InterVarsity Choral Festival

The InterVarsity Choral Festival (IVCF) is an annual event in which university choirs from Ontario and Quebec, Canada, meet up and perform a combined concert. The festival is hosted and held on a rotational basis by the member choirs. In 2007, IVCF was hosted by the University of Western Ontario Choir in London, Ontario. In 2008, the University of Ottawa will host. In 2009, the Hart House Chorus (at the University of Toronto) will host.

Note: "The InterVarsity Choral Festival is also an annual event in which members of university choirs in Australia meet up for two weeks (comprising a one week residential camp followed by one week hosted in homes of local choristers) to rehearsal for and then perform in 1 or 2 "massed" combined concerts. The festival is similarly hosted on a rotational basis (a 7 year cycle through capital cities of Australia). In 1997 the festival was renamed the Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival for publicity reasons. Subsequent festival have used this name or a numbered sequence e.g. 59th Intevarsity Choral Festival or host cities name e.g. Sydney Intervarsity Choral Festival (2008)."

Further information can be found on the AICSA (Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association) [http://www.aicsa.org.au website] . The next festival will be held in Sydney in January 2008, information [http://www.siv.org.au here]

History of Canadian IVCF

The InterVarsity Choral Festival was founded in 1949 by the NFCUS (National Federation of Canadian University Students) who suggested that there be a regular competitive music festival in Ontario. The solution was a yearly festival of university choirs. The original participants were McMaster University (Mac), the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and University of Toronto's Victoria College. Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, joined two years later.

By 1980, the festival had undergone some major changes. Toronto's Hart House Chorus and the Queens Choral Ensemble were now permanent participants while Guelph had dropped out. The competition was restructured into an adjudicated, non-competitive two day festival, and Mary Willan Mason, a noted Toronto writer and daughter of Healey Willan, donated a cup to be presented to the host choir to recognise their efforts in organising the festival.

Members of Canadian IVCF

Current members

Hart House Chorus, University of Toronto

Queen's Choral Ensemble, Queen's University

Simply Sweetly, McGill University

Trent University Concert Choir, Trent University

University of Western Ontario Choir, University of Western Ontario

Ensemble Calixa Lavallée, University of Ottawa

University of Ottawa Choral Ensemble, University of Ottawa

Past members

McMaster University Choir, McMaster University

Ontario Agricultural College Union Philharmonic Choral Society, Ontario Agricultural College

Polyhymnia, Queen's University

Trinity Glee Club, University of Toronto

University of Guelph Chorus, University of Guelph

University of Toronto Chorus, University of Toronto

University of Waterloo Choir, University of Waterloo

Victoria College Choir, University of Toronto