Pender Harbour Choir (PHC) has been contributing to the music scene on the Sunshine Coast for nearly forty years! Formed in 1973 by Les Fowler, this community choir includes men and women from across the Sunshine Coast, from Egmont to Gibsons, who rehearse at the Pender Harbour School of Music. The founding members who still sing in the choir—Les, Joyce Fowler and Doreen Lee—had no idea it would still be very active so many years later!
In 1973, PHC performed in the first year of another historic Coast organization, the Kiwanis Music Festival. Last spring, the choir’s performance in the 2012 Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts earned them a recommendation to advance to the provincial level, where they went on to achieve honorable mention.
Audiences will have the opportunity to celebrate with the Pender Harbour Choir and director Joy McLeod at 2012–13 fall and spring concerts. “Till We Meet Again” features music from the World War eras at 2 pm Sunday, November 11, in the Pender Harbour Community Hall, as well as Friday evening, November 9, at the Sechelt Legion.
In 2013, The Pender Harbour Choir’s 40th Anniversary Celebration Concert will take place at 2 pm Sunday, May 19, at the Pender Harbour School of Music and on Friday, May 24, 7 pm at St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Sechelt.
Originally formed with both men and women singers, the choir was also for a time a women’s ensemble directed by Gwen Hawkins. Several of the six previous directors, as well as Les and Gwen, who both still sing with the choir, will join former and current choristers for a Saturday afternoon rehearsal and social prior to the Anniversary Celebration Concert. Photographs and memorabilia from the forty-year history of PHC will be on display on concert day at the Harbour Gallery beside the School of Music.
In addition to their concerts, Pender Harbour Choir continues their well-established tradition of sing-outs at seniors’ care centres and community events. Sing-outs will be even more enjoyable for audiences across the Coast thanks to the 40th Anniversary legacy of a portable digital stage piano, the purchase made possible by a grant from the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation.