About Us

Singers in the Guelph Chamber Choir represent various walks of life; their common bond is to foster community enjoyment and appreciation of choral music through performances, outreach, artistic collaboration, and community partnerships.

We remain an integral part of the strong musical heritage of Guelph. Our performances include repertoire from Renaissance masters to contemporary composers, from classical styles to Broadway and vocal jazz, and from unaccompanied choral gems to masterworks with full orchestra.

We often collaborate with other choirs from across Canada and within our own community. Our success has been recognized through a number of broadcasts on national radio and prizes in the CBC National Competition for Amateur Choirs. We have participated in festivals throughout Ontario and have toured Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and Sweden.

The Guelph Chamber Choir began in 1980 when a group of choral music lovers decided that Guelph needed a new choir dedicated to singing the finest works of the repertoire with skill and musical sensitivity.

Our first performance on December 7, 1980, under conductor and artistic director Gerald Neufeld, featured twenty-six singers in front of an audience of nearly two hundred at Harcourt Memorial United Church.

From the choir’s inception to his retirement in 2018, Conductor Gerald Neufeld led the choir for all but two years, when Kathryn Laurin ably took the baton.

After Gerald Neufeld’s retirement in 2018, an extensive search process was conducted during the 2019 season and Charlene Pauls was named Artistic Director and Conductor starting with the 2019/2020 season.

Over the years our ranks have swelled and our talents deepened. Now at forty voices strong we still hold close to the ideals of chamber singing: lightness and clarity of tone, subtle blending of developed voices, and clear communication of the meaning and spirit of both text and music.

Artistic Director & Conductor

Dr. Charlene Pauls has been an active choral conductor, vocal soloist, adjudicator and pedagogue for over 25 years. Drawing on this extensive experience, Dr. Pauls’ approach focuses on developing a beautiful choral sound through a deep understanding of healthy vocal technique.

Over the course of her career, she has directed a wide range of adult, university and youth choirs. She is Associate Artistic Director of the 250 voice strong Oakville Choir for Children and Youth where she directs Raise Her Voice Chamber, an ambassadorial ensemble selected from within the organization’s senior singers. Dr. Pauls has led this group in award-winning performances at various national and international competitions, and has appeared on stages in Europe and the USA.

In addition to her active performing and teaching career, Dr. Pauls frequently presents academic work at academic conferences and is in demand as an adjudicator for Voice and Choral festivals across the country.

Havelah Carter
Anna Dolsen
Laura Harp
Katie Hatanaka – Emerging Artist
Jacqueline Kreller-Vanderkooy
Liz (Elizabeth) Laushway
Rebecca McKay – Section Lead
Karla Oxley
Emily Steers – Emerging Artist
Tammy te Winkel

Christine Cousins
Bailey Dugas
Joanne Gonsalves
Leah Hagerman
Megan Hodge
Karen Slatkovsky
Dev Suresh
Alison Vicary
Rachael Young

Douglas Annett                              Steve Brown
Silas Chinsen – Emerging Artist Composer                                       
Dan Enns                                      Lanny Fleming – Section Lead
Brad Halls
Peter Thompson

Dave Davidson
Keith Hagerman – Section Lead
Brian Janzen
Neil McLaren
Graham Nancekivell
Andrew Quinn
Matthias Schmidt                          Finn Steinke – Emerging Youth Artist                                              James Walke                                  David Wieler

Alison is a University of Guelph grad, and an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Piano Performance. After graduate work at the University of Western Ontario, Alison returned to her hometown of Guelph to teach and to fully immerse herself in its thriving music community. She has been a familiar sight on the concert stage ever since.

Over the years Alison has accompanied a great number of choirs including The Elora Singers, the Guelph Youth Singers, and the Rainbow Chorus of Waterloo-Wellington. Her passion for choral music is reflected in her decades as the Director of the Music and Arts Ministry at Harcourt Memorial United Church, and as conductor of other local community choirs. Alison became the Artistic Director of the Rainbow Chorus in 2018.

She has been the accompanist for the Guelph Chamber Choir for about twenty years, frequently performing and touring with the ensemble. She is featured on two previous CDs of the choir: Songs of the New World, and Goode Cheare.

Tammy te Winkel, General Manager

Preetam Sengupta, Financial Administrator

Dave Davidson, President
Harry Oussoren, Treasurer
Leah Hagerman, Secretary

Members-at-Large:
Larry Gibbs
Megan Hodge
Leila Stevens
Sya VanGeest

Ex-Officio:
Charlene Pauls, Artistic Director and Conductor
Tammy te Winkel, General Manager