About the Choir

The Cantatrice Ensemble Honour Choir was formed in 1997 to provide inspiring choral experiences for treble voice singers in Grades 7 through 12. Cantatrice is an auditioned choir, with a membership of over 40 talented, young singers. The choir performs challenging and exciting repertoire for soprano, second soprano, and alto voices. Cantatrice is under the direction of Karen Newhook-MacDonald and is accompanied by Pamela Burton, both of whom are originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland and teach music within the Halifax Regional Centre for Education.

The Cantatrice Ensemble Honour Choir operated as a community choir for its first ten years, and is now a program offered through the Halifax Regional Arts Program. By enabling members to experience a diverse selection of quality choral repertoire from classical to contemporary, the ensemble strives for choral excellence.

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) and the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) share a special partnership called the Supplementary Funding Agreement which supports fine arts learning opportunities, including the Cantatrice Ensemble Honour Choir, through a portion of the tax dollars collected in HRM. The Cantatrice Ensemble is a not-for-profit organization run by a volunteer parent executive and is a member of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation.

Due to the support of an amazing parent executive, the choir has performed locally, nationally and internationally including (but not limited to) events such as:

Musicfest Canada (ON)

Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival (AB)

Disney Honors Festival (Orlando, Florida)

Mid-America Children’s Choir Festival at Carnegie Hall  (New York City, NY)

Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival (NS)

Juvenata! (NS)

Rotary Music Festival (NL)

Atlantic Festival of Music (NS)

David Foster’s “Crescendo” Charity Gala (NS)

MusicFest Canada 2017: The Nationals (ON) *Gold Standings

Atlantic Festival of Music and Juvenata Choir Festival

Nova Scotia Kiwanis Festival - Rosebowl Winners 2023

Nova Scotia Kiwanis Festival - Rosebowl Winners 2024

National Champions - 2024 National Federation of Canadian Music Festivals