Island Choral Society

04/18/2026

A big hit, right from the start
The premier performance of The Creation in Vienna in 1798 was exclusive, by invitation only for the well-connected; however, the crowds of ordinary Haydn fans reportedly so packed the streets outside that 30 special police were called in to keep order.
The first public performance a few months later was sold out far in advance, and The Creation was performed nearly forty more times in Vienna during Haydn's life, frequently conducted by Haydn himself — often as a fund-raiser for a charitable organization for the support of widows and orphans of musicians.
It had its London premiere at Covent Garden in 1800, using the English text.
Napoleon, who admired Haydn enormously, was at its Paris premiere later that year; on the way there, he narrowly escaped a bomb intended to assassinate him.
The last performance Haydn attended was on March 27, 1808, a year before he died: aged and ill, he was carried in with great honour on an armchair. At the dramatic moment just after the beginning, when orchestra and chorus burst into the joyous exclamation “and there was Light”, the audience broke into spontaneous applause. Haydn, in a typical gesture, weakly pointed upwards and said: "Not from me—everything comes from up there!”
The Creation will be performed on Sunday afternoon, 26 April, at St. Paul’s church in Charlottetown. Information: [email protected]; 902-628-6778

04/11/2026

Handel envy/flattery?
We say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Franz Joseph Haydn certainly flattered Georg Friedrich Handel.
In the early 1790s Haydn spent time in England. He was hugely popular, a real star — sort of like the Beatles coming to New York in 1964. In London he heard some of Handel’s grand oratorios, and apparently determined that he would create something of comparable weight.
And when he came to composing The Creation a few years later, he borrowed and enhanced a technique he had picked up from Handel’s Israel in Egypt. It’s called ‘tone painting’ — designing the music so that it actually reflects the meaning of the lyrics, ‘painting’ images to demonstrate the story elements.
For example, to represent the void or chaos before creation, the orchestra plays slow, unresolved chromatic harmonies that make for a sense of confusion and instability. And then, when God begins creation with light, those sounds of the primordial ooze suddenly erupt into a massive, fortissimo C major chord, painting that dramatic moment: “And there was LIGHT.” Later, as assorted creatures appear, we can imaginatively hear them: the buzzing of insects (violins), the leap of the tiger, the roar of the lion, the song of the nightingale.
To hear it: The Creation will be performed on Sunday afternoon, 26 April, at St. Paul’s church in Charlottetown. Information: [email protected]; 902-628-6778

04/01/2026

Why “Papa” Haydn?
Franz Joseph Haydn went from under-fed choir boy — who seized opportunities to sing for aristocrats where refreshments were provided! … to becoming — despite a total lack of training in music theory — the most celebrated composer in Europe in the latter part of the 18th century and early 1800s.
He was a friend and mentor of Mozart and a teacher of Beethoven. Indeed not too long before he died, a performance of The Creation was organized in his honour, and as Haydn was brought into the hall on an armchair to the sound of trumpets and drums, it was Beethoven who greeted him.
In his long years of service at the court of the Esterhazy family, he became a sort of father-figure. His orchestra’s musicians took to calling him ‘Papa’ as a term of respect and endearment. Even Mozart called him ‘Papa.’
People subsequently called him ‘Papa’ in a sort of reverent sense because of his originating role in developing musical forms; he composed almost 70 string quartets and 104 symphonies … and so deserved the titles of "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String quartet.”
Through the later 1800s as Romanticism grew, though, the term took on a patronizing tone — a suggestion that Haydn’s music was comfortably old-fashioned. However, that somewhat derogatory implication subsequently faded, giving way to the original sense of affectionate respect for the great man.
One of Haydn’s outstanding works, the magnificent oratorio The Creation, will be performed on Sunday afternoon, 26 April, at St. Paul’s church in Charlottetown. Information: [email protected]; 902-628-6778

12/01/2025

Conrad Susa
Who’s he? … He’s the 20th-century American composer who gave us “Carols and Lullabies”.
No, he was not related to that other Sousa - John Philip, the great marching-band fellow. For 30 years Conrad was composer-in-residence at the Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, where he wrote incidental music for more than 200 operatic and dramatic productions.
He was a graduate of Juilliard School. Guess who one of his teachers was? Peter Schickele, or as we know him, that famed composer PDQ Bach!
In 1992 he created “Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest.” A friend suggested he write a piece that connected with Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” … and another friend put him on to a set of traditional Spanish carols he’d sung as a boy in Arizona. Susa noted their resemblance to Renaissance music, along with their ‘homey, artful simplicity’ … and fashioned them into a lovely narrative of the Nativity.
Experience it — it’s really quite delightful — with the Island Choral Society this Saturday afternoon (3:00 pm), 6 December, at St. Paul’s church in downtown Charlottetown.

12/10/2024

We are so proud that our Verdi Requiem, which we performed in collaboration with Luminos Ensemble and Luminos Chamber Orchestra, is nominated for Music PEI Award!

08/18/2023

What's the best thing about heading into the last weeks of August? You got it - choir starts soon!

This season, Island Choral Society is performing two very different but equally epic works: Bach's Magnificat, first premiered 300 years ago in 1723; and Verdi's extraordinary Requiem - big, bombastic, and a heck of a lot of fun to sing.

Rehearsals start September 12 in Charlottetown - to register, or to find out more, head on over to our website. See you there!

Island Choral Society is a mixed choir that rehearses on Tuesdays 7-9pm in Charlottetown. For our 2023-2024 season, we will be singing Bach's Magnificat on December 9, 2023; and Verdi's Requiem on April 28, 2024.

01/10/2023

Due to the freezing rain that just started, we will postpone our first rehearsal to next week. Stay dafe, everyone!

09/26/2022

Hi everyone, we will not rehearse tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll see each other soon! Stay safe!

08/30/2022

Our first season got rave reviews, with audience members calling our spring concert "amazing" "transcendent" and "a nearly perfect performance". Come sing with PEI's newest classical choir under the direction of Dr. Margot Rejskind, as we sing music by Vivaldi, Saint-Saens, Rutter, and more. Rehearsals start Tuesday, September 13 7-8:30pm at The Kirk.

To join, please fill out this form

Please fill out this form so we can be sure to have music ready for you! Rehearsals Tuesdays 7-8:30pm Starting September 13 The Kirk corner Fitzroy & Pownal Have questions? Contact us at [email protected]

04/23/2022

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we must change the venue for our performance of Fauré Requiem next week - you will find us at St. Dunstan's Basilica! Note that tickets cannot be sold at the door in this venue. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online at the link below.

Island Choral Society performs Gabriel Fauré's Requiem.