The following is an archive of events from our 2022-23 season. Events organized by our Centre are designated as RCCO Kingston Centre Events, while other events are listed as Events of Interest.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
Start-of-the-Season Social Event Friday, September 16, 2022, 4:00 p.m.
Cathy’s Home, Bath. All members and friends are welcome to attend a pizza party to start the season. Please bring an appetizer, salad, dessert, etc., and your own drink. An invitation will be sent out over the internet closer to the date.
RCCO Event
FutureStops Festival: The 21st-Century Organ Experience Thursday, September 29, to Saturday, October 1, 2022
Toronto and online. Concerts and discussions featuring a wide range of organists and innovative approaches to the organ. For more information, visit the festival website at https://futurestops.org.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
Music for the Soul’s Journey Sunday, October 23, 2022, 3:30 p.m.
Chalmers United Church, 212 Barrie Street (at Clergy), Kingston. This concert features recitalists Robert Hall and Douglas Handforth performing works for viola, organ, and voice by Barber, Britten, Duruflé, Fauré, Finzi, Hall, Hindemith, Sweelinck, and others. Admission is $20 or pay-what-you-can at the door. Church and provincial COVID-19 protocols will be followed. The RCCO is grateful to violist Doug Handforth for stepping in on short notice to replace Henry Janzen, who injured his finger. The transcriptions on the program are by Robert Hall.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
Twelfth Night Party Sunday, January 8, 2023, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Party room at Carol and Gord’s. The Twelfth Night Party will be held in the party room on the penthouse floor at the residence of Carol and Gord. Members and newsletter subscribers are welcome as are their spouse/guest/significant others. Please bring a sweet or savoury (appetizer) to share. Cider and tea and coffee will be provided. You may bring alcoholic beverages if you wish. If you are unable to provide such, come anyway. If you have a short entertainment to amuse your fellow musicians/friends, please bring this along. Carol will referee as usual. Please RSVP to Carol Ramer or call 613-547-0378. Looking forward to seeing you!
Event of Interest
Bach, Clérambault, Mendelssohn, Karam, and Bales Friday, February 17, 2023, 5:15-6:15 p.m.
St. James Church, 10 Union Street (at Barrie), Kingston. Music on Union presents organist Michael Capon in concert. On the program will be works by J.S. Bach, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, Felix Mendelssohn, Frederick Karam, and Gerald Bales. This concert is in support of the St. James pipe organ restoration. A freewill offering will be collected. For more information, contact 613-548-7254 or visit stjameskingston.ca/concerts or facebook.com/MusicOnUnion.
Event of Interest
The Accord Trio Friday, February 24, 2023, 5:15-6:15 p.m.
St. James Church, 10 Union Street (at Barrie), Kingston. Music on Union presents Doug Handforth (violin, viola), Jennifer Tyndale (‘cello), and Fran Harkness (piano) in concert. This concert is in support of the St. James pipe organ restoration. A freewill offering will be collected. For more information, contact 613-548-7254 or visit stjameskingston.ca/concerts or facebook.com/MusicOnUnion.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
The Great Bach Marathon Saturday, March 25, 2023, 1:00-5:30 p.m.
St. George’s Cathedral, 270 King Street East (at Johnson), Kingston. All lovers of the music of J.S. Bach are invited to listen or perform. The concert will include 55 musicians, including St. George’s Choir, the Queen’s Clarinet Choir with Kornel Wolak, Jeffrey Leung and a saxophone quartet, the fabulous Moellman family, Douglas von Edelmann, seven organists, a woodwind duo, a recorder group, six pianists, a nine-year-old cellist, a flute player, and several singers accompanied by various ensembles. (To view the latest version of the program, click here.) Come when you can and leave when you must! There is no charge for admission, but a freewill offering will be collected in support of the RCCO scholarship program and St. George’s Cathedral. For more information, contact Fran Harkness by email, or by telephone at 613-549-7125.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
OrgelkidsCAN April 24 to May 1, 2023
Cataraqui Woods Elementary School and St. George’s Cathedral. To quote the national RCCO website: “OrgelkidsCAN brings children on a voyage of discovery that comes in a box. Children are empowered to discover how the organ is made and how it works by assembling a working pipe organ. The Orgelkit, beautifully crafted by Canada’s Orgues Létourneau, can be built in under an hour.” Our Centre Executive recently voted to support a residency for the kit from April 24 to May 1. Centre member and elementary school music teacher David Rankine will host the kit at his school from April 24 to 28. On April 29, the kit will be taken to St. George’s Cathedral, where Centre member Brad Barbeau will introduce it to his children’s choir. On Monday, May 1, the Cathedral will be filled with hundreds of elementary school students who will have the opportunity to see both the OrgelkidsCAN instrument and the Cathedral organ in concert. To view the program, click here. Members of the RCCO Kingston Centre are welcome to attend the concert at 11:30 a.m. on May 1 at St. George’s, but the elementary school students will be given priority seating. A subcommittee of David Rankine, Brad Barbeau, Mike Fenn, and Brad Mills organized the event. For information about the OrgelkidsCAN program, visit https://rcco.ca/orgelkidscan or contact Brad Mills at president@rcco-kingston.ca.
Event of Interest
A High Tea to Celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III Saturday, May 6, 2023, 2:30 p.m.
Fellowship Hall, St. Paul’s United Church, 25 Gore Street West, Perth. All are welcome to attend this High Tea and are encouraged to dress “up” (fascinators, hats, gloves, fancy clothes). To view the invitation, click here. The Rev. Don McLean and church organist and RCCO member Brad Mills will be providing some suitable music on cello and piano. Tickets may be purchased prior to April 30 at a cost of $20 by contacting Brad by email, or telephone at 613-812-0871. One of Brad’s Junior Choir grads has received an invitation to the Coronation as a member of Scouts Canada and she will be providing a video “report from the Abbey” which (technology willing) they hope to share with everyone.
Event of Interest
Choral Evensong on Coronation Day Saturday, May 6, 2023, 3:00 p.m.
St. George’s Cathedral, 270 King Street East (at Johnson), Kingston. On Coronation Day, St. George’s Cathedral Choir and Caelis Academy Ensemble (Ottawa) will sing Evensong at 3:00 p.m. The canticles will be Charles Wood’s Collegium Regale set in F (double choir); the Responses are by Rose; the Introit is to be Parry’s I Was Glad; and the anthem will be the Te Deum in B Flat by Stanford. All are welcome to attend! For more information, visit the St. George’s website.
RCCO Kingston Centre Event
Annual General Meeting and Concert Saturday, June 3, 2023, 1:00 and 2:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 130 Clergy Street East (at Princess), Kingston. The Centre’s Annual General Meeting will take place in the church hall at 1:00 p.m. with a concert by local organists and organ students on the pipe organ at 2:30 p.m., followed by a reception. All members and friends of the Centre are welcome to attend the meeting and the concert is open to the public. To view the concert program, click here. Admission is free, with donations collected in support of the RCCO organ scholarship program. Performers were coordinated by Gavin Winston, Executive Member at Large, and Cathy Kelly, Scholarship Secretary.
RCCO Event
A Festival of Pipes: Building Bridges, Forging Friendships July 2-6, 2023
Toronto. The annual festival and convention of the Royal Canadian College of Organists takes place in Toronto this year. Featured performers are Nathan Laube, Chelsea Chen, Ken Cowan, Jean-Willy Kunz, Aaron Tan, and more! According to organizers, 80% of the 17 venues are within a fifteen-minute walk of the event hotel, the Chelsea, and will include Metropolitan United Church, St. James Cathedral, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, St. Michael’s Cathedral-Basilica, and Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. For more information, or to register, visit https://rcco.ca/Organ-Festival-Canada or https://organhistoricalsociety.org/2023-RCCO-OHS.