The Choir was founded in 1996 by Michele Hupaelo and many of the original singers were drawn from among students in Michele’s voice studio.
The choir aimed to be an un-auditioned community choir, devoted to performing a wide range of repertoire, while making room to highlight choral music by Canadian composers wherever possible.
Graham Codling took over direction of the choir in 2011 and led it in many successful concerts, following on the tradition established by Michele.
In 2018, Colin Elliott assumed the role of Artistic Director and continued the musical tradition established by earlier conductors. The first concert under his artistic direction was performed on December 9, 2018 at Zion Lutheran Church in Saskatoon. Throughout the next year and half Colin challenged us with an exciting repertoire and we were able to perform three dynamic concerts under his direction.
In March of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic the choir determined it was not safe to complete our Spring season, and the concert scheduled for April of that year was cancelled. The Choir returned to rehearsals in November of 2021 and prepared a short virtual concert in December that was posted online. We were sorry to have Colin Elliott resign his position that fall as his very busy schedule did not leave him the time he needed to devote to the Choir’s further development.
The Cecilian Singers welcomed a new Artistic Director, Terri-Lynn Mitchell, in January of 2022. After a month and a half of virtual rehearsals Cecilian’s returned to in-person rehearsals in March and performed our first concert in over two years in front of a live audience under Terri-Lynn’s direction on May 1, 2022. New opportunities for Terri-Lynn that became available to her after our Spring Concert in 2023 meant she had to give up her leadership role with the Cecilian Singers. We were saddened to lose her, but wish her all the best for her future endeavours.
This fall we welcomed to our choir our fifth Director of Music, Matthew Praksas. Mathew brings a wealth of experience and training to our organization and we are excited to explore new musical directions under his leadership. Our first concert under Matthew’s direction this past December was a great success. Please check out our upcoming Spring 2024 concert in the Concert page.