Cantando
A New Ensemble for young adults, Cantare alumni, and emerging YYC choral artists!
Rehearsals: Tuesday Nights at 7:30pm at Lutheran Church of the Cross
Conductor: Graeme Climie
Cantando (Spanish: “Singing”) is a NEW auditioned ensemble for experienced young adults which sings a mix of challenging repertoire from classics to contemporary masterworks from many genres and musical cultures. In addition to creating choral artistry, we offer a place for young artists in Calgary to share the joys of music-making with others in a similar stage of life.
*This is a mixed-voice SATB ensemble. We are welcoming new singers in ALL voice parts*
Cantando Details
Rehearsals: Standard rehearsals Tuesday Nights 7:30-9:00pm
Additional rehearsals scheduled by projectLocation: Lutheran Church of the Cross
Season Length: September-November 2025; January-June 2026 (separate summer programming)
Age Group: Young Adult (18 – 40+)
Performances: 4-6 Concerts per season + Optional Performances with Cantare
Conductor: Graeme Climie
Annual Fees: $700
CANTANDO IS PERFECT FOR YOU IF YOU ARE…
A lifelong chorister who has sung in children’s choirs, youth choirs, or university choirs.
A fan of fast-paced rehearsals and performing a variety of diverse contemporary and classical choral repertoire.
In university or a young working professional.
An aspiring professional musician looking to develop the skills and experience required to sing in paid choral ensembles.
Aged or aging out of a youth choir program, but still seeking a close-knit community environment and a top-quality musical experience.
Committed to creating artistic excellence in a collaborative environment.
Cantando FAQ
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Yes, Cantando is an ensemble for singers with an extensive choral background. If group singing is a new activity for you, we recommend you try attending Cantare Community Chorus first to work step-by-step through our rehearsal process a few times before considering a Cantando Audition
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YES! We are always looking for new singers! Complete the contact form below with your details, and we’ll reach out to you about scheduling an audition time!
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Financial burdens should never get in the way of singing in choir. We offer bursary funding to qualifying singers in need. We have a bursary committee responsible for bursary funds for the season. Apply for a bursary
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Choir Fees are due in October. Singers can pay an annual fee all at once, or pay monthly during the year!
Audition for Cantando
While we are beginning this ensemble from an excited pool of Cantare Children’s Choir alumni eager to continue their musical journey, Cantando is always accepting new singers with any musical background. We are so excited to welcome new singers into this supportive and inclusive community!
Why Did We Call It Cantando?
A bit of history…
From 2002-2016, Cantando was the name for our high school ensemble, separate from our Jr high-aged ensemble, Cantare. Cantando was born out of a young time in our organization’s history. Our choir at the time consisted of only Junior-Highschool aged singers, and reaching high-school meant looking for another choir. Cantando offered a new home for our “aged out” singers to continue to sing, work, play, and learn together.
In recent years, our understanding of The Cantare Experience has grown and changed, and we’ve embraced the incredible power of cross-generational mentorship that goes on between high school-aged singers and jr high school-aged singers in one ensemble environment. This led us to dissolve Cantando as an independent ensemble and expand Cantare’s membership to include the six year period from grades 7-12+
But there remains a need in our community… We’ve heard from plenty of Cantare alumni that there is a desire to keep singing and growing together. This newly imagined ensemble taking up the CANTANDO name offers a next step for our alumni singers and all young adults in the Calgary area who want to keep singing through early adulthood!
2025-2026 Conductor
Hi, I’m Graeme!
If Cantare Children’s Choir is familiar to you, we’ve probably met at some point! I have served as Cantare’s Assistant Director since 2020, but have been involved with the Cantare organization for 23 years since starting my journey in Cantilena in 2002.
I’ve been a professional singer for 10 years working as a freelance low bass choral artist across Canada, you’ve seen me onstage with professional ensembles like Calgary’s Luminous Voices, Rosa Barocca, Early Music Voices, Voicescapes Calgary, Edmonton’s Pro Coro Canada, or the Elora Festival Singers. I am a proud co-founding member of the Vocal Renegades Collective and Alberta’s newest professional ensemble: HAVEN.
My big passion is using music to bring people together from across Canada the world. I was one of Alberta’s representatives to the National Youth Choir of Canada for 5 years from 2017-2022, working under Dr Timothy Shantz (AB), Jeff Joudrey (NS), Dr Jean-Sebastian Vallée (QC), and I currently serve as the Bass Section Leader of the World Youth Choir. Previously appearing with the global accelerator ensemble from 2019-2025 including performance tours of Catalunya, Croatia, France, Hungary, Newfoundland, Portugal, and Slovenia under Josep Vila (Catalunya), Zoltan Pad (Hungary), Cecilia Rydinger (Sweden), and Daniel Reuss (Netherlands)
Outside of music I’m a big sports lover who has gotten a little too into following the NBA, Formula 1, and Blue Jays baseball! I love connecting with my musical family in my Calgary and Edmonton homes.
