First project · April 2027
A new professional choir is forming in the Annapolis Valley.
A project-based ensemble for experienced singers and strong sight readers, based in Wolfville and New Minas.
Who
Singers 18+ with a strong choral background
Where
Wolfville and New Minas, and open to anyone willing to travel
How often
At least two projects a year, scheduled around singer availability
Cost
No fee to sing
The idea
A choir that begins where most rehearsals end.
A new chamber choir is being formed of experienced, independent singers, based in the Wolfville and New Minas area of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. The choir will launch as a semi-professional ensemble, with the goal of becoming a fully professional choir within its first year.
Rather than a weekly commitment, the choir will be project-based: a concentrated set of rehearsal days followed by a short concert tour. Singers will prepare on their own, and the time spent together in rehearsal goes to phrasing, blend and interpretation. The goal is to present at least two projects a year, planned around the availability of singers.
There is no fee to join the choir. In place of dues, singers may be asked to take part in fundraising activities and to help sell concert tickets.
Who we are looking for
Built on sight reading.
This choir is being built on one foundation: a room full of strong sight readers. When every singer reads fluently and comes to rehearsal fully prepared, a project can move from first reading to concert in a handful of days, and every minute of rehearsal can be spent making music.
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01
A strong choral background
Real experience in auditioned, collegiate, or professional ensembles, and a voice that blends and carries a line with confidence.
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02
Strong, reliable sight reading
You can open an unfamiliar score and sing your part accurately at first reading, holding your own line against three others.
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03
Independent preparation
Scores go out well ahead of each project. Singers learn their music on their own and arrive at the first rehearsal with their part fully prepared.
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04
Availability and a willingness to travel
Singers must be 18 or older and able to get to the Wolfville and New Minas area for rehearsal days and to join the concert tour.
If that describes you, we would like to hear from you.
The first project
Two dates to hold.
The choir's first season opens with a reading session in November and culminates in a spring concert series alongside a fellow Valley ensemble.
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Saturday 28 Nov 2026
Reading session
A first read-through: meet the other singers, meet the repertoire, and set the tone for the project ahead.
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Mid to late Apr 2027
Concert series with the CONDUIT Chamber Choir
A collaboration with the CONDUIT Chamber Choir, a project-based treble choir also based in the Annapolis Valley, for a series of concerts across the region.
How to join
Accepting applications now.
At this time, there is no plan to hold individual auditions. Instead, singers are invited to apply and tell us about their choral experience, their voice and their reading abilities. Singers chosen to take part in the first project will be notified by email.
Open to singers 18+
Artistic director
Andrew Cranston
Andrew Cranston is a conductor, educator and tenor based in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. In 2023 he founded the CONDUIT Chamber Choir, and that same year became Artistic Director of the Middleton Choral Society. He served as Resident Conductor of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir in 2024 and 2025, and has been invited to guest conduct choirs across the region.
Andrew is a passionate advocate for Canadian choral music and unaccompanied singing, which lies at the heart of his work with CONDUIT. He considers himself as much an educator as a conductor, and is in demand as a workshop leader for singers of all ages.
During sixteen years in Newfoundland, Andrew and his wife, Beth, founded the Coastal Sounds Choir Association in 2007. As its Artistic Director until 2021, he led the Coastal Sounds Community Choir, the Aurora Women’s Choir and a range of project-based ensembles. He also directed the Anchormen Barbershop Chorus, served as Music Director at Topsail United Church, and was Assistant Conductor of the Memorial University Chamber Choir. As Assistant Conductor of the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, he conducted the ensemble at Carnegie Hall in 2014.
A sought-after tenor, Andrew has sung with many of Atlantic Canada’s leading choirs, including the Halifax Camerata Singers, the Philharmonic Choir of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Nova Voce, where he was also Assistant Conductor. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University and a master’s degree in choral conducting from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he studied with Doug Dunsmore, Kellie Walsh, Don Buell and Mark David. At Memorial he also completed the Graduate Programme in Teaching with Ki Adams and Andrea Rose. He is delighted to be making music in the Annapolis Valley, and proud to be part of its choral community.