Ottawa Regional Youth Choir
c/o St. Joseph's Parish, 151 Laurier Avenue East K1N 6N8 Ottawa, ON, Canada

Join us! Once the lockdown is done, we look forward to hosting rehearsals again, and possible outdoors performances! Not sure about ORYC? Give us a trial run: join now for the summer to give it a test before you commit to the whole season. Message us for more information!

3rd Lockdown: Spring online and season extension The April governmental restrictions put us back into another state of isolation, but we came prepared! With the online experience solidly under our belts from the Spring 2020 and Post-Christmas 2021 lockdowns, we gave choristers a two week break from rehearsals while we solidified our scheduling changes, and aligned our restart with the week back from the public schools' spring break. With great chorister engagement, w...e rotate Tuesday gatherings with Soprano-Alto sectionals one week and Tenor-Bass the next. Although divided, this rehearsal process has proved very manageable for the online format, and also incredibly helpful, with the benefits of dedicated part-work noted after the previous restrictions had us follow a similar schedule. Other activities choristers engage in together includes the long-standing ORYC discord server and Minecraft world, a "Netflix Teleparty" planned for this weekend (comparable to the "Sunday at the Opera" zoom watch parties hosted earlier in the year), and an online Virtual Game Night planned for the future, final details TBD. Our wonderful Artistic and Management teams pair together to ensure the community and friendships are sustained between the choristers with all of these extramusical activities. Other recent developments include the decision to extend the current ORYC 2020-2021 season into the summer, at no additional cost to choristers. Should new choristers wish to join as a possible sort of "trial-run" before committing to a longer period of time, this would be a wonderful time to reach out and hop in on our activities! Please contact [email protected] for more details. The extension of the season into the summer will ensure that we can enjoy more time music-making together, hopefully in-person; with optimism that restrictions may lift in a few weeks to join together in some capacity. Should that be an available opportunity, ideas are bouncing around to have some outdoors "flashmob"-like events, and also a type of online sharing of pre-recorded selections the choir has collaborated on, much like the Virtual Coffeehouse or Musica Festum, as previously produced. For now, we will continue to embrace the continuation of our season in an online format, but really look forward to being able to be together again soon. Thank you for your continued support, and please check back here for any further updates. *photo from fall 2020, start of season*

It’s not too late to join the choir! Email [email protected] if you’re interested.

If you know, you know.

Poinsettias? Yes please! Visit ORYC.ca before November 26 to order.

Last chance to get your poinsettia! https://oryc.ca/fundraising/

Have you gotten yours yet? Only 4 more days. Deadline to order is November 26. Get yours today! Not interested in a poinsettia for your home? You can still support the fundraiser and select Donate to St. Joseph’s Parish, which is our rehearsal space and a wonderful community support, as the delivery. Www.ORYC.ca/fundraising/

The Capital Chamber Choir, who we share an office (and music director) with, is hosting some incredible online November Sessions this month. Check them out!

Work in progress... stay close!

Behind the scenes, coming soon!

What’s new? Our winter fundraiser! Only two weeks to order; but don’t wait! There’s a limited quantity. Orders come with delivery within Ottawa. Visit ORYC.ca to order and for more information. Any questions? Send us a message or email [email protected]

The ORYC is alive and well, and attempting to adapt to conform with the reality of COVID-19 restrictions. The choir is currently rehearsing in three small octet chamber choir groups to respect the 10 person limit imposed on any indoor activities. The choristers are taking the adaptation quite well; and it gives a new perspective and experience to choral singing with the altered amount of singers present. Information about upcoming activities, including virtual performances and the Annual General Meeting, will be forthcoming. We thank you for your patience as we, like all arts organizations, continue to revamp and rethink how we operate on a near weekly basis. Any questions, concerns, or inquiries about our precautionary COVID measures or general concerns can be directed to [email protected]

We miss singing, socializing, and performing for YOU!!! We can’t wait to restart all together, once it’s safe to do so following Ottawa Public Health guidelines. We are beginning our chorister plans for the fall; and can hopefully begin with small, in-person distanced groups. Take care, and we hope to sing for you again soon