Conducted by Dr. Gerald Langner, the Greystone Singers are a mixed-voice choir open by audition to all University of Saskatchewan students who love singing and enjoy learning a challenging and varied repertoire in a variety of choral works: from traditional and classical to sacred and secular, including folk songs and spirituals in a variety of languages and styles. Since 1958 when they were first organized, well over fourteen hundred young men and women have sung with this award-winning choir. Over the past number of years the Greystone Singers have been consistent national semifinalists in the biennial CBC National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, and in May 2006 won second prize and $2,000 in the University Choirs category.

Besides performing at many local events, festivals, and with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Greystone Singers annually tour throughout Saskatchewan. They make frequent appearances elsewhere in Canada and occasionally visit the United States, Europe, and other countries, including Cuba. In 2007 the choir performed in Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, at Mazaryk University in Brno, and will tour China in May 2010.

This year's group of forty singers consists of students from the colleges of Arts and Science, Education, Engineering, Kinesiology, and Graduate Studies, as well as majors in the Department of Music.

Auditions for 2009-10 will be held September 2-4 and signup sheets will be posted at Rm 1054 Education Building. The ten-minute audition consists of vocalises, tonal memory, sight singing, and a short unaccompanied solo of the singer's choice. Weekly rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:50 PM in Quance Theatre, Education Building, with one extra hour sectional rehearsal TBA.

Pictures from the 2009 Winter Concert

 

Concerts and Events for 2009-2010

2009 Fall Term:

• Fall Music Retreat, Resurrection Lutheran Church: Friday, September 11, 6:30-9:00 PM; Saturday, September 12, 9:30-12:00, 1:00-4:00 PM; Sunday, September 13, 1:30-4:30 PM.

• Campus Concert with Wind Orchestra in Quance Theatre: Friday, September 25, 7:30 PM.

• IPCS Concert appearance in Convocation Hall, Tuesday, November 3, 7:30 PM.

• Concert at Queen’s House of Retreats, Thursday, November 19, 8:00 PM.

• UNIFEST Concert in the Education Gymnasium, Friday, November 20, 7:00 PM.

• Fall Concert in Third Avenue United Church, Sunday, November 29, 3:00 PM. (Tickets are available from chorus members, McNally-Robinson booksellers, or at the door.)

2010 Winter Term:

• Winter Music Retreat, Resurrection Lutheran Church: Friday, January 8, 6:30-9:00 PM; Saturday, January 9, 9:30-12:00, 1:00-4:00 PM; Sunday, January 10, 1:30-4:30 PM.

• Olympic Torch Festivities at Kiwanis Park: Monday, January 11, 12:00-2:00 PM.

• Appearance at College of Education Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 23, 1:30 PM at Hilton Garden Inn.

• Guest appearance at Amati Quartet Concert on Saturday, January 23, 7:30 PM in Convocation Hall. (Tickets are available from McNally Robinson Booksellers.)

• Winter Concert in Knox United Church: Sunday, March 21, 3:00 PM. (Tickets are available from chorus members, McNally-Robinson booksellers, or at the door)

• Recording at Knox United Church, Sunday, March 20, 2:00-4:30 PM.

• Spring Tour to China including Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai: May 10 - 20.

• Performance with the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers and University of Manitoba Singers at Podium: the Association of Canadian Choral Communities national biennial convention in Saskatoon at Knox United Church, Saturday, May 22, 4:15 PM.

For pictures and sound bites of the Greystone Singers 50th Anniversary Celebration on March 21, 2009, click here.

For pictures from their recent appearance with Kenny Rogers on his 2008 Christmas Tour, click here.

You can view pictures of the Greystone Singer's tour to Austria and the Czech Republic and listen to a sound clip of their concert in the Salzburg Dom (Cathedral).

The Greystone Singers can be heard on their latest CD, In The Greystone Tradition Vol 2, which is comprised of works by Eric Whitacre, Pavel Chesnokov, Anton Bruckner, G. P. da Palestrina, Leoš Jána?ek, Franz Schubert, Greg Jasperse, John Rutter, René Clausen, Z. Randall Stroope; Canadian composers Healey Willan and Larry Nickel, Saskatchewan composer Paul Suchan; and spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan, Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory. If you would like to purchase our CD (the cost is $10 available from the Department of Music, or $15 to have it mailed—postage included), or would like more information, contact Gerald Langner at 966-8352 or email gerald.langner@usask.ca.

... Some Greystone History