The Elora Singers will cap off their 2025/26 regular season with Jonathan Dove’s The Passing of the Year, featuring pianist Catherine Robertson. The concert takes place on April 26 in Guelph’s St. George’s Anglican Church.
The rest of the spring and early summer will see the Elora Singers gearing up for the 47th Elora Festival, which takes place July 10 to 26. A festival prelude concert on July 8 features international a cappella stars VOCES8.
You can find Festival Week One tickets, and get first presale access for VOCES8 when you do until April 16.
The Passing of the Year (April 26)
Pianist Catherin Robertson, a former long serving instructor at the University of Waterloo, accompanies the choir. They’ll be joined by participants of The Elora Singers Studio for Ensemble Singing. For them, the concert represents the culmination of a week-long intensive into the art of choral singing. The emerging conductors and vocalists will perform alongside The Elora Singers
English composer Jonathan Dove wrote his The Passing of the Year in 2020, originally commissioned by the London Symphony Chorus. He composed the piece in memory of his mother, using texts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Emily Dickinson, George Peele, Thomas Nashe, and William Blake. Written in seven movements, the choral cycle explores the changing of the seasons both in nature and human life. It’s characterized by a post-minimalist and highly rhythmic style, and has been noted for its expressive nature.
Full Concert Program
- Eric Whitacre: Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine
- Imant Raminsh; Ave Verum Corpus
- Healey Willlan: Gloria Deo per immensa saecula
- Jonathan Dove: The Passing of the Year
- Amazing Grace, arr. Ēriks Ešenvalds
- Unclouded Day, arr. Shawn Kirchner
- Shall We Gather at the River, arr. Blake Morgan
Find tickets and concert details for The Passing of the Year on April 26 [HERE].
Festival Prelude: VOCES8 in Concert (July 8, 2026)
The presale for the Festival Prelude VOCES8 in Concert and Festival tickets for Week One concerts work together. It’s like this:
- Buy tickets for any of the Elora Festival Week One concerts;
- You get first access to the VOCES8 in Concert tickets;
- Until April 16.
Once you purchase a Festival Week One concert ticket, you’ll get a code that lets you buy VOCES8 tickets, along with the Pre-Concert Fundraising Reception.
Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 will perform a program titled Give Me Your Stars. The title work was composed by Lucy Walker for the ensemble, and revolves around our reverence and wonder at the stars, along with our own deep connections as human beings. The rest of the program includes music from centuries of choral repertoire, including Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Regina Caeli, Eric Whitacre’s All Seems Beautiful to Me, Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas, the classic Danny Boy, Michael McGlynn’s Dúlamán, and jazzy favourites April in Paris and New York, New York.
- Ticket link for VOCES8 on July 8 [HERE].
Elora Festival Week One Concerts
Here’s a peek at the first week of Elora Festival 2026, with tickets available now.
Opening Night: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m.) at Gambrel Barn, Elora
Featuring soprano Rachel Fenlon, the concert begins with Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, followed by Ludwig van Beethoven’s concert aria Ah! perfido, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music (inspired by Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice), and concluding with Beethoven’s Mass in C Major.
Constantinople: Estuary (Saturday, July 11 at 2:30 p.m.) at St. John’s Anglican Church, Elora
An estuary is where fresh water meets salty sea water, a place where themes of renewal, fertility, and journeys meet. Constantinople, the Montreal-based ensemble, was formed in 1998 by Kiya Tabassian, and has developed an international reputation for their unique blend of early, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern music. They’re joined in a new collaboration with Ablaye Cissoko, master of the kora, and Constantinople founder Kiya Tabassian, virtuoso of the Persian setar, along wth percussionist Patrick Graham.
Rachel Fenlon, Penderecki String Quartet & The Elora Singers (Saturday, July 11 at 2:30 p.m.) at Gambrel Barn, Elora
Berlin-based Canadian soprano-pianist, Rachel Fenlon, the Penderecki String Quartet and The Elora Singers get together for an intimate evening of music. The program includes music of the Romantic era along with contemporary choral music, including compositions by Schubert, Caroline Shaw, David Lang, Eric Whitacre and Gabriel Kahane.
Brahms in New York (Sunday, July 12 at 2:30 p.m.) at St. John’s Anglican Church, Elora
A nine year old Johannes Brahms and his family nearly moved to the US in 1842 to further the young boy’s career as a child virtuoso. But, the United States of the 19th century was a turbulent place where the Civil War would soon break out. Conversely, he may not have been subject to living in the shadow of Beethoven, and the idea of becoming his successor. Storyteller and broadcaster Tom Allen narrates this exploration of history and speculation.
The MacMaster Leahy Family in Concert (Sunday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m.) at Gambrel Barn, Elora
Cape Breton–inspired fiddle, dance, and song are on the menu when the McMaster Leahy Family takes the stage. They are one of Canada’s most celebrated musical families, and their performances features storytelling, foot-stomping rhythms, and virtuoso fiddling. It’s an upbeat, joyful experience where tradition, family, and musical excellence come together.
- Find tickets and show details for all the Elora Festival concerts [HERE].
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