Art by Laura Carter - "Adrift in Time"

from the OVE "Canada150" Celebrations Project in 2017

About Our Choir

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide a joyful and educational choral opportunity for anyone who wants to sing, and to benefit our community by donating the proceeds from all of our concerts to local non-profit organizations.

"The Music Department is an alternate universe where pupils are often unrecognisable from who they are outside of it. The shy become confident. The agitated become calm. The lonely become included. The quiet become heard. And the lost become found. Music reveals the real [person]."

Vaughan Fleischfresser, a conductor and teacher at a UK music academy.

Artistic Director - Blair Bailey, B.Mus

Blair Bailey graduated with a bachelor of music degree (B.Mus) from the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto in the spring of 1984. By August that same year, he accepted a post as music director at St. Paul’s United Church in Orillia and Blair has been back home in Orillia ever since.

As Artistic Director for the Orillia Kiwanis Music Festival for 25 years until 2019, Blair was instrumental in revamping and revitalizing the Festival.

Blair was music director and pianist for many Mariposa Arts Theatre shows, including The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof.

Blair was the accompanist for The Cellar Singers under Albert Greer for 32 years starting in 1985; and, until 2020 he has stepped in many times to be the fill-in conductor for the Orillia Vocal Ensemble whenever the former director was unavailable.

Blair has a thriving private music studio teaching voice, piano, organ, harmony, and music theory.

He was the organist and choir director of St. Paul’s United Church from 1984 to 2022, experiencing many changes in the church structure, including its recent evolution into a part-time performing arts space.

St. Paul’s has had a long history of producing musicals on its own; Blair has been front and centre in these. He says, “When I first started, we had thriving children’s and youth choirs, and those groups would put on a musical each year. I remember doing the school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. These were great shows."

In the 2023/2024 season, Bailey was music director (and orchestra leader and player) for Joseph again at St. Paul’s, a production which raised a whopping $36,000 for the church. Several members of the choir took time off to be part of that experience.

Collaborative Pianist - Katie Pergau

Katie Pergau is well-known in Southern Ontario as an accompanist, conductor, and musician. She has accompanied and worked with students from the studios of Margot Hamilton, Edwina Douglas, Renée Cingolani and others. In recent years, Katie has enjoyed performing and travelling with the Peterborough County Children’s Choir, the Peterborough Singers, the Tapestry Chamber Choir and was member and artistic director of the Bravado! Show Choir for 8 years.

Katie is currently the Organist and Choir Director at Burton Ave United Church, Accompanist for the King Edward Choir, and was Executive Director of the Barrie Music Festival Association.

Katie has proved herself to be a consumate musician with a great sense of humour, and a sensitive pianist who seems to love playing the remarkable Bosendorfer Grand Piano in St. Paul's Centre. It is a thrill to hear her play.

Our History

The Orillia Vocal Ensemble (OVE) was created in 2010 by our founding Director, Roy Menagh, to be a choir to accompany the Orillia Wind Ensemble (OWE - now called the Orillia Concert Band) at their Christmas concert. Following that successful experience, there were many singers who wanted to continue singing together, so the choir continued under the umbrella of the OWE. After one year, the OVE established itself as a separate entity and developed its mission of fundraising for local non-profit organizations through performances and appearances. The choir developed quickly as a community choir open to anyone with the desire to sing, acquired charitable status, and grew to a solid membership of more than 70 singers.

Blair Bailey accepted the role as the Artistic Director when Roy Menagh retired in the spring of 2020 just as the pandemic began. Katie Pergau took over the role of collaborative pianist when Mary-Jo Rosenquist resigned her post as accompanist in 2020.

Carol Benedetti took over the job of Administrative Assistant in 2012 and has maintained this side of our day-to-day operation ever since. Carol is a singer herself who participates in the choir from time to time as her busy work-life permits.

Sadly, Covid-19 prevented the choir from gathering in early 2020 and for the next two years. During that haitus Blair and Mary-Jo and the board tried their best to keep singers involved by providing get-togethers using tele-conferencing (ZOOM) at which we chatted or practised score reading and music theory. Mary-Jo retired during that time.The OVE board continued to meet during the pandemic and re-started the choir in March of 2022 with Blair Mailey and Katie Pergau fully at the helm.