Collaborations

Commissioning of new works gives voice to Canadian composers as part of the cultural wheel that makes the arts function in Canada.  It directly supports creators, expands national repertoire, and reflects diverse Canadian stories through structured agreements and premiere performances.

Esprit Singers has become a leading advocate for Canadian composers, commissioning and premiering significant new works that enrich the national choral repertoire, championing new works that expand and enrich the repertoire for treble voices.  Below are our current commissions as well as noted ones under development.  In addition, Esprit Singers has been requested to premiere multiple works by composers and over 22 new arrangements.

Composers

We work with a composer on their choral composition, allowing the composer to hear their work performed and make adjustments and revisions with increased ease of reading, performing and enhancing.

For many composers, an electronic choral simulator is often the first or only approach to hear their compositions. An electronic choral simulator has several challenges compared to having an actual choir while composing. These simulated voices allow for accuracy of note writing, but not awareness of range limitations in the human voice, or the ability to gauge density of part-writing.

This opportunity for composers could lead to the performance of the work, offering the composer a public ‘airing’ of their music.

Esprit Singers offers composers the opportunity for a choral workshop in a limited rehearsal setting, with the goal of having the work performed at a future Esprit Singers concert. Composers can submit compositions for selection by Esprit Singer’s artistic director. The selection will be based on quality and choral specifications (i. e: length, difficulty, appropriate text, etc.) for this workshop and possible performance opportunities.

2026

In 2026, Esprit Singers was selected to perform at Podium, Canada’s premier national choral conference and festival. This prestigious biennial event represents the highest level of recognition within the Canadian choral community. The ensemble presented two a cappella concerts featuring exclusively Canadian repertoire, including four commissioned works created specifically for Esprit Singers. Among these was Songs of Spring (2024) by internationally celebrated composer Sarah Quartel, who attended both performances, and Sakihitowin by Andrew Balfour (2025). The invitation affirmed the choir’s national reputation as a champion of Canadian composition and artistic innovation.

“I can’t tell you how inspiring and meaningful it was to hear Esprit perform “Songs of Spring” at Podium. Thank you so much for taking our commission with you to Podium and for showcasing it so beautifully. I was so so thrilled with your performance and have come home joyful and thankful! What a gift. I received so many compliments on your performance. Congratulations! Please tell the choir how much their work meant to me and how thankful I am for their artistry. ”

Sarah Quartel, Composer

2024

Esprit Singers presented the world premiere of Songs of Spring by internationally sought-after Canadian composer, Sarah Quartel on Sunday, May 5th , 2024.

The commission, Songs of Spring, was funded by Trudy Blight and Remo De Sordi and is comprised of three songs forming an a cappella song cycle for treble voices. Sarah Quartel writes that the songs can be presented alone too. Anyone who has had the opportunity to sing Sarah Quartel’s work will find these three songs a fascinating glimpse into the composer’s writing as it evolves with continuous commissions and international exposure.

The texts to the songs are from three poems by the American lyric poet Sara Teasdale, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1917:

  • Sister of the Sky (from the poem Morning) – Sara Teasdale
  • Fearless Heart (from the poem May Night) – Sara Teasdale
  • Sing Before Night (from the poem Dusk in June) – Sara Teasdale

Sarah Quartel’s treatment of the poetry is as lyrical as Teasdale’s writing, resulting in music evocatively matching the imagery, and rhythms supporting the beat and flow of the text.

2022

We were thrilled to premier a three movement composition, Incandescent, by Winnipeg composer Neil Weisensel and Rachel Landrecht, librettist. The music celebrated the organ in memory of G. Barry Anderson. This was premiered on April 30, 2022 with guest organist Sarah Svendson on the Barry Anderson organ, Knox United Church, Winnipeg.

Incandescent (2022)

  1. Invocation
  2. Incarnation
  3. Incandescent

“Amazing low notes audible on the organ! The first chord that the choir sings is so powerful. I get chills listening to it The organ solo in the first movement – your guest artist Sarah Svendsen is a remarkable player. The superb quality of the choral sound is very satisfying for a composer. I had tears in my eyes watching the video.”

Neil Weisensel, Composer

“Working and co-creating with Valdine Anderson and Esprit de Choeur was a beautiful and transformative experience. After meeting and sharing our proposed concept, we were gifted with the support and freedom to create whatever wanted to flow through us.

Composer Neil Weisensel is also an organist so he was very excited to write something for Sarah Svendsen, knowing she could handle anything he asked of her. The same was absolutely true of the choir. All of these things made everything more expansive and easy to imagine.

This work is presented as an invitation for each singer to enter into sacred presence with their matriarchal, ancestrial lineage. We wanted specifically to invoke a field of welcoming, appreciation, reverence, and healing. Having each singer uniquely co-create by saying/singing the name of their mother, grandmother, or great grandmother creates a unique work every time. I had chills listening to it at the premier, and I am so honoured to have co-created this beautiful work with everyone.”

Rachel Landrecht, Librettist

2018

Esprit de Choeur was thrilled to work with Dr. David Scott. Dr. Scott is created a new choral composition to the text by a young Icelandic poet, Magnus Sigurdsson that was selected pieces premiered in Iceland on August 12, 2018

The five-movement composition is in a setting of selected poems from the collection, Cold Moons by the Icelandic writer, Magnús Sigurðsson. The text is sung in the original Icelandic dialect and in English, translated by Meg Matich.

White Field (2018)

  1. Blackbirds/Svartþrestir
  2. Agriculture/Akuryrkja
  3. Through the Dark Forest/Um Myrkurskóginn
  4. Icy Moon/Frosið tungl
  5. Day Lilies/Daglilian

Funding for this commission was provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Further support provided by Bockstael Construction Limited.

2015

World Premier : On This Late Morn

In 2015, Esprit de Choeur commissioned Vancouver composer, Glenn Sutherland, to compose two songs which were premiered by the choir in Vancouver at the Tapestry International Music Festival.

“Working with Valdine and Esprit de Choeur on their commission was a truly memorable and delightful collaboration, both personally and professionally. From initial discussions of the work’s shape with Valdine, to workshopping the piece with Esprit, through to their premiere performance – full of warmth, grace and deep feeling, to which the audience responded in kind – I remain deeply honoured to have been a part of their process of artistic creation and expression.”

Glenn Sutherland, Composer

Conductors

Valdine works with a conductor with a choice of options in a rehearsal setting:

  1. With the conductor’s choir on a mutually set number of pieces.
  2. With the conductor, privately, for a mutually arranged amount of time.

OR

  1. With Esprit Singers, after a session with option a) or b) on one specific piece. The conductor would be invited to stay and observe the remainder of the Esprit Singers rehearsal for further development.