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Music ~ Holy Family, Brampton
Music Director and Organist ~ Sergei Zhukowsky
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The Holy Family choir is a mid-size SATB group of singers with a long established tradition of achieving excellence while leading a congregation during the worship. The choir takes part at 10:30 a.m. services, as well as special services and celebrations. Choir members’ dedication towards the art of singing and willingness to work seriously on developing singing technique individually and in groups made it possible to perform in a very broad variety of musical genres: from plainsongs and chants to baroque and classical music towards very complicated contemporary sound and multi-media compositions.
Music at the service is performed in harmony either a capella or with organ accompaniment; psalms are normally sung by choir and congregation using the universal psalm tune composed by Sergei Zhukowsky, the Church’s Music Director. Under Sergei’s leadership, choir singers constantly work on their sight reading skills, music notation, elements of solfeggio, and solo and group singing technique. A few choir members take private voice lessons with professional teachers and perform with other excellent choirs, such as Brampton Festival Singers, BSO Chorus.
When music dictates, the choir invites and performs with additional string, brass or woodwind instruments (All Soul's Requiem Mass with a double bass solo; Remembrance service with a trumpet solo, etc.). The Holy Family Choir always welcomes new members: people who are fond of music and want to share their gift of singing or those who want to discover and develop such a gift to worship the Lord with the Church of the Holy Family.
Holy Family’s Organ
The organ is a year older than the parish. It was built in 1978 by Hellmuth Wolff (www.orgelwolff.com), a Swiss-born organ builder, who started his apprenticeship in his native country and then moved to
Quebec
, where he worked initially with Casavant Frères, one of the leading organ builders in the world. In the mid-1960s he started his own business which continues to this day. Each instrument the company makes is unique, with its own tone and feel.
The organ was in St. James’ Cathedral in
Toronto
, All Saints Cathedral,
Halifax
and the Church of the Redeemer,
Toronto
, before it came to Holy Family in the late 1980s.
Ours is a “positif” organ; apart from the pump providing the air flow, all actions are mechanical, not electrical. In March, 2010 this instrument was complete by its original maker with installation of an additional stop (56 pipes – 8’ Cromorne). Now it has 7 sets of pipes (known as “stops”), a single “manual” (i.e. keyboard) and a 30-note pedal board. It has no “swell” (an enclosed box with louvres to permit loud and soft playing by opening and closing the louvres), so that all differences in volume and tone come from the selection of stops.
The keys are of cherry wood, so that the “white” keys are in fact dark brown, with the “black” keys being a darker brown.
The Choir of the Holy Innocents
Formed in 2009, the Choir of the Holy Innocents is the children's choir of Holy Family. Named after the first martyrs for Christ, the Choir's mission is to enhance the worship in the church and raise awareness for children's issues, both locally and abroad. They sing from a wide variety of styles and genres, from Gregorian Chant, to Mozart, to The Beatles. Liturgies they have sung for include Advent Lessons and Carols, Stations of the Cross, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday. At the end of each rehearsal the choir recites the following prayer: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, whose children suffered at the hands of Herod, receive, we pray, all innocent victims into the arms of your mercy. By your great might frustrate all evil designs and establish your reign of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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