Membership in the OVE is open to anyone, without audition, who can regularly attend the Tuesday night practices at the St. Paul's Centre in Orillia. You don't have to be from Orillia but you need to be within reasonable driving distance during the winter-driving season because the local roads can be very tricky. If you are interested in joining our choir, please contact Carol by email at info@orilliavocalensemble.com for further instructions.
The choir year consists of two terms with a summer break.
Fees are $125 per term. Payment can be Cash, Cheque or e-transfer sent to: ovebanking@gmail.com. Students are free and fee assistance is available on request - judged on a case-by-case basis.
Choir Members are not required to sell concert tickets or merchandise. Concerts are normally ticket-free and donation-only with proceeds directed to a different local charity each time.
Choir members are asked to promote OVE events as much as possible with family and friends using posters and handouts provided by the choir.
The OVE has an impressive library of sheet music managed by the library committee. Members are assigned a music # and are provided with the necessary sheet music for each term. Singers are expected to return the music immediately at the end of each concert-cycle. Sheet music can be marked lightly (and erasably) by pencil - but never by pen or magic marker. Singers are responsible for the music they hold in hand and they are expected to return it in reasonable condition.
In general, all the music you need to sing in the OVE will be provided by the choir librarian. The one exception to this rule is that you will be expected to acquire a copy of the well-known book of Christmas Carols called "100 Carols for Choirs" published by the Oxford University Press. It is available from most of the music vendors shown below or online at places such as 100 Carols for Choirs by David Willcocks. There is a plain paper bound edition and a spiral-bound edition - prices vary a lot.
Bring your own choir music folder and a couple of pencils. Choral Folders should be black. There is a limited supply of used black folders available for $25.00 - please speak to the OVE treasurer if you need one.
If you wish to obtain a new folder, you can purchase one on line from music stores such as
The OVE has minimal dress requirements as follows:
The OVE is a community choir which does not select members by auditioning them. If you love music but have weak conventional choral skills like music score reading, or ensemble singing, and you feel you need help, we ask that you make a point of speaking privately to the music director (Blair) or to our accompanist (Katie) at one of your first rehearsals to let them know that you want help and to find out how to get it. They will always help you.
Once you have joined the choir you will find a number of educational sections in the website which are provided to teach beginners and to remind experienced singers. This material includes a "Song-Sound-File-Links" of current pieces we are working on so that you can hear exactly what each piece sounds like and sing-along if you like. There is also a music education page which details the rules and history of music notation. It also provides pronunciation guides for any languages we are using in our programs. These are all useful tools for your private practice.
When you join our choir, the director will assign you to a voice section (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, or Bass) and give you seating with others in your same voice range. Each section has a leader called a "section lead" who is in charge of organizing that section. Over the course of time. you will get to know them and they will get to know you. You can always contact your section leader to let them know you will miss a rehearsal or to ask them a question about scheduling, etc. You will be given a name tag to help others get to know you and also a music # to identify you as being responsible for that music. See the Contact page to find out how to contact your section leader. You can find out the name of the section leader in the "About us" page.
Updated 2024-10-28 DVW
Our rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings at 7:20pm in the main hall at St. Paul's Centre. Most rehearsals end by 9:30pm.
St. Paul's United Church / St. Paul's Centre
62 Peter Street North, Orillia.
St. Paul's Centre is HERE
Our Fall term this year starts on
Tuesday - September 10th - For recording session
Tuesday - October 15th - for the fall term
Regular Rehearsals start with a warmup at 7:20pm sharp! Please come early to be ready to start on time.
Our winter/spring term starts on Tuesday - January 14th
Regular Rehearsals start at 7:20pm
Updated: 2024-12-10 DVW