BCCF Hall of Fame

The BCCF would like to honour those listed below who have contributed so generously to the choral landscape in BC.

2011

JEAN DUNPHY - Herbert Drost Award
Nominated by Judith Hirczy, Joanne Corwin, Betty Macnaughton

Presented on May 21 at the Chorfest Banquet in Prince George BC JEAN DUNPHY has been involved in the Victoria choral scene for the last two decades, not only as an enthusiastic choral singer, but also as able administrator who served in practically all capacities of a choir board.

• helped organize and participated in two extensive choral tours abroad (to Hong Kong, China, andAustria/Germany;
• participated in and organized several choir retreats and performing tours around the province;
• saved a choir twice from disintegration;
• instigated and helped organize fundraising events to enable financially less fortunate choir members to participate in choral events;
• established a bursary fund for singers to help with membership fees;
• instigated an award for best school choir at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival;
• sang with several other choirs whenever the need for an additional alto became evident;
• participated in several BCCF ChorFests and workshops;
• helped with administrative duties at various BCCF workshops;
• organized several in‐choir vocal workshops;
• maintained excellent relations between conductors/accompanists and choral singers;
• supported and continues to support choral performances in Victoria, through concert attendance

 2010

• JOHN TREPP - WILLAN AWARD - Born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota on January 28, 1941, "JT" came from a humble home, as the son of Merlin M. and Mabel J. Trepp. He was educated in "Catholic mode" at St. Benedict's Mission, Assumption Abbey HS and St. John's University (USA). After teaching for two  years in N. Dakota and one year in Alaska, John accepted the choral music assistantship scholarship at the University of Montana where he studied with Dr. Lloyd Oakland and Dr. J.A. Mussulman, author of Dear People, the biography of Robert Shaw. He taught at Chinook High School, Billings Senior High School and Northern Montana College prior to becoming the Senior Choral Editor for Hal Leonard Publishing. John moved to Vancouver in Dec. 1976 to work with Northwest Musical Services and started teacher at Magee in September 1977.
   
• LEN LYTHGOE – HERBERT DROST AWARD - Len Lythgoe has a lengthy and distinguished career as a music educator and choral director in British Columbia. His dedication to choral excellence and music education has had a profound effect on countless choral singers through B.C., both young and old.  As a high school music teacher for 25 years, he influenced and encouraged many young singers to pursue a professional career in music, and instilled a lifelong love of choral music in all his students. Later in his career he continued to guide young musicians in their own teaching careers as a UBC Music Faculty advisor. Mr. Lythgoe also was a dedicated church musician, and several church choral programs thrived under his leadership. His passion for choral music and singing led him to other pursuits, such as founding the Amy Ferguson Institute  in Nelson BC in 2001, an organization that continues to promote choral and vocal music in the West Kootenays.

  Len Lythgoe started his music career in 1952 teaching elementary school music, and continues to this day as Director of the Brock House / Kerrisdale Seniors Choir. His career has encompassed acting as the Music Director in seven churches and six public schools. He took two high school choirs on tours to Europe, and was tour manager for the Vancouver Cantata Singers European tour in 1998. He was a Music Faculty Associate / Advisor at two BC universities (Simon Fraser and UBC), and has been the Choral Director at Courtenay Youth Music Camp, conducted the first North American performance of Lloyd Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”, was the Co-Chair of the production committee for ‘Voices United’ – the current hymnbook of the United Church, was the proprietor of Lenel Music Publishing.
   

• DENIS DONNELLY  - HERBERT DROST AWARD - Denis was born in Edinburgh and came to Canada at the age of three. He grew up mainly in the Victoria/Sidney area and lived in Nanaimo during his high school years.  He had a keen interest in music from a very young age and it has been the motivating force throughout his life.  His experience in his high school choir, under the leadership of Jim Johnson (a BCCF award winner a few years ago), was pivotal and set him on a course of life-long participation in the choral world, either as a singer or as a choir director – and in the last decade, as an arranger of choral music for both community and auditioned choirs.  He has also been involved in leading a variety of singing workshops throughout the past several years.

  He studied music at the University of Victoria which he completed with a Bachelor of Music Degree (with Distinction), thus putting a firm theoretical base to his formerly “ear-oriented” music. For 15 years he was Director of the 1,500-student Victoria Conservatory of Music, leaving in 1999 in order to pursue his own musical callings.
  Denis sings and plays guitar, Irish harp, Renaissance lute, and piano and  has been associated with a number of choirs as arranger and conductor: He is co-director (with Shivon Robinsong) of the 400 voice Gettin’ Higher Choir, an non-auditioned community choir, as well as director of Soundings, a 29-voice auditioned vocal ensemble.
  He is also in demand as a workshop leader where he brings his love of community singing to people who may or may not have any prior choral experience. Denis’ choral arrangements are ideally suited to community choirs, and increasingly are being sung by such groups.

  In addition, he started a Community Choir Leadership Training program in 2003/04 with the goal of instructing and inspiring people who wish to begin and run non-auditioned choirs. This is a three-week comprehensive training program to give participants the tools, experiences, and repertoire needed to start or further develop their own community choir.  Graduates of the Program are now all over North American and beyond, spreading the joy of group harmony with accessible music and an “alternative” approach to choirs.

  True to his beliefs, his choirs "Sing when Asked To": for community events and fundraisers, for the international Ubutu choir model, for environmental causes. Denis is a musician through and through and has contributed hugely towards bringing choral music to the Victoria scene.
  
  

• TONY BOOKER – HERBERT KENT AWARD - Tony Booker has a very specific musical presence in Victoria since the early nineteen-eighties. As music graduate of UVic, he was taught by 'B.C.'s Finest': from Jon Washburn and Bruce Pullan in Vancouver to Michael Gormley, Bruce More, and George Corwin in Victoria. His longhaired and bearded presence seemed to stand out at choral performances at the UVic's Farquhar Auditorium and the Philip T. Young Performance Hall, in the bass section, on piano or in the organ loft. He worked/works with singers of the UVic Chorus either as vocal coach for the soloists or as conductor.

  As 'slavophile', he joined and conducted the Victoria Balalaika Orchestra and arranged Russian music for their specific instrumental needs. As member of the quartet 'Jamshed', he indulges in his love for Eastern European and Russian music.
  He taught music at Pearson College, was choir leader and organist at St. Mary's Saanichton Church before taking on the position as organist and choir    leader at St. Michael and All Angels Church in Saanich.

  In 1997 he formed a choral group, Voces Intimae, composed of semi-professional vocalists and instrumentalists, specifically to performa three concerts of eclectic music annually, from Bach, slavonic music, to new works of contemporary Victoria composers. Voces Intimae draws singers who enjoy the challenge of commitment towards choral excellence, which is expressed in their excellent performances of classical music.

  This ponytail & bearded musician has made his mark in Victoria and beyond, and taught and influenced whole generations of choral singers with his musical/choral expertise. In my opinion, he well deserves 'official' recognition by BCCF in the form of the Herbert Kent Award 2010.
   

• EILEEN COOPER -  AMY FERGUSON AWARD - Eileen Cooper is a fine singer and choral conductor. Recently retired after 30 years of teaching choral music and mathematics in the Victoria area, her excellent work with adolescents in both concert choir and jazz choir has been widely recognized. BC Music Educators' Association  has recognized her with a lifetime teaching award excellence in Secondary School teaching, and her choirs have been awarded many gold level achievement awards at provincial and national festivals. Eileen is currently director of music at St. Dunstan's Anglican Church in Victoria, where she conducts an adult choir and a youth choir. She sets high standards and works tirelessly to achieve them. The youth singers all get individual singing lessons in addition to weekly choir rehearsals.This choir of 9 singers sings three and four part mixed voice repertoire that is challenging, and sings them well! The blend and attention to detail are remarkable for such a small ensemble. The same is true for the adult choir. The hallmarks of Eileen's work are musical integrity, diligence and patience.

2009

• JACK T RUSH - HERBERT KENT AWARD - Jack T Rush joined St. Philip’s  Anglican Church Choir at age 17 and continued to sing with them until just short of his 90th birthday. Jack was  active in sports, enjoyed improvising at the piano, and was active in many church activities. He still had time for other interests such as gardening, wine making and spending time at his Saturna Island Cabin.

Jack Rush was born in Liverpool, England in 1918, the youngest of five children whose father was a sea captain. The family emigrated to Vancouver in 1924. He  obtained B.A and M.A. at UBC and later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. During World War II he was a  meteorology instructor in  the RCAF. He  taught French , Latin and German at Lord Byng High for 21 years and was vice-Principal in three Vancouver Secondary schools until retirement in 1984.
Nominated by members of the St. Philip's Anglican Church Choir

• DR GARY FROESE - AMY FERGUSON AWARD - Garry Froese received his musical education in Canada and the United States. His interests have led him to earn degrees in a variety of areas including voice performance, music education, arts administration, and choral conducting. He has studied with a number of well-known conductors including Lloyd Pfautsch, Elmer Thomas, and Helmut Rilling. He has taught in Winnipeg and San Diego CA . Since coming to Victoria he has served as Head of Fine Arts and Choral music at Glen Lyon Norfolk School, as well as instructing voice majors and conducting the Victoria Conservatory of Music Chorale. He has been conductor of the Linden Singers since 2008 where his gentle manner and highly effective techniques have been enthusiastically recognized.

• RYKIE AVENANT - JOYCE O. MAGUIRE AWARD -
  “Rykie Avenant is an accompanist extraordinaire - not only for technique and musicality but for “ears” – being able to assist the ensemble with “part support” where needed while rehearsing– a special gift experienced with only the best accompanists. In addition, her complete knowledge of languages and pronunciation, mastered while working as an opera répétiteur  in South Africa, is of great assistance to any choir. Ms. Avenant is knowledgeable  in repertoire, performance styles and has skill in tasteful programming.  Rykie is pleasant to work with, animated and has class.”
  Nominated by Peter Yelland, Don James, Arlene McIntyre, Christine Dandy
  Ursula P. Thomas

In Vancouver, Ursula was soloist and accompanist for many CBC Radio broadcasts and for fifteen years pianist for the CBC School Broadcasts. She was also a teacher of piano, voice, and organ at the Provincial School for the Blind where she trained the only blind children's choir in Canada.   She served as  Organist at Dunbar Heights and Chown Memorial United Churches and was an adjudicator for Music Festivals across BC. Rehearsal accompanist for Theatre Under the Stars, and accompanist for the Vancouver Kiwanis Male Choir.

After moving to Victoria, Ursula was organist at First United and subsequently Metropolitan United and accompanist for the Crystal Singers.   In 2008 Ursula entered her 24th year as accompanist for the Arion Male Voice Choir. She is also Music Director at McCall Brothers Funeral Chapels.
 

2008

• Elizabeth Wolak - Herbert Drost Award - A choral conductor and teacher in BC for 45 years, Elizabeth Wolak has inspired countless choristers, accompanists, and students. She organized and conducted the Jewish Community Choir of Vancouver, Temple Sholom Choir, Schara Tzedeck Choir, and the Shiron Singers. These choirs presented Jewish choral music at Kiwanis BC Music Festivals, Expo 86, many BCCF multi-faith programs, Canadian Folk Society, CNIB, Louis Brier home for the Aged, hospitals, retirement homes, the Jewish Community Centre, the Chan Centre, and synagogues in Vancouver and Victoria. Her choirs have made three recordings. Mrs. Wolak received the Amy Ferguson Award in 2006. Her community and volunteer endeavours in promoting and presenting Jewish choral music in BC warrants recognition with the Herbert Drost Award.
• Connie Foss More - Amy Ferguson Award - Victoria is indeed blessed to have in our midst a musical personality with the stature of Connie Foss More. In the Victoria area, her name has become synonymous with VIVA Choirs for the past 20 years. Connie has also been a central figure in the education of music teachers in Victoria, having enriched the lives of many BC music educators through her Kodály workshops and courses over the past thirty years. Since founding the Greater Victoria Youth Choir in 1988, in affi liation with the Victoria Conservatory of Music and a parent board, she has become ‘the’ authority in vocal instruction based on her deep belief that a thorough foundation must be given before trying to build the superstructure. Her natural ability to communicate with children made the youth choir, which has been renamed ‘VIVA, Victoria Youth Choirs Society’ in 1994, an award-winning choral group both locally and internationally. With endless enthusiasm and energy, Connie Foss More coaches treble-voiced children and singers with changing and changed voices between the ages of six and sixteen. The focus is on music education rather than just mere entertainment, and regular attendance at rehearsal and performance is expected from the young singers, as is participation in hosting choral groups from abroad and touring programmes which lead the young singersaround the world. It can be stated with proud conviction, that, since Connie Foss More’s arrival in Victoria in 1973, the training of musically gifted youngsters has fundamentally changed!
• Laurie Walker - Amy Ferguson Award - For 40 years Laurie Walker has been and continues to be an exemplary choral director, teacher and singer who gives of himself to challenge and inspire youth and adults to achieve choral excellence. His professionalism, youthful energy, knowledge of music, flexibility and understanding create an atmosphere which fosters learning and confi dence. As the Music Director of the Arion Male Voice Choir, the Crystal Singers and the Avalon Singers, Laurie instills the members with his enthusiasm and love of music, as evidenced by their successful performances and their growing reputations and audiences. Laurie’s choirs are invited to perform in retirement homes, at community events including the Remembrance Day Service at the B.C. Legislature, and in numerous benefi t concerts for foundations, charities and churches. Laurie deserves this award in recognition of his lifelong dedication to choral teaching and direction which have allowed hundreds of singers to experience success.
• Wendy Stofer - Joyce O. Maguire Award - The Board and members of the Victoria Choral Society wish to nominate Wendy Stofer for the Joyce O. Maguire Award. Wendy became the Choral Society accompanist in 1992. She is an accomplished musician, accompanying with accuracy anything she is asked to play and often without prior notice. Wendy plays full scores, while assisting a section with notes or a phrase through a diffi cult passage. Her keen ear listens for pitch problems and helps the conductor identify incorrect notes or timing. On several occasions during the absence of our director Wendy has taken rehearsals and performances herself. If she is not seated at the piano, she sings in the soprano section. Wendy’s unassuming manner and ready smile are always present and we consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate to have such a high calibre pianist as part of our choir.
• Barry De Silva - Herbert Kent Award - For twenty years, the city of Maple Ridge and surrounding communities have enjoyed and benefi ted from Barry De Silva’s passion for music. Barry created community choirs: Maple Ridge Chorfest, Jazztacy, Giovane and Kid Sing, who are dedicated to helping those in need. With each choir member’s volunteered efforts (including Barry’s) they have raised and given to a variety of local charities, in excess of $75,000. During these 20 years Barry has directed church choirs, composed original pieces, written scores and performed for a local high school drama department. In 1998 Barry arranged music which won the competition for the BC Summer Games theme song (Reach for the Stars) and then directed Maple Ridge Chorfest at the BC Summer Games hosted by Maple Ridge. This will be Barry’s fi nal year for all choirs; he will be leaving a legacy behind that cannot be fi lled by many. For those of us who have had the pleasure of singing with him and enjoyed his unselfish talents, he will be greatly missed but never forgotten.
• John Wilkinson - Herbert Kent Award - John has been a key player in the BC choral community for over 25 years and has been instrumental in adding both the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir and the Vancouver Orpheus Male Voice Choir to the BC choral scene during this time. In 1980, John was one of three principal founding members of the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir. This choir has now grown to a group of more than 100 singers who have performed in the United States, Europe, Australia and Russia as well as in every province across Canada. Then, in 1992, John founded the Vancouver Orpheus Male Voice Choir, who have since grown to about 50 members. Both choirs are very active in the local choral scene – each performs at least twelve concerts a year and together have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable causes. Combined over the years the two choirs have brought the joy of choral music to well over a hundred thousand people across Canada. John has served as president of both choirs and in various other official capacities across the years. Through his initiative and leadership, BC can proudly boast two prestigious male choirs.
• Jack T. Rush - Herbert Kent Award - We believe Jack T. Rush deserves the Herbert Kent Award for the following reasons: He has sung in this choir for nearly 70 years. He joined the choir at age 17 and, except for two or three years in the RCAF and one year on teachers exchange in England, he has continued to sing with us to now, one month before his 90th birthday! He sings with enthusiasm, joy, beautiful tone, and accurate pitch, blending well with the other voices. He has sung a variety of styles of church music – plainchant, Anglican chant, renaissance, Victorian, 20th- and 21st-century including popular styles. He is willing and able to sing bass or tenor as needed. He has an excellent attendance record, maintained by commitment and good health. His welcoming, pleasant attitude is appreciated by his choir colleagues.
• Carrie Tennant - Malcolm McDonald Youth Achievement Award - Carrie Tennant (Nominated by the BCCF Youth Council) A dedicated choral musician at the early stages of her career, Carrie has established herself as a leader in the burgeoning fi eld of youth choirs. Since taking on the choral position at Maple Ridge Secondary School in 2002, Carrie’s choirs have repeatedly garnered top honours in regional and national festivals in Canada and the United States. Now also on the faculty of the Coastal Sound Music Academy, where she leads the Youth Choir, Carrie is known for her energetic and creative approach to working with youth. Away from school, she sharpens her leadership skills as volunteer chairperson of the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival and BC Honour Vocal Jazz Choir.

2007

• Darryl Downton - Herbert Drost Award
• Carolyn Duerksen - Amy Ferguson Award
• Maureen Nielsen - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Roberta D. Barlow - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Muriel Morris - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Pat Lindberg - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Thomas Kidd - Malcolm McDonald Youth Achievement Award

2006

• Ron White - Herbert Kent Award
• Pam Hiensch - Herbert Kent Award
• Bruce More - Herbert Drost Award
• Ramona Luengen - Herbert Drost Award
• George Corwin - Herbert Drost Award
• Ray Horst - Herbert Drost Award
• Elizabeth Wolak - Amy Ferguson Award
• Peter Yelland - Herbert Drost Award
• Hussein Janmohamed - Malcolm McDonald Youth Achievement Award
• Marjorie Close - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Stephen Smith - Joyce O. Maguire Award

2005

• Judith Hirczy – Herbert Drost Award
• Donna Goodwin–Wilson - Joyce O. Maguire Award
• Brigid Coult - Amy Ferguson Award
• Rose Loewen – Amy Ferguson Award
• Elizabeth Scott – Amy Ferguson Award

2004

• Philip Wallbank - Herbert Drost Award
• Mavis Weston - Herbert Drost Award
• Mary d'Isendoorn - Herbert Drost Award
• Beverley Medford - Herbert Drost Award
• Marilyn Brodie - Amy Ferguson Award
• Gloria Brooks - Amy Ferguson Award
• Carol Anne Parkinson - Amy Ferguson Award

2003

• James L. Johnson - Herbert Drost Award
• Gillian Wildler - Herbert Drost Award
• Grace Dunford - Amy Ferguson Award
• Janice Brunson - Amy Ferguson Award
• Marion Owens - Herbert Kent Award

2002

• Melita Miller - Herbert Kent Award
• Nancy Hollmann - Amy Ferguson Award

2001

• Bruce Pullan - Amy Ferguson Award
• Audrey Fricker - Herbert Kent Award