The Kincardine Community Singers, a mixed-age choral group of women and men from Kincardine and surrounding area, has delighted Kincardine audiences with annual spring and Christmas concerts since 1977, when it was founded by Willa Schoffer. After 15 years of leading the group, Willa retired in 1992 and since that time, Patt Lowry has been our director. Carol Kolahon, Pat Fox, John Low and Brenda Manderson have accompanied the choir. Our accompanist for the 2017 Christmas concerts is Brenda Manderson. We often have guest musicians (instrumental or otherwise) to round out our concerts.

Membership has grown over the years from the initial small group of 15 to 20 to as many as 100 singers! While it's always beneficial if you can "carry a tune", no auditions are required for membership. A love of choral singing is a must, though! It is also important, especially when committing to any group that works towards putting on performances, to attend regular rehearsals, which are held at 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings at Knox Presbyterian Church. The Christmas 2017 concerts will be held at Knox church as usal. The music is varied: secular, popular, classical, gospel, sacred, etc., but every concert includes at least some familiar music (old favourites, perhaps from Broadway shows, movies, etc.) that our audience can relate to and, occasionally, sing along with. Typically, the concerts have a theme that wends its way through all the selections. Almost always, there is a measure or two of comedy as well! Patt Lowry always reminds us that our audience can't have a good time unless the choir has a good time. It's such a joy to see so many smiling faces in our audiences!

Dues of $30.00 per session are paid by each member, to pay for sheet music, hall rental, publicity, tickets and programs, honorariums for our director and accompanist, and various other costs associated with performances. Members are also expected to assist in selling tickets for the Concerts. Also, members of the choir sometimes attend workshops that are very beneficial for improving choral skills.

In addition to the two concerts per year, the Kincardine Community Singers are a welcome addition to the annual Hometown Christmas event in November, and have participated in many Santa Claus Parades, summer festivities (including Canada Day and Kincardine Scottish Festival), Legion events, fundraising concerts, etc. We often visit nursing homes and the hospital to sing to seniors and patients.

The choir members work hard at practices, but there is always a bit of social time for chatting with friends. New members are made very welcome, and the start of each new session is well advertised.