Our Music Directors

Hanna

Hanna is a teacher, a songwriter, composer, and a community-oriented individual. She believes that art is found in everyday life, and that when we learn music together we are not only learning music – we are learning through music.Hanna is a lifelong learner and has studied instruments, functional bel canto voice studies, songwriting, improvisation, solfa and pedagogy through institutions and teachers such as McMaster University, University of Toronto, Dalcroze Eurhythmics Canada, Carol Bagott-Forte, Lori Yates, and an apprenticeship with Hamilton Sings! founder Sue Crowe Connolly.

Bruce Burbidge

Bruce was born in Toronto and began his musical studies in Peterborough. While still a teenager he moved to England to pursue studies in church music, holding organ scholarships at King’s School, Rochester, Christ’s College, Cambridge and Westminster Metropolitan Cathedral. He also undertook further studies in philosophy and theology, becoming actively engaged in pastoral ministry and lecturing in philosophy for many years. Before returning to Ontario to take up the post of Director of Music Ministries at Christ’s Church Cathedral, he was Director of Music at St Andrew’s Church, Aylestone, Leicester in the United Kingdom.

Our mandate and vision

Hamilton Sings! Community Choir believes that vocal music should be accessible to all—to all who want to learn, sing and hear—and that it should reflect the diversity of our community. We welcome adults and older youth, and embrace singers of all abilities and backgrounds, including those from Hamilton’s vibrant LGBTQ2S community.

There is a wealth of knowledge and talent within the greater Hamilton community from which we can learn, teach and share, and Hamilton Sings! was formed to fill a need for the physical, social, mental, creative and spiritual benefits that come with singing in choir.

Drawing on the music of our ancestors and our contemporaries, we offer a diverse and inclusive choral program that engages a maximum of 80 members, and culminates in two annual concerts, when we share our love of singing with our wider community.


A Little Bit of History

Founded in 2013 by vocal teacher Sue Crowe Connolly, Hamilton Sings! is a non-audition choir for adults and older youth. That year, Sue invited award-winning Hanna Bech Mathieson to co-direct the choir and their combined talents produced a unique, well-rounded sound and repertoire.

From 25 original members based in Christ’s Church Cathedral, the choir grew rapidly and moved its activities to St. Peter’s Church, 705 Main St., East, Hamilton. The choir rehearsed, performed, held meetings and maintained a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, which ran the space and shared a common mandate of community building.

In 2014, members of the choir formed a steering committee to oversee administrative and fundraising activities, as well as to plan for the future. Early in 2017 the choir became a registered non-profit Ontario corporation, in March it elected its first board of directors, and in April 2018 the choir approved its new by-laws.

In 2017, Hamilton Sings! returned to Christ’s Church Cathedral for a sold-out spring concert, and did so again in 2018, attracting an audience of 300. By September 2017, 100 people had registered for membership, which then had to be capped at 80. Interest and membership in Hamilton Sings! continued to grow, along with a number of new fundraising initiatives.

In 2023, Hanna was joined by Bruce Burbidge and together they have carried the torch of the Hamilton Sings! Community Choir.