Catharine, founded  The Cathedral Singers Of Ontario.  Since that time they have performed in Edinburgh, Exeter, Wells, Canterbury, Yorkminster, Chichester as well as Notre Dame (Paris) and St Paul’s (London). In 2004 the choir made its fifth annual tour to the U.K. with performances in Winchester, Brecon and St David's.

    Rev. Canon Tim Elliott (SICM Chaplain) has ministered for 25 years in the Anglican Church of Canada. He is Honorary Assistant at Church of the Redeemer, Toronto; homiletics tutor at Trinity College; and since 2002 via Elliott Resources Services, consultant to individuals and organizations. Also a jazz musician, his program “Jazz for Life – A path to balance” on balance, creativity and innovation is acclaimed across Canada.

    The Summer Institute of Church Music was founded by Canadian minister and musician Dr. Stanley L. Osborne in 1970, shortly after he retired as principal of the Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar Castle School). For 35 years it has brought Canadian church musicians together with the finest organists, choral directors and thinkers in the North American field of church music, and looks forward to its upcoming 36th session at Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, July 3rd to 8th 2005.

Information: contact SICM

 

July 2, 2004
SICM Installs New Director and two New Governors Installed at Annual General Meeting

    WHITBY, Ontario:
    At its Annual General Meeting at Whitby Baptist Church, the Summer Institute installed its third Director Christopher Dawes; formally thanked and released retiring Director Kenneth Inkster, retiring Registrar Ernest E. Tetreault, and retiring Governor Carolyn Grant; and elected two new Governors: Laurie Jarbo and David Holborn.

    Christopher Dawes, a well-known Toronto church, classical, and theatre musician associated most recently with the Cathedral Church of St. James (Anglican), where he served twelve years, first as Assistant Organist and then as Organist and Director of Music.

    Assuming the office of Registrar is continuing Governor Faye McMillan of Havelock, Ontario. Replacing Mrs. McMillan’s elected Governor position (the Registrar is an appointed position) and the same position of Carolyn Grant are Laurie Jarbo of Deep River, Ontario and David Holborn of Sutton, Ontario.

    The departing Governors were thanked for their contributions to the Institute, and incoming Director Christopher Dawes addressed the Institute for the first time.

    Information: contact SICM

 

June 30, 2004
Commissioned Hymn and Gala Banquet honour retiring SICM Director of 30 years, Dr. Kenneth Inkster

    WHITBY, Ontario:
    Members and friends of the Summer Institute of Church Music gathered where it all began today to honour a man whose role has been central to its history and success on the occasion of his retirement as Director.

    Dr. Kenneth W. Inkster, who had devoted a lifetime to teaching and to church music (mostly in his adopted community of Alliston, Ontario, and within the Toronto-based managing structures of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the United Church of Canada) began attending the Institute at the time of its founding by Dr. Stanley L. Osborne, and served as the latter’s assistant from 1970 to 1974. Upon Dr. Osborne’s resignation, Inkster began a distinguished 30-year tenure as his successor, both as guardian to its purpose and original vision, and as Director of its evolution through what would become an increasingly challenging period in Church Musical history.

    Composer Nancy Telfer, a past instructor for SICM, was commissioned by the Board of Governors to compose text and a hymn tune “INKSTER” in Dr. Inkster’s honour. The result was “Lift up your voice to praise the Lord” based on Psalm 147. At the banquet Telfer accompanied the work’s premiere in a special solo version by internationally-acclaimed soprano Catherine Robbin. The new hymn would go on to be sung by the audience of the July 1st organ recital by Paul Jacobs, accompanied by Inkster’s successor, Christopher Dawes.

    The banquet, organised by the Board of Governors and long-time Institute member Thomas Cromwell featured tributes by The Rev. John E. Ambrose, Institute Registrar Ernest E. Tetreault, and longtime Institute faculty-member and guest music retailer Judy Pringle of Winnipeg’s Canadian Choral Centre. Greetings in abstentia were sent by the Rev. Mark MacLean (National Staff for Worship, United Church of Canada) and Dr. Mark Toews (National President, Royal Canadian College of Organists) on behalf of their respective organizations, both of which have been the great beneficiaries of Dr. Inkster’s gifts, hard work, and devotion to the Church and its Music.

    Information: contact SICM