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Meet the Choir
Amrita Bruce, Soprano
Patricia Flannagan, Soprano
Patricia Flannagan has always loved singing and all kinds of music; she began piano lessons at the age of four. By age 12, she was assistant church organist at the Prince of Peace Lutheran church in Winnipeg, all the while singing with school and church choirs, and in school musical theatre. Following a detour in science and teaching, she is delighted to sing with Women of Note and Bach on the Rock , and also takes part in solo engagements in classical, folk and jazz genres.
Joi Freed-Garrod, Soprano
Elaina Hyde, Soprano
Elaina Hyde started listening to her uncle’s classical music and opera at the age of 10, in his gramophone room. She sang and played recorder through school, and had the privilege of being chosen to sing at the St Cecilia Festival in Windsor, after taking voice lessons with Karl Melene. She has had no formal musical training, but sang all through college and seminary, and loved singing the music of Hildegard of Bingen. Then life took over and then she eventually came back to singing when she moved to the island in 1999, singing first with Salt Spring Singers, then Viva Chorale, and now Bach on the Rock. She says the only thing in life that she absolutely could not live without is music, a love she believes which must have come from her Welsh heritage.
Ethel Magnus, Soprano
Thanks to her parents’ sacrifice and love of music, Ethel Magnus enjoyed music lessons during hard times growing up on a prairie farm. With singing as her first love, she studied at Canadian Nazarene College , the Banff School of Fine Arts, the University of Victoria, and privately. She earned a B. Mus. at the University of Alberta. Dr Richard Eaton, Dr Violet Archer, Dr Vinci, Dr Kathryn Whitney, Patricia MacFarlane, and Maureen Branch are among the musicians who have influenced her appreciation of choral music and vocal technique. Travelling with choirs, singing with the North Shore Light Opera Society, conducting children’s choirs, singing with Inuit children in the Eastern Arctic, and sharing ditties with grandchildren are fond musical memories. She says, “BOTR is enriching my life with new friendships and renewed vocal challenges. I am appreciative of this continued opportunity to learn during years of retirement!”
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Manya Sadouski, Soprano
Manya Sadouski is a soprano living on Salt Spring and also a family physician. She studied piano, violin and choral singing until the demands of medicine intervened and those passions were pushed out of her life for a time. She has resumed her musical pursuits in the last few years as an amateur (literally,"lover of"). She has studied voice with local teachers and at workshops. Manya has performed soloist roles with the Bach on the Rock's Salt Spring Chamber Choir and Orchestra, Salt Spring Singers, and in recital at Music & Munch.
Coming Soon
Joan Voyce, Soprano
Carol Brown, Alto
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Shirley Bunyan, Alto
Leslie Corry, Alto
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Noni Fogarty, Alto
Linda Quinn, Alto
Linda Quinn has been passionate about music all her life. Her father was her first piano teacher, and at age fourteen she had piano students and a few paid gigs. After completing music degrees, she taught high school music in London and Vancouver, and then at Fulford Elementary School until her retirement. She loves singing with Bach on the Rock and Women of Note, having been with both since their founding. Linda is indebted to her teacher, the late Patricia MacFarlane, who encouraged her and helped her build confidence. The role of Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore was performed by Linda in June 2018; she also composes and performs at Tea a Tempo.
Anke Smeele, Alto
Alto Anke Smeele is one of Salt Spring’s long-time choral singers. Earlier this season she was heard in the solo alto recitative of Bach’s Cantata # 40 with Bach on the Rock Chamber Choir and Orchestra at ArtSpring. Anke is honoured to once again be part of Handel’s Messiah performances on the Island.
Jean Brouard, Tenor
Jean Brouard was named “Jean-Sebastien” after Bach, but his real musical hero is G. F. Handel. Being envious of the fun his daughter was having with her piano lessons, Jean began studying piano at age 40, with Melissa Grace, eventually achieving RCM Grade 6, taking most exams along the way. He joined Salt Spring Singers a few years later, and has been with them ever since. Jean studied voice with Deb Toole and Patricia MacFarlane, and has attended several of Eva Bostrand’s vocal workshops; he was recruited into Bach on the Rock in its early years by Carol Brown. He is hoping to include some Messiah selections at the next SS Abattoir Birthday Bash, specifically Behold the lamb, All we like sheep, and Worthy is the lamb that was slain. However, he may hold off on “dashing to pieces” and “de-liver-ing”.
David Butcher, Tenor
David Butcher has sung tenor with Bach on the Rock for the last six years. Prior to joining the group, David sang with the Borealis Chamber Choir in Prince George, the Prince George Cantata Singers, and the Yellowknife Choral Society. He has sung with the UBC Opera Chorus, and has been a soloist in performances of Messiah with the Prince George Symphony. David says "A highlight of my choral experience was a joint performance with the Elmer Eisler Singers under the direction of the late great choral director Elmer Eisler. Choral singing is one part singing and two parts listening and blending with others." When not performing with Bach on the Rock, David practices family medicine on Salt Spring, as well as emergency medicine and anesthesia at Lady Minto Hospital.
Coming Soon
Steve Coopman, Tenor
Dion Hackett, Tenor
Dion Hackett has been singing all his life, and was given the opportunity to sing chorally ten years ago after singing in a performance of Scrooge. He was then invited to join Viva Voce under the guidance of Deb Toole. Dion is filled with gratitude for the doors Deb has opened for him through her dedication to the craft. Dion has also been fortunate to sing with some very good singers including Lyle Eide (the best tenor on Salt Spring, in Dion’s books!) who guided Dion through some difficult music during his first performances with Bach on the Rock. David Storm first introduced Dion to Messiah when he gave him the opportunity to sing Comfort Ye and Ev’ry Valley; during those first moments of singing with David’s accompaniment, and hearing that sublime melody, Dion was smitten by its sheer brilliance. Years later, Dion says he is still in awe.
Jim Smith, Tenor
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Ken Lee, Bass
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John Moore, Bass
Ben Neufeld, Bass
Many years ago, Ben Neufeld received an ARCT in piano performance and a B.Mus. from Western Washington University, where he was selected as piano soloist to perform with the orchestra in his graduate year's finale concert. Ben conducted ethnomusicological research in Malaysian Borneo for three years, followed by postgraduate studies in ethnomusicology at UBC. He was much involved in the choral scene in Kelowna, both as a high school music teacher and a singer with the Okanagan Festival Singers. Last July, Ben performed a variety of cello and piano works with Irving Levin at a Tea a Tempo recital here on Salt Spring, and expects do so again next July.
Ken Rootham, Bass
Clarke Saunders, Bass
David Sasaki, Bass
Kevin Wilkie, Bass
Kevin Wilkie started singing in high school when he learned three or four chords on guitar, and eventually found himself on stage with Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, the Brechtfeast, Showtime with Sondheim, Cole Porter's Can-Can. He has sung with choirs including Tuned Air, the S.O.C.I.E.T.Y. Singers, Vancouver Bach Choir, and Salt Spring Singers. With partner Barbara Slater he sings sacred songs, old time ditties, and Scottish folk music with friends the Shoolbraids. This month he reprises the role of Cratchit in Newman Productions' Christmas with Scrooge. Kevin is excited to be performing Messiah once again with the Salt Spring Chamber Choir and Orchestra.