Regina Male Voice Choir

Regina Male Voice Choir

Regina Male Voice Choir. Successor to the Regina Male Chorus Club founded in 1911 by A.L. Wheatley. At the time of its first concert, 1 Apr 1912, that choir numbered 29. When in 1914 many of its members joined the armed forces, it was forced to disband. The attempt to revive the club produced instead, in 1920, the mixed chorus known as the Regina Choral Union. The male section of the choir, led by George Coutts in 1922 and Dan Cameron in 1923, competed in the provincial music festivals and became the Regina Male Voice Choir in 1923. It gave its first annual spring concert in 1924. This choir, the Regina Ladies' Choir, and the Regina Bach Ladies' Choir sang together 1932-8 as the Regina Philharmonic Society, though the three groups continued to perform independently as well.

Cameron was the conductor of the Regina Male Voice Choir until 1945. Subsequent conductors included Lionel Allen 1946-60, Ernest A. Moore 1960-3, David Graham 1963-5, Allen Wortman 1965-6, William Otis 1966-70, R.A. Wetzstein 1970-2, Tudor Davies and Raymond Hoffman 1972-3, Peter Pasklar 1973-5, David Escott 1975-8, Larry Kloponshak in 1978, and Ken Danylczuk 1978-9, succeeded by Charles Willett.

In 1946 the choir began to present a Saskatchewan musician as soloist at each annual concert. Among those chosen have been William Morton (1946), Erica Zentner (Davidson) (1947), Patricia Grant Lewis (Elliot) (1948), Barbara Franklin (1950), Irene Salemka (1952 and 1959), Jon Vickers (1953), Marilyn Duffus (1955), Lesia Zubrack (1956), Helen Hájnik (1960), Audrey Johannesen (1961), Nancy Greenwood (1964), Catherine Vickers (1970), and Patricia Knox (1979).

Over the years the choir has performed at memorial services, conventions, and festivals and has given concerts in Regina and throughout southern Saskatchewan. The choir continued to be active in 1991.