Quick Facts about KSS

The Karen Schuessler Singers...
... is an auditioned 38-voice mixed-voice (SATB) community choir. All members are amateur (that is, unpaid) singers. The choir is often mistaken for a professional choir.
... mounts a three-concert subscription series each year. Concerts are theme-based and performed at Wesley-Knox United Church, London, Ontario. Music is rarely repeated. Choristers learn new music for every concert.
... is governed by an eight-person board of directors and supported by a team of over 80 non-choir volunteers.
... is recognized by Canadian tax law as a charitable institution. Donations to the Karen Schuessler Singers are tax-deductible.

Karen Schuessler...
... received her musical training at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She holds a Masters Degree in Organ Performance.
... is also Director of Music at Wesley-Knox United Church, London, where she directs the church choirs and plays the organ. There is no connection between the Wesley-Knox senior choir and the Karen Schuessler Singers other than they have the same director.

KSS Milestones

September 2010: KSS launches a new website, www.kssingers.com, and updates its familiar oval logo. Its 18th full season begins.

May 2010: The River Concert: Reflections on the Thames. The concert features the choir, Don Fleckser, narrator, and two new KSS-commissioned works by London-area composer Jeff Smallman. The concert also features an art show by artists of The River Project book and a display by Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

January 2010: James Reaney and the London Free Press name the new KSS Road to Freedom CD the area’s best CD for 2009—the first time ever this award is given to a choral CD.

April 2009: KSS launches its new blog, now incorporated into this website. Concurrently, KSS appears on Facebook.

April 2009: KSS is named London’s Best Classical Choir in the 2009 Jack Richardson Music Awards.

February 2009: KSS launches its new Road to Freedom CD. This CD, a studio recording by Juno Award-winning recording engineer Kevin Doyle, features the choir, Denise Pelley, vocalist, Stephen Holowitz, piano, band, and Shannon and Bryan Prince, narrators.

May 2007: KSS director Karen Schuessler is named 2007–2008 Royal Canadian College of Organists Travelling Choral Clinician. During the year, Karen offers choral workshops in Edmonton, London, Hanover, Cobourg, Montreal and Charlottetown.

March 2007: KSS, in Toronto, performs an abridged version of Road to Freedom before her Excellency, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, at the opening of York University’s Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples.

July 2005: KSS performs Miss Gaia/Earth Mass for the London Organ Festival and National Convention of RCCO, the Royal Canadian College of Organists. This performance brings KSS to attention of choral directors across Canada.

February 2005: The first performance of the KSS Road to Freedom concert tells the story of the American slaves who found freedom in Canada via the Underground Railroad. The concert, which features the choir, Denise Pelley, vocalist, Stephen Holowitz, piano, band, and Shannon and Bryan Prince, narrators, is sold out. The concert is later performed in St. Catharines and Chatham, and a second time in London at the launch of the KSS Road to Freedom CD.

May 2003: KSS hosts a Canada-wide choral composition competition that is won by Edmonton composer Robin John King for his Wayfarers of Earth. The choir celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a gala concert.

November 2002: KSS performs the world premiere of Gerald Bales’ Benedic Anima Mea.

September 2002: KSS performs at the opening of London’s new Wolf Performance Hall.

April 2002: KSS performs the world premiere of Jeff Smallman’s KSS-commissioned St. Keverne’s Feast.

April 1996: KSS performs Missa Gaia/Earth Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, London. This special performance features liturgical dancers from London, Toronto and New York. Choreographers include Anna Douthwright from London and Carla DeSola from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City. The concert is sold out.

May 1994: KSS performs its first Missa Gaia/Earth Mass celebration of Creator and Creation with Denise Pelley and James Dundass, vocalists, Stephen Holowitz, piano, Angus Sinclair, organ, and the Missa Gaia Jazz Ensemble. The work is later performed in St. Thomas and Woodstock, and several times in Detroit. It goes on to become the choir’s signature work.

May 1993: The familiar oval-shaped logo appears. KSS, then known as the Village Singers (the name was later changed to Karen Schuessler Singers at the insistence of choir members) performs its first concert: Edward German’s Merrie England with soloists Judy Woods, Margaret Ryan, Monica Seidemann, David Troiano and Ross Doddington. Angus Sinclair is on piano. The concert is a success.