​Kincardine Community Singers to be featured on CBC Canada Day special

The Kincardine Community Singers were resplendent in their red-and-white as they gathered at Knox Presbyterian Church, Wednesday night, to sing the Canadian national anthem.

The performance was being videotaped and submitted as part of the CBC Canada Day special.

With Liz and David Dadson of the Kincardine Record filming, the choir sang once with Brenda Manderson on the piano, and a second time accompanied by Manderson and the band, including Steve Deer on guitar, Debb Marks and Diane Wall on trumpet, Mike Smith on drums, and Karen Weber on bass.

“We are so thrilled to be part of the CBC Canada Day coverage this year,” said choir director Patt Lowry. “The arrangement we sing is by Stephen P. Barnicle, and it's quite unique. The band parts are written by our talented band members, themselves.”

The request for videos of the choir singing “O Canada,” came from Andrew Kitchen, associate producer, working on the CBC Canada Day TV special.

“I was tasked with finding choirs from across the country, preferably smaller community-type choirs, and I started searching on Google,” he told the Kincardine Record.

“The Kincardine Community Singers were on the first page of my Google results, and when I listened to a few of their performances, I knew straight away that this group had talent, commitment, and national pride. You can tell they're part of the fabric of a closely-knit community. Plus, they have a great sound!”



The Kincardine Community Singers perform “O Canada” with the band, as seen from the balcony

Kitchen said the CBC has so much content that focuses on major city centres, but the heartbeat of Canada still thumps away in the smaller communities, where neighbours all know each other.

“My grandmother is 90 years old,” he said. “She was born and raised in Glencoe, Ontario, and she can still recite three generations of any family name from Middlesex County - bless her heart. Admittedly, I've never been to Kincardine, but I can only imagine that is the type of community you have.”

“This is so exciting,” said choir president Maria Riggin. “When the associate producer contacted us, we said absolutely, we could do this! And we have such a great turn-out tonight!”

The CBC Canada Day special will be a full day of programming, airing from coast-to-coast-to-coast, said Kitchen.

And if you watch closely, you may see some familiar faces from Kincardine!



The Kincardine Community Singers perform “O Canada” with piano accompaniment only; video by David Dadson



The Kincardine Community Singers, with director Patt Lowry (centre), accompanist Brenda Manderson (left) and band members, Wednesday night, at Knox Presbyterian Church, Kincardine