Brant Men of Song hosted “A Day of Choral Singing” workshop and concert at the Hope Christian Reformed Church in Brantford on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
With 2026 marking the group’s 65th anniversary, the Brant Men of Song will be hosting a “Sapphire Celebration” performance during this year’s Ontario Sings concert with the Associated Male Choruses of Ontario on Sunday, May 31 at the Sanderson Centre for Performing Arts.
During the big event, six choruses from Burlington, Cambridge, Guelph, Niagara Region, Toronto and Brantford will perform individually and together.
In preparation for the upcoming concert, Larry Davis, past-president of the Brant Men of Song, said around 172 men from the participating choruses came together on the morning of April 11 for a rehearsal.
Later, 30 community members joined the Brant Men of Song for a workshop. Over the next three hours, participants received an introduction to four-part harmony and basic music theory, and learned four songs to perform during the concert later that evening.
Following Davis’ introduction of Bill Schatz, artistic director, and Amy Groleau, accompanist and concert coordinator, the performance soon got underway.
The Brant Men of Song kicked things off with three songs, including Jay Althouse’s “We’re the Men,” “On the Street Where You Live” from the musical My Fair Lady, and Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone).”
With The Brant County Singers, formerly known as the Brant Bell ‘A’ Dears, celebrating their 55th anniversary this year as well, the group then took the stage to perform Parker and Courtney’s “My Heart Belongs to You,” “Lollipop,” arranged by Roger Emerson, and “Till the Stars Fall from the Sky,” arranged by Jay Althouse.
Before intermission, those who attended the afternoon workshop then joined members of the Brant Men of Song and the Brant County Singers up on stage to sing “God Help the Outcasts,” arranged by Audrey Snider, and “As Time Goes By,” arranged by Russ Robinson.
“Some of these people who came out here today have maybe never sung before, have never sung with a chorus, or maybe never sung in front of an audience,” said Davis. “But this afternoon, they willingly came out and practiced with us and Bill taught them these songs in short order.”
When asked how it felt to be celebrating Brant Men of Song’s 65th anniversary, Davis told the Brant Beacon that it was great, saying that many of the members have been part of the group for decades and that many of the original members who have now passed on, stayed on for years.
“It’s really just phenomenal,” he said.
Davis added that they were all looking forward to welcoming both the community and members from other choruses to the big performance on May 31, but that he hoped the current audience were enjoying the concert that evening.
“I hope that everybody’s enjoying it because it is rather loose,” he said with a chuckle. “But we are giving a sample of what the Brant Men of Song can do. And to have other people that are participating, I think it opens up the City of Brantford as the ‘City of Choirs,’ and that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Following the break and a quick singing of “Happy Birthday,” the workshop choir then returned for two final songs, both arranged by Roger Emerson, including “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent, and “You Raise Me Up.”
Schatz then welcomed Sylvia Jarvis and both the Sydenham-Heritage United Church and Harmony United Church choirs up to sing Antonin Dvorak’s “The Journey” and Don Besig’s “Love Grows Here.”
Noting that the concert was free to attend, but that in-kind donations to the Brantford Food Bank, Groleau then welcomed Justine Lemaich, the food bank’s fundraising coordinator, to the front.
“As we mentioned at the beginning of the program this evening, this day has been made possible by a donation that we received from Enterprise Brant,” said Groleau. “And the 65th committee members and executive decided that there was no better way that we could present a concert involving the community, without giving back to the community. The Branford Food Bank was chosen immediately as a charity that we could support.”
Lemaich then shared a few numbers in regards to how many community members utilize the local food bank.
“What an honour it is to be here, these funds are needed more now than ever. You may not know that Brantford is actually in a food insecurity emergency, and one-in-four households in Brantford are food insecure right now,” said Lemaich. “Just this past March, we had 3,300 individuals, and 1,200 households come through to use the food bank. We see those numbers every month, to be honest. …And behind those numbers, every single person has a story, right? Whether it’s the parent that’s giving meals to feed their children, whether it’s the senior that has to make the decision between medication or groceries, or whether it’s the person that’s working multiple jobs and still at the end of the month is coming up short, we’re able to be there for them and provide support, and it’s all due to the community.”
Gorleau, Schatz and David Reynolds then presented Lemaich with a cheque to the Brantford Food Bank for $1,517.
After the cheque presentation the Brant Men of Song then returned to the stage to perform four more songs including Joseph Martin’s “Sing Your Way Home,” Cristi Miller’s “Laundry Land,” “What Would I Do Without My Music,” arranged by Alwyn Humphreys, and Greg Gilpin’s “Why We Sing.”
As the performance came to an end, the audience rose to their feet for a standing ovation, acknowledging the work of the chorus.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
