Esprit Singers Featured at Podium 2026
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Esprit Singers is considered Winnipeg’s premiere upper voices choir. Founded by Valdine Anderson, with Rachel Dyck as piano collaborator, Esprit began in the fall of 2011 as a twelve-voice ensemble created for a single event. Loving the experience, the group has grown to its present organization with over thirty singers, a regular concert season and a devoted audience.
"Esprit Singers is really honoured to be accepted to perform at PODIUM! The conference is a prestigious event, and highly anticipated by choral people across Canada," says Artistic Director Valdine Anderson. "The audition process, I hear, was quite competitive too, so it’s really exciting that Esprit Singers was chosen. I think there were over 50 choirs applying and less than 15 chosen!"
The choir has collaborated with some of Canada’s top musicians including international touring organist Sarah Svendsen and Juno Award-winning pianist Corey Hamm. Esprit Singers maintains a commitment to commissioning new works for treble voices to connect with current directions in new music and stretch its choristers.
Esprit Singers prides itself on imaginative programming that appeals to its audience. While new commissions feature largely in Esprit’s concert series, traditional choral repertoire is frequently paired with the new, keeping programming interesting, fresh and thought-provoking for its audiences.
Artistic Team
Born in Winnipeg, Valdine Anderson is the Founder and Artistic Director of Esprit Singers. Valdine is world-renowned for a career that spanned over two decades as an international soprano soloist. She has worked with esteemed conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Bramwell Tovey, and Sir Simon Rattle and has presented solo recitals at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio, London's Wigmore Hall and NYC's Carnegie Hall.
An avid advocate for premiering and commissioning new works, Valdine has personally collaborated with Kaija Saariaho, Gerard Grisey, Henryk Gorecki, Witold Lutoslawski, Thomas Ades, George Benjamin, and Elliot Carter to interpret and premiere new compositions.
Valdine is a regular juror for Canada Council for the Arts, a sought-after adjudicator for provincial, national and international music competitions and new music coach. She is on faculty at the University of Manitoba as sessional voice instructor, chamber music consultant, and maintains a private voice studio. A natural extension of a solo singing career, Valdine turned to choral conducting. In addition to founding this choir in 2011, she also directs the Westworth United Church Choir.
Rachel Dyck holds Master of Music degrees from the University of Manitoba in collaborative piano and the University of Ottawa in piano performance, where she studied with Drs. Judy Kehler Siebert, Laura Loewen and Stéphane Lemelin. Her accomplishments include winning the “Amour” Competition for voice and piano with Ellen Wieser at the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers Conference, the Aikens Memorial trophy for top instrumentalist at the Winnipeg Music Festival and representing Manitoba at the National Music Festival. She has appeared as a soloist with the University of Manitoba Orchestra. Ms. Dyck has taught piano and collaborated with singers, instrumentalists and choirs.
In 2016 Ms. Dyck performed as soloist and chamber musician at the Wind Chamber concert series in Winnipeg. Recently she was heard in recital with baritone Jóhann Kristinsson at the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba and collaborated with singers at Manitoba Underground Opera’s “Arias and Earl Grey High Tea”. She currently accompanies Esprit Singers and enjoys being a Mom to three energetic children.
Esprit Singers
The choir's mission is: Creating – Collaborating – Celebrating.
Being part of the process of creating new works for upper voices has been very exciting for Esprit! For Esprit’s choristers, the discovery of a composer’s sound world and adjusting to make the new works’ text and musical nuances come to life is a unique aural and fantastic singing experience.
"For me, as a conductor, the same discoveries are happening, but bringing it together and seeing the whole picture, the creative arc that the composer intended is a fantastic journey. Similarly, interacting with the composer about details helps put such a personal commitment to the new work, and helps the choristers to feel invested personally too," says Anderson.
Esprit Singers is a Canada Council for the Arts frequent grant recipient, a National Music Festival finalist, and a Winnipeg Music Festival trophy winner. Esprit Singers is sponsored by top philanthropists in Winnipeg, and has a loyal and consistent audience following.
Earlier this month, several Esprit singers joined Winnipeg Sonora Voices to perform "A House Covered With Dawn," a new work by Toronto composer Kevin Lau, and Ola Gjeilo’s "Song of the Universal" with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Anne Manson and Valdine Anderson, respectively.
Esprit Singers presents their next concert in Winnipeg this weekend, on May 3, purchase tickets here.
Notable Choir Achievements
No stranger to touring, Esprit Singers has performed with Elektra at the Tapestry International Upper Voices Festival in Vancouver in 2015, toured Iceland in 2018, appeared at the Royal Canadian College of Organist’s Convention in London, Ontario in 2025 - and is always premiering a new commission.
Esprit Singers was honoured to be invited to perform at the Rita Menzies Tribute Concert held at the University of Manitoba Desautels Concert Hall hosted by Agassiz Chamber Music Festival last month. Rita Menzies was on the Special Advisory Board of Esprit Singers and was involved in the choir's commissions, faithfully attending the premieres.
Music Commissioned by Esprit Singers
In 2015, Esprit commissioned and premiered a 2-song cycle by Glenn Sutherland called Two Songs from the Firmament for upper voices and piano accompaniment and piano solo. Esprit’s Vancouver collaborator was the wonderful pianist, Corey Hamm.
In 2018, Esprit commissioned and premiered a 5 movement work for a cappella upper voices by David Scott called White Field, performed at Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall.
In 2025, Esprit performed a world-premiere by Vancouver composers Robyn Jacob and George Rahi for electronics, organ and upper voices called To Voice the Machine, and a 3 movement work Esprit commissioned by Winnipeg composer Neil Weisensel for upper voices and pipe organ called Incandescence.
Most recently, Esprit Singers commissioned a new piece Songs of Spring by the internationally-renowned composer Sarah Quartel. The stunning multi-movement work captures the energy, renewal, and beauty of the season, blending Sarah’s signature expressive harmonies with vibrant, lyrical melodies.
"We are honoured to have been part of bringing this beautiful piece to life and can’t wait to hear it performed by choirs everywhere! Thank you to Sarah Quartel for this extraordinary collaboration."
Written with Esprit’s dynamic sound in mind, Songs of Spring is dedicated to ‘sisters everywhere’. This three-movement work combines a number of themes through the poetry of Sara Teasdale. The first movement, ‘Sister of the Sky’, focuses on the morning in early spring, with the voices ebbing and flowing like Teasdale’s birds swept out to sea. The central movement, ‘Fearless Heart’, is alive with movement, reflecting the energy of the season, while the final movement, ‘Sing before Night’, calmly flows into evening.
Now, thanks to Oxford University Press, this exceptional work is available for choirs around the world to perform and cherish. Find the published score on Oxford University Press.
Listen to all three movements performed in May 2024 on Esprit's YouTube channel linked below:
Esprit Singers at Podium
Esprit will be performing two of its commissions at PODIUM, Sakihitowin by Andrew Balfour, commissioned in 2025 and Songs of Spring by Sarah Quartel.
Esprit will also perform two other Canadian works: Qilak by Andrew Balfour and All Together We Are Love by Katerina Gimon, both pieces they enjoy and want to showcase to the wider choral community.
Friday, May 15
10:30 am - PODIUM Concert in Phillip T. Young Auditorium, University of Victoria
1:30 pm - PODIUM Concert in Phillip T. Young Auditorium, University of Victoria
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