The Peninsula Singers won 2nd place in the 2008 & 2009
Peninsula News Review's annual compeitition
Best Live Performance category!

Artistic Director:
Glenda Korella
This Christmas marks Glenda Korella's 10th anniversary as musical director of the Peninsula Singers.   After moving from Calgary in 1998, Glenda began singing with the chorus, feeling that she “really needed music in her life at that time”.  In the spring of 2001, she took over conducting the Peninsula Singers. Under her leadership, the Singers have become a well-regarded show chorus, including choreography, costumes and humour in all their shows.  As well, Glenda moved the Singers' concerts from a Sidney church to Mary Winspear Centre--becoming the first entertainers to walk the stage of Winspear. The very popular "Spotlight on a Young Artist" is another Glenda innovation. "Music is my passion," says Glenda.  "And it's exciting for me to see the positive and uplifting effect music has on the Chorus as well as our audiences." Framed on the wall of Glenda's music studio are the words: “Music lifts the spirit and brings joy to the soul”.

Spotlight on Young Artist:
Philip Manning
on Violin

Philip Manning comes to the Peninsula Singers with an impressive resume that already includes two performances with the Victoria Symphony first as winner of the 2010 Symphony Splash (to an audience of 42,000), under Maestra Tania Miller, and second in 2007 as winner of the Symphony’s Young Musician’s Showcase.  In October 2010 he performed with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, under Maestro Norman Nelson, as winner of the Don Chrysler Concerto Competition.  In May 2008, Philip won the Roberto and Mary Wood Scholarship Competition and also represented BC at the National Music Festival with his piano trio “Trio Tesoro”.  In 2007, Philip was the winner of the Louis Sherman Concerto Competition, and performed with the Victoria Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Yariv Aloni.  Philip has received numerous additional awards and scholarships for solo. His violin playing has been described as “very mature and beyond his years, … virtuosic and with a high attention to detail”.  Philip is currently studying violin performance with Ann Elliot-Goldschmid at the University of Victoria. He is a founding student member of the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Collegium Programfor Gifted Young Musicians, from 2006-2009.  Mr. Manning has had master classes with Pinchas Zukerman, Jonathan Crowe, Jasper Wood, Marc Destrube, Moshe Hammer, John Kadz, Gwen Thompson and Sergio Luca.  He is a native of Victoria.

Accompanist:
Jeanne Campbell

FTCL, ARCT, A.Mus- Her teachers were Edward Parker, Robin & Winifred Wood, Alma Brock-Smith and Nora Bulman. Formerly a faculty member for 20 years at the Victoria Conservatory of Music teaching piano, vocal coaching for the Camosun Program and accompanying. After leaving the Conservatory she taught at St. Margaret’s School and Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. Through her career, she made several tours in Canada, the United Staates and the United Kingdom, serving as accompanist and soloist. In addition to the Peninsula Singers, Jeanne plays for The Esterhazy Ensemble, The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, and is Accompanist/ Relief Conductor for the Greater Victoria Police Chorus. She serves as piano adjudicator for various festivals throughout B.C. Also a visual artist, her paintings are shown at the Madrona Gallery in Victoria.

Tom Watson, Master of Ceremonies

Peninsula Singers and Glenda are delighted to welcome Tom Watson to our stage.  He comes to us with a resume filled with experience on both sides of the camera, as an actor, an advertising spokesperson, a videographer and a photographer.  Tom has produced and directed commercial and industrial video/TV productions as well as educational movies for public education. One of his proudest moments was playing the part of a school principal in a National Association for Education ad.  Tom has also acted in a number of movies and television specials, “Saturday Night with Connie Chung.”  And he is no stranger to the stage, having played a number of roles, including that of Charlie Cowell, the anvil salesman who tries to expose Professor Harold Hill in “The Music Man.”  Tom and wife Nancy established the successful Eagle Media Company in Sacramento in the 80s, which included much-acclaimed photos of the famous and the ordinary, everyone looking very good.  He and Nancy now reside in Tom’s hometown, Sidney, BC where they continue to take beautiful photos of some of us, famous and not-so famous. 

The Chorus:
The Peninsula SIngers

This show choir has been performing to sold-out concerts in the Sidney, B.C. area  for over 30 years, entertaining audiences with an eclectic and wide-ranging repertoire. The “Singers” cover music ranging from Broadway show tunes to spirituals, from rock-n-roll to hymns. At their Christmas concerts, traditional as well as modern carols are featured.  And for their spring concerts, Artistic Director Glenda Korella chooses compelling themes around which the songs are chosen.  We've saluted Canada, the British Isles & Ireland,  travelled "Around the World in 80 Days," celebrated "All You Need Is Love" and....for spring of 2012 we'll  look at the chapters in each person's life in "The Long and Winding Road." Says Lynda Spence, a nine-year veteran, "I enjoy being able to participate in choral music with its rich harmonies, challenging rhythms and varying moods. Glenda’s sense of humour makes it all fun, and we leave the stage with a sense of euphoria and a job well done."

We are an eclectic group. Many of us have moved here from all parts of Canada, particularly Ontario; and from England, Scotland, Germany and the United States.  In our ranks we number a brigadier general, a former vet, a piano teacher, an investment counselor, a geologist, a former treaty negotiator with the Dept. of Indian Affairs, a banker, a professor of nursing and several authors including one who writes romance novels.  We are teachers, former school principals, an oceanographer, a research scientist with Fisheries & Oceans and a professor from the UVic Faculty of Education. As well, our chorus includes a chartered accountant, a bookkeeper, a certified organic farmer and one owner of a marina.  We are parents and grandparents.

Members of the Chorus are drawn from the Greater Victoria area and most are amateur singers, with some semi-professionals in the ranks.  The Chorus is auditioned; they commit concert repertoire to memory.
 As part of their commitment to music in the Peninsula, the Chorus offers a hand up to young and talented artists from the Greater Victoria area, giving these future stars the chance to perform in front of our audiences. In the "Spotlight on a Young Artist," violinists, cellists, coloratura sopranos, ballerinas and pianists have all taken their place alongside the Singers, many of these youngsters going on to full-fledged professional careers.