2024 News Stories
On Mother's Day St. Andrew’s was delighted to host
Aella Choir
(pronounced eye-lah)
Aella performed ROOTS - the final concert of their 2023-24 season.
ROOTS celebrated both the joys and the challenges of family connections. It was about beginnings, endings, and the legacy of our loved ones. Through songs about birth, childhood, parents and parenthood, Aella celebrated and honoured those who cared
for us and nurtured us as we grew.
The centrepiece of this concert was the debut of a new work by Franco-Ontarian composer Marie-Claire Saindon. “La valse de Marie” was composed in loving memory and celebration of Marie Paquette-Rivard: maman to Aella member, Josée Rivard,
and much-loved choir mom to us all.
Admittance was a freewill donation as part of Aella’s mandate to make high quality musical performances accessible to everyone.
Aella Choir is an upper-voice ensemble founded by Artistic Director Jennifer Berntson, which initially started as a pick-up choir for a single concert in 2016. It operates in Ottawa, Ontario, on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people. The ensemble has been described as "everything a modern choir should be – innovative, technically precise, joyous, comforting and representative" (Andrew Riddles, Classical Ottawa) and "like a battle scene from Game of Thrones although with far less violence" (Blake Edwards, a fan). Its members, more specifically, have been called “fierce” (Giacomo Panico, CBC) and “abnormally close” (Aella member). They enjoy singing a mix of genres – from traditional choral repertoire, to challenging contemporary music, to pop – but mostly, they enjoy singing with each other. You can learn more about the choir at http://www.aellachoir.com/.
Aella Choir
(pronounced eye-lah)
Aella performed ROOTS - the final concert of their 2023-24 season.
ROOTS celebrated both the joys and the challenges of family connections. It was about beginnings, endings, and the legacy of our loved ones. Through songs about birth, childhood, parents and parenthood, Aella celebrated and honoured those who cared
for us and nurtured us as we grew.
The centrepiece of this concert was the debut of a new work by Franco-Ontarian composer Marie-Claire Saindon. “La valse de Marie” was composed in loving memory and celebration of Marie Paquette-Rivard: maman to Aella member, Josée Rivard,
and much-loved choir mom to us all.
Admittance was a freewill donation as part of Aella’s mandate to make high quality musical performances accessible to everyone.
Aella Choir is an upper-voice ensemble founded by Artistic Director Jennifer Berntson, which initially started as a pick-up choir for a single concert in 2016. It operates in Ottawa, Ontario, on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people. The ensemble has been described as "everything a modern choir should be – innovative, technically precise, joyous, comforting and representative" (Andrew Riddles, Classical Ottawa) and "like a battle scene from Game of Thrones although with far less violence" (Blake Edwards, a fan). Its members, more specifically, have been called “fierce” (Giacomo Panico, CBC) and “abnormally close” (Aella member). They enjoy singing a mix of genres – from traditional choral repertoire, to challenging contemporary music, to pop – but mostly, they enjoy singing with each other. You can learn more about the choir at http://www.aellachoir.com/.
We shared food and fellowship on the last Sunday of every month. Hosting duties were shared by Committee members
based on the schedule below. All were encouraged to make donations to the Sunday School's ongoing project in support of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Our thanks to the teams for bringing treats for all to share.
1st Sunday: Choir
2nd Sunday: Worship & Life
3rd Sunday: Sunday School
4th Sunday: Stewards
5th Sunday: Special Events
based on the schedule below. All were encouraged to make donations to the Sunday School's ongoing project in support of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Our thanks to the teams for bringing treats for all to share.
1st Sunday: Choir
2nd Sunday: Worship & Life
3rd Sunday: Sunday School
4th Sunday: Stewards
5th Sunday: Special Events
A full house enjoyed a fascinating, humourous talk by Roy MacGregor on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
We heard tales from this Officer of the Order of Canada
and one of Canada’s most gifted storytellers.
Mr. MacGregor is the acclaimed and bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award); A Life in the Bush (winner of the U.S. Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book and the CAA Award for Biography); and Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People. Mr. Macgregor has also authored two novels, Canoe Lake and The Last Season, and the popular
Screech Owls mystery series for young readers.
A regular columnist at The Globe and Mail since 2002, MacGregor's journalism has garnered four National Magazine Awards and eight National Newspaper Award nominations.
Mr. MacGregor grew up in Huntsville, Ontario, and has kept returning to the
Tom Thomson mystery all his writing life. He lives in Kanata.
We heard tales from this Officer of the Order of Canada
and one of Canada’s most gifted storytellers.
Mr. MacGregor is the acclaimed and bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award); A Life in the Bush (winner of the U.S. Rutstrum Award for Best Wilderness Book and the CAA Award for Biography); and Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People. Mr. Macgregor has also authored two novels, Canoe Lake and The Last Season, and the popular
Screech Owls mystery series for young readers.
A regular columnist at The Globe and Mail since 2002, MacGregor's journalism has garnered four National Magazine Awards and eight National Newspaper Award nominations.
Mr. MacGregor grew up in Huntsville, Ontario, and has kept returning to the
Tom Thomson mystery all his writing life. He lives in Kanata.