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This season, the UVic Chamber Singers celebrate their 35th anniversary under the baton of Bruce More. Events will include an April 26 reunion of many of the over 500 singers from past years, followed by a 3 week cross-Canada concert tour. In addition to their four concerts per year in Victoria, since 1987 they have featured world-wide concert tours. They have sung to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim in 140 cities in 40 countries of Eastern and Western Europe, the Orient, Africa and the South Pacific in addition to Canada and the US. Specializing in the works of Canadian composers, they routinely perform sacred and secular music from all eras, having a repertoire of more than 700 works since their beginnings in 1969. The Chamber Singers have received awards from the C.B.C. choral competition and in 2000 were invited to represent B.C. in the Juno Award-winning performance of R. Murray Schafer’s “Credo”. They have also recorded for broadcast on the C.B.C., University of California Radio, N.C.R.V. Radio in Holland and the national radios of Poland, Hungary, Romania and China.
The Critics have said:
The choir moved like clouds and flowed like running water, with the excellent highs and lows, pianissimos and fortissimos fitting perfectly into the big hall. Like the moonlight which covers the landscape and the beautiful wine whose fragrance goes everywhere. Rich exotic flavour, melting into the vocal performance which was rich and fantastic - made the people's spirits soar.
- Shenzhen Evening News.
The choir was the rejoicing highpoint, displaying the highest precision, expressive body of sound, and ability to modulate well. Their vocal selections were applauded at wildly. There were some moments of utter silence during the performance, as the audience was eager to hear every single note. The singers who had been applauded enthusiastically had to give various encores. Only after all .... was the enthusiastic audience of this benefit concert able to let this choir go.
S. Quast, Forstern Times, Munich
The singing was, as all evening, superb: well focused with clean lines, tightly controlled dynamics and spectacular intonation Bruce More demonstrated his extraordinary ability as a choir trainer - PRIMA Youth Choir opened the evening with three short unaccompanied pieces which were beautifully sung with excellent intonation, carefully moulded phrasing and first rate control of dynamics -11/6/97; Chamber Singers put even them in the shade, with a stunningly virtuostic performance of Vaughan Williams¹ Three Shakespeare Songs. Bach¹s Brandenburg Concerto #3 - I cannot remember the last time I heard it played with such clarity of line and texture -11/21/98; ; Bruce More directed a performance (Tedesco¹s Romancero Gitano) of stunning accuracy and tremendous élan..1/31/99; - One of this town¹s very finest choirs.- the most extraordinary performance. Epitaph for moonlight is a work of considerable technical difficulties, all of which were scaled with aplomb by the formidably talented choir.- the piece is wonderfully evocative when sung this well....Tedesco¹s Romancero Gitano...suffice it to say that time had made their performance more effervescent than ever. - 6/3/99.
- Deryk Barker - Victoria Times Colonist
In the past I have heard Canadian professional choirs from time to time but the freshness and beauty of these young voices and their complete mastery of very challenging music was an aesthetic experience not soon to be forgotten. Congratulations to you, Dr. More for inspiring this group of youthful singers to such heights so that their performances are truly at a professional level.
- Harold A. Decker, Professor of Music Emeritus, University of Illinois.
You have a truly superb choral ensemble. Performances are marked by superb musicianship of the students, as well as your own. You have achieved a highly attractive core tone and an enviably diverse palette of dynamics and tone colors appropriate to the various style periods. And your singing is wonderfully thrilling because of the high polish, the finishing that allows optimal communication between singers and listeners. Both your performances of Canadian choral literature and your delightful cassette recordings will be a lasting influence on many of us American conductors and our choral singers.
- Lynn Whitten, Past-President, American Choral Directors Association.
In a group of talented choruses the U. Vic. Chamber Singers were unquestionably the best. They handled a varied and difficult program with skill and flair. I was very impressed not only with the chorus¹s ability on a technical level, but with the sensitive musicianship which they displayed.
-Harold Aks, Head of the St. Moritz, (Switzerland) Festival
I must say that your performances were the best which I have heard in this region, and at least the equal to many professional groups.
- Christopher Banks, Head, Department of Music, Richard Huish College, Somerset, England.
Admirable without reservation, like fire on a frozen mirror. What clarity, what ensemble, this is perfection! (Admirons sans restriction, du feu dans un miroir glace. Quelle transparence, Quel ensemble, C est la perfection!)
- C.M. Bourque, CBC Festival Adjudicator.
I have worked with a number of Canadian choral conductors, and I can honestly say, Bruce More is one of the very best.
-Harry Freedman, Canadian Composer
My choir and I loved your group with its superb intonation, diction and unique style....polished careful and responsive music making.
-Bruce Lunkley, (Past President - National Association of Teachers of Singing)
The U. Vic. Chamber Singers have a good reputation in Hungary owing to their high professional level and their comprehensive colourful repertory.
- Bela Pallos, Conductor, Epitok Korusa, Budapest.
A dazzling display of vocal and ensemble technique - enthusiastically and professionally displayed.
- Anne Harre -The Press, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Rather than being a choir of one basic sound like Kings College Cambridge, the remarkable uniqueness of this youthful group is that it is several choirs in one. The dramatic changes in tone colour were exploited not for gimmicks but for deeply thought out interpretations. An enormous versatility in timbre....my over-riding impression was an ability to match the tone colour perfectly to the stylistic needs of each , thereby attaining a greater degree of stylistic differentiation than other choirs....blend, balance, attack tone, nuance are all immaculate. The finest choir I have ever heard here was the Swedish Chamber Choir. This virtuostic Canadian choir wasn t too far from that level.
-Ian Dando, Critic: Christchurch Star and The Listener
As ambassadors for Canada, I can think of no better case than the example you have established. New Zealand tends to look to Europe for standards in musical excellence. The visit last year by your choir opened many eyes and ears to the comparable standards being achieved in Canada.
- Guyon Wells, Professor of Music, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
The choice of composers and the quality of the singers performances, I found deeply moving and very impressive.
-Murray Adaskin, Canadian Composer
It was a great pleasure for us to present your outstanding Chamber Singers in Sacramento. The depth and variety of your repertoire was most impressive and challenging, and the flexible tone quality, artistic nuance, and polished musicianship of your ensemble dazzled the audiences. The standing ovation which you received was well-earned indeed. You have opened many ears to the talents and richness of Canadian choral composers.
- Donald Kendrick, Director of Choral Activities, California State University, Sacramento.
In the concert at Mission Santa Clara with the San Jose State Choraliers (winners of the prestigious Choir of the World award at Llangollen, Wales in 1991), to be blunt, the Chamber Singers blew them away. Their strong pitch, tight ensemble, superb diction and clear line.....the sustained dissonances of certain of these works were extremely demanding and extremely well met...you have earned rightful pride in a thrilling accomplishment.
- Dr. Charles Barber, Assistant Professor of Music, Stanford University.
Suffice it to say the Bruce More has sufficient resources to teach unaccompanied Schonberg to Eskimos.
-Gervaise de Peyer, 1st Clarinet, London Symphony Orchestra.
You are a fantastic Choir!
-Karen Grylls, Conductor, New Zealand National Youth Choir.
Of the many performances attended at Pruis Hall this past year, Saturday evening's University of Victoria Chamber Singers concert was definitely in a class all its own. This highly entertaining ensemble from Canada was versatile throughout, as its mixed-bag variety of selections showed a 21 piece ensemble that responded so effectively to even the tiniest motion of their conductor's finger.
- Bradford Meyerdierks, the Muncie Star.
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