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A great idea – Living Tribute donations to celebrate a special occasion.
The children (and son-in-law) of Senior Gold Quartet Champion, Charlie Metzger, wanted to mark his 80th birthday. In honour of Charlie’s lifetime of service to the barbershop community, this gift was made jointly on behalf of Metzin’ Around: Donya Metzger, Philip Grant, Mark Metzger, and Tom Metzger. Charlie is now listed among our Living Tributes. If you would like to honour Charlie, your gift would be welcome!
Is there someone in your chorus, quartet, or personal life celebrating a special milestone? You can honour them by selecting “Want to dedicate your gift to someone special?” on our online donation form, or by including a note with your cheque when donating by mail.
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Justin La B.Mus. (Hons), B.Ed. – 2025 Paul Tamblyn Award winner
Justin La is a music educator who has dedicated his career to transforming young lives through the power of singing, community, and creative expression. He has both a Bachelor of Music (High Honours) and a Bachelor of Education Degree. As Director of Music at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, he teaches band, guitar, musical theatre, vocal coaching, and private instruction with one central purpose: to help students discover their voice, believe in themselves, and feel at home in a musical community. Whether he is conducting a concert band, coaching a quartet, mentoring a high school singer, or producing a musical, Justin brings energy, passion, and possibility into every room he enters.
His influence extends well beyond the walls of any single school. Justin directs Acoustic Theory – a contemporary a cappella and barbershop-influenced ensemble for young adults, co-directs YXE Winds – one of the most active youth wind ensembles in Saskatoon, and performs as the BASS of the PD&J quartet – actively modelling the lifelong joy of ensemble singing. Justin also mentors and coaches Sirena – a Saskatchewan Junior Varsity treble barbershop quartet. In 2024, Sirena Quartet represented the Land O’ Lakes District at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Midwinter Convention in New York, competing in the Junior Varsity Quartet Competition. Sirena placed 8th in a field of 15 quartets.
Justin has long been a driving force behind youth barbershop in Canada. From 2018 to 2020, he co-led the Saskatchewan-based youth barbershop chorus The Prairie Chords alongside David Pearce. Under their leadership, this chorus united young singers from across the province and represented Canada at three international Midwinter Conventions: Orange County, California; Nashville, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida. These experiences gave dozens of Saskatchewan youth their first exposure to international-level harmony singing, an opportunity that shaped their confidence, artistry, and lifelong love of music.
READ MORE…
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To Sing Canada Harmony –
It is hard to put into words what the experience of participating in the World Mixed Chorus contest at BinG! meant to the members of Undercover MIX. Singing in that contest was the goal of the chorus when it was founded in 2018, and it became the ‘new’ goal after COVID cancelled the contest in 2020 and 2022.
Our ballad in the contest was When Your Feet Don’t Touch the Ground, ” and that was pretty much how we felt when we came off the contest stage. We all knew that we had given our best performance.
Thank you to Sing Canada Harmony for supporting us. Only a barbershopper would understand flying all the way to Germany to sing for 8 minutes!! It was a thrill.
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.
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Thank you from the Dukes of Kent.
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The St. John`s NL, Anchormen Chorus, Sunrise Division, Northeastern District of BHS put on a Harmony Explosion – Youth in Harmony Workshop.on April 20, 2026, at Holy Heart High School in St. John’s, NL.
The event was originally scheduled for March 30, moved to April 1 due to high school exam changes, and ultimately delivered on April 20 following a snowstorm.
The program engaged 95 youth and concluded with a public performance attended by approximately 303 people. The project improved musical skills, confidence, and collaboration, while prioritizing accessibility through a pay-what-you-can model.
105 (95 on stage for concert) youth and 4 music teachers with supporting ensembles: Anchormen (25), Newfound Sound (40), additional contributors (5). Audience: 303 with a total reach of 480+
Full-day workshop including vocal training, sectional rehearsals, ensemble integration, and public concert. Led by internationally recognised clinician Debbie Cleveland, supported by Anchormen Chorus, Holy Heart (Low Notes), and Newfound Sound.
Impact and Benefit
- Improved youth confidence and skills
- Strong community turnout
- In-kind venue support demonstrated strong partnership.
- Was featured on the provincial evening news
- Harmony Explosion 2026 has laid a strong foundation for ongoing collaboration and youth music development in NL.
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The Circle of Harmony chorus can’t thank you enough for the generous support of Sing Canada Harmony in helping us pay for coaching with the incredible Erin Howden. Your scholarship award made a huge difference to all of us.
We at Circle of Harmony Chorus are very grateful, indeed, and are thrilled to report that we placed second, overall, in the recent Lake Ontario Region 16 Sweet Adelines regional competition. We also greatly improved our scores from previous years. Sing Canada Harmony clearly put the wind in our sails!
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“Thanks to the scholarship that we received from you, Happy Together has been able to increase the amount of coaching we usually get, allowing us to improve our singing, unity, tempo, stage presence, overall sound … all the things!
“We are four friends who have been singing together for over a decade. Being from northern Ontario, we have our share of challenges when it comes to accessing coaches, who are mostly from southern Ontario. This is complicated by the fact that three of us live in Sudbury, and our baritone lives five hours away. We take advantage of the times that coaches come to work with our chorus to get quartet coaching, when possible. But lately, we have been seeking more quartet-focused coaching, more growth for us, and Zoom has been a welcome opportunity for this.
“Within the last several months, this scholarship has allowed us to have fantastic coaching sessions with Amy Patterson (by Zoom) and Robert Ross (by Zoom and in person). We know that all this knowledge, and our following through with it, is preparing us to be better singers and performers, both at contests and in the community.
“Sincere thanks, Sing Canada Harmony, from Happy Together (Area 5, Harmony Inc.)”
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Donors make a difference!
When you donate to Sing Canada Harmony, you help us to provide educational opportunities for worthy recipients across Canada.
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Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, we have proudly provided over $1,650,000 in scholarships and awards to individuals and musical groups across Canada. Your support empowers people to discover the joy of a cappella harmony and refine their musical skills.
If you are already a contributor, we thank you for your commitment. If you haven’t yet joined our efforts, you can start making a difference today by clicking the link below. You can start making a difference today.
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The next deadline for applications is September 1, 2026.
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Please help us spread the word.
Would you please help us spread the word? By sharing this newsletter with a friend, you help us reach more people and create a greater impact for Sing Canada Harmony. Together, we can continue to support musical education and bring the joy of harmony to communities across Canada.
[If you are reading a shared copy, you can subscribe to our newsletter by clicking the button below.]
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Thank you for supporting the
Sing Canada Harmony Scholarship Fund.
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