MUSIC
Choirs of Fairlawn
We are very proud of our choirs under the direction of Eleanor Daley.
Senior Choir
The Senior Choir of Fairlawn Avenue United Church is an auditioned group of approximately 35 members, including an 8-member professional core.
The Seniors sing every Sunday from September through June at the 10:30 am worship service, and are responsible for an introit, two anthems and all other service music. In order to cover that amount and level of music, often with a minimum of rehearsal time, choristers must have singing experience and excellent music/sight-reading skills.
In addition to the regular worship services, the Senior Choir sings at Fairlawn’s annual Lessons and Carols service, the late Christmas Eve service, and also presents a “Special Music Sunday” with orchestra twice a year. Some past works include Gloria (Bob Chilcott, Mark Hayes, John Rutter, K.Lee Scott, Antonia Vivaldi), Magnificat (Mark Hayes, John Rutter, Jonathan Willcocks), Requiem (E. Daley, Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Fauré, Mark Hayes, K. Lee Scott), Requiem for the Living (Dan Forrest), On Christmas Night (Bob Chilcott), Sunrise Mass (Olga Gjeilo), Son of God Mass (James Whitbourn) and Lux Aeterna (Marten Lauridsen). A number of these perfomances were Canadian premieres.
The Senior Choir was one of the participating choirs in the “Sing for Haiti” concert, to raise funds for that country’s 2010 earthquake, as well as a concert held at Roy Thompson Hall in 2005 to raise funds for the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. They also sang “back-up” for Andrea Bocelli at the (then called) Air Canada Centre!
Under the direction of renowned composer/director Eleanor Daley, the choir has recorded several CDs often heard on CBC Radio: Canticle to the Spirit, What Sweeter Music, Magnificat Live! and Gloria.J
Junior Choir
Please note that at this time, Junior Choir has not resumed since March 2020. Watch this space for updates.
The Junior Choir is open to girls and boys of primary/junior age (approximately age 6 – 12).
This is a training choir, and no previous music experience is necessary, although it is easier for your child if they can read at least a bit. They quickly pick up the basics of rhythm and pitch through the skillful teaching of our Director of Music, Eleanor Daley, and every rehearsal includes a snack, provided by our a choir parent.
The choir sings at several services each year, including Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Mother’s Day, and the early service on Christmas Eve, when the music is provided exclusively by the Juniors and Intermediates.
Intermediate Choir
Please note that at this time, Intermediate Choir has not resumed since March 2020. Watch this space for updates.
The Intermediate Choir continues the music education begun with the Junior Choir, and many of the Intermediates have graduated from the Juniors – some have even gone to sing in the Senior Choir. This is a high level choir, typically of middle and high school age, and music reading skills are needed.
The Intermediates cover a wider range of music than the Junior Choir, and occasionally join the Senior Choir for Special Music presentation such as Requiem (Gabriel Fauré), and Mass for Children (John Rutter). They always sing with the Senior Choir on Easter Sunday, and are featured prominently in Fairlawn’s annual Lessons and Carols service. The choir also sings at several other services each year, including Palm Sunday Mother’s Day and the early service on Christmas Eve, when the music is provided exclusively by the Juniors and Intermediates.
FAIRLAWN SENIOR CHOIR SECTION LEADS
SOPRANO
Amy Dodington
With a voice “like crystal clear, tumbling water” that possesses exceptional sincerity and warmth, Amy Dodington is a Toronto - based freelance soloist, recitalist and private music teacher. Amy's moving performances in Bach, Handel and Mozart oratorios and her eclectic solo recitals have earned her a loyal, enthusiastic following throughout Ontario and beyond. Amy has received numerous awards and scholarships, s ung on a Juno award - winning recording and performed under Maestro Helmuth Rilling in the home church of J.S. Bach in Leipzig, Germany. Some of Amy’s pre - pandemic solo appearances include Fauré’s Requiem with the Elmer Iseler Singers, Vaughan Williams’ Don a Nobis Pacem with the Amadeus Choir in Toronto, and Mozart’s Requiem , Grand Mass in C Minor , Haydn’s The Creation and Bach’s St. John Passion with the Cellar Singers in Orillia. Recitals with Fairlawn pianist Doreen Uren Simmons have been recently held i n Toronto, Shanty Bay, Orillia and Alliston. An exceptional ensemble singer, Amy is a member of the Elmer Iseler Singers (Canada’s flagship 20 - voice professional choir) and occasionally of Soundstreams Choir 21. No stranger to singing under the direction of Canadian women composers, Amy joined the Fairlawn choir family in 2018 after 16 years singing at Kingsway - Lambton United Church, 12 of which were with Ruth Watson Henderson.
Anne Bornath
Anne has been a soprano section lead at Fairlawn since 2016, and was a member of the acclaimed Elmer Iseler Singers from 2009 to 2021. A graduate of the University of Toronto, and an aerospace engineer by day, she grew up in a musical family, playing multiple instruments, and singing with her siblings. Anne’s choral composition Be Still was featured as the virtual musical offering for a worship service at Fairlawn this past spring.
ALTO
Lynn Featherstone
Lynn was raised in Cambridge, Ontario, where she started piano lessons at age six, beginning a life-long pursuit in musicianship – as a choral singer, soloist, conductor, and teacher. At the University of Toronto, she completed both her Bachelor of Music in Music Education in Voice Studies and her Masters in Music Education, and has sung with the University of Toronto MacMillan Singers and the Bach Festival Singers. For over a decade, Lynn has been an alto section lead at Fairlawn Avenue, and has also been a member of the acclaimed Elmer Iseler Singers under the direction of Lydia Adams... since 2017. Lynn teaches elementary and secondary choral music at the Toronto Waldorf School in Thornhill, and lives in Toronto with her husband Greg, and son James.
Andrea Ludwig
Juno and Dora award -winning mezzo soprano Andrea Ludwig is an artist of tremendous depth and versatility. Andrea has appeared with the Canadian Opera Company in numerous roles including Nireno in Handel’s Julius Caesar, the Second Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Flora in The Turn of the Screw, Moira in Paul Ruder’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Liesgen in Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Very much in demand for contemporary opera, she has been involved in many of Tapestry New Opera’s projects including their Liblab and Opera Briefs, as well as newly premiered operas Shelter, Oksana G, and most recently The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. Andrea has also sung with Edmonton Opera, Philadelphia Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Festival D’Aix en Provence, and her commitment to concert performance remains a strong focus. She has appeared with Symphony Nova Scotia, Symphony New Brunswick, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Against the Grain Theatre, Toronto Masque Theatre, Soundstreams, Off Centre Music Salon, and the TSO Chamber Soloists. Recent recordings include the East Coast Music Association-nominated Schubert orchestrations with Symphony Nova Scotia, Responsio by Peter Togni, Galicians II with the Ukrainian Art Song Project, Ana Sokolovic's Sirens, and Massanet’s Thaïs, recorded live in 2019 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis, and released on the UK Chandos label to great acclaim in 2020. Andrea has been a section lead at Fairlawn since 2007.
TENOR
Willis Bote
Philippine born educator Willis Bote has been singing with the Senior Choir at Fairlawn since 2006. He is in demand as a conductor, vocal coach, and teacher. Willis holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. Before his studies abroad, he received a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Western Ontario. As a conductor, he spent two seasons as the co-director of the Hamilton Children’s Choir’s Lads & Gents program and spent four seasons as vocal coach and assistant conductor with the Scarborough Bach Chamber Youth Choir. During his tenure with these organizations, he was active in developing and mentoring the young men of the choirs. An alumnus of the Ontario Youth Choir, he spent the summer of 2012 as an apprentice conductor working and singing alongside young singers from all over Ontario. Willis is currently a music teacher at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute with the Toronto District School Board. Prior to teaching at Lawrence Park, he led a thriving music program at Windfields Junior High School and Sir William Osler High School where he directed numerous extra-curricular programs within the schools.
Phil Smith
Phil Smith is a graduate of Queen’s University, with a Bachelor of Music degree majoring in Vocal Performance. Phil’s first debut in the Fairlawn Senior Choir was in 1997. After a number of years’ hiatus, due to work and family commitments, but during which time, he often sang for Special Music Sundays, Phil once again joined the Senior Choir family in the fall of 2017. The choir has had the privilege of performing two of his wonderful choral compositions, Within My Heart (2018) and Our Lord Is Here (2019). Phil lives in Aurora, Ontario with his wife Kirsten, and his two... daughters, Kate and Natalie.
BASS
Scot Denton
Director, producer, actor, singer, lyricist, and teacher, Scot came to Fairlawn in 1991 to do a short stint as a supply singer, and has been a section lead ever since. Scot’s stage career began at the Charlottetown Festival and he has appeared at most major theatres across Canada, including the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Young People’s Theatre, Canadian Stage and The Stratford Festival, appearing in Leslie Arden’s The House of Martin Guerre, The Winslow Boy, and numerous original Canadian musicals, including Colette, and The Legend of the Dumbells. Scot’s numerous film and TV credits include The Virgin Suicides directed by Sofia Coppola, Rubberface with Jim Carrey, Reckless Disregard with Leslie Nielsen, The Gate, Murder in Space, Traders, Street Legal, and Due South. He has also appeared in many television commercials and has been a director of plays and musicals in professional, academic, and community theatres since 1988. A graduate of the University of Toronto and a vocal student of Bernard Diamant, Helen Simmie and Irene Jessner, he also studied acting at the National Theatre School, and with Kurt Reis at the Centre for Acting Study in Toronto. With composer Eleanor Daley, Scot has been instrumental in creating a number of pageants for Fairlawn, including Strange Places, Jonathan, and Not What I Had in Mind. He also wrote the lyrics for Eleanor’s choral composition Each Child, which was commissioned by the Bach Children’s Chorus of Scarborough. As the Artistic Producer of the Highlands Summer Festival in Haliburton, Ontario where he has been directing since 2005, Scot has worked with the Festival Board to create challenging and thought-provoking seasons for both audiences and performers, with a focus on young people and community involvement.
Giles Tomkins
Canadian/British bass‐baritone Giles Tomkins has been a section lead at Fairlawn since 1998. Widely praised for his vocal virtuosity and lyricism in an impressive range of repertoire, his rich, resonant voice brings “authority and power” to the concert and operatic stage. Noted for his convincing portrayal of the philosopher Colline in La Bohème, Giles has performed the role with Scottish Opera, as well as with Saskatoon Opera, Manitoba Opera, and Pacific Opera Victoria. Contemporary works include Gandalf in Dean Burry’s The Hobbit with the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, and The Overcoat with Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera. His many Messiah appearances include performances with the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Thunder Bay Symphony, and the Regina Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few. He also sang Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Vancouver Symphony, and Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Bach Elgar Choir in 2019. Over the course of his varied career, Giles has also been engaged by the Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Against the Grain Theatre, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Opera 5.
