Elmer Iseler, Choral Visionary

“VISIONARY” Concert & Book Launch

Celebrating 30^th Anniversary Season

Sunday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

Toronto, September 10, 2008: The Elmer Iseler Singers and conductor Lydia Adams launch their 30^th anniversary season with a performance featuring the glorious music of Canadian composers John Beckwith, Ruth Watson Henderson and Imant Raminsh. The evening also includes the moving mystical works of Maurice Duruflé, Henryk Gorecki and Eric Whitacre. This concert is the perfect occasion to launch Walter Pitman’s new book, “Elmer Iseler, Choral Visionary”, a biography that outlines the spectacular career (spanning five decades) of the legendary Elmer Iseler. The event takes place on Sunday, September 21 at 7PM at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (78 Clifton Road) in Toronto.

In addition to celebrating the Elmer Iseler Singers’ 30^th anniversary season, this concert marks the 10^th anniversary of Lydia Adams as Artistic Director and Conductor. Special guest Walter Pitman (O. C., O. On.) joins Canada’s foremost vocal ensemble to introduce “Elmer Iseler, Choral Visionary” (Dundurn Press 2008) - the first-ever biography of the choir’s founder. With a personalized forward written by Jessie Iseler and over 50 black & white photos, the Iseler story belongs to the thousands of singers and hundreds of conductors that have ever sung and worked with Elmer Iseler. All proceeds of sales through the Elmer Iseler Singers go towards the work of the Elmer Iseler Singers.

Elmer Iseler was pivotal to the development of choral music in Canada. Though he passed away on April 3, 1998, his impact will continue undiminished through his many recordings, the work of the Elmer Iseler Singers, through The Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting, the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowships in Choral Conducting at the University of Toronto and through this biography.

The September 21 performance features John Beckwith’s Sharon Fragments; Imant Raminsh’s Ave Verum Corpus; Ruth Watson Henderson’s Missa Brevis; Maurice Duruflé’s Quatre Motets (Ubi caritas, Tota pulchra es, Tu es Petrus and Tantum ergo); Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Totus Tuus, Op. 60; and Eric Whitacre’s When David Heard.

The Elmer Iseler Singers Board of Directors is pleased to announce that this 2008/2009 Toronto 30^th Anniversary Series is very generously sponsored by Hooey Remus LLP – a premier law firm based in Toronto.

“VISIONARY” Concert and Book Launch: Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church – 78 Clifton Road at St. Clair, Toronto (West of Mt. Pleasant)

Special Guest: WALTER PITMAN, O.C., O. On.

Author of “Elmer Iseler, Choral Visionary” (Dundurn Press)

Tickets: $35/ regular - $30/Seniors - $10/Students (with valid student i.d.)

Please call Janet Johnson at 416-217-0537 for tickets and information.