Target: $2,000          Donations to date: $3,000              THANK YOU!

With a donation of $200, you can sponsor a favourite carol that the Stairwell Carollers will be singing this Christmas. Your name will be acknowledged in the choir's souvenir concert program. All donations to support the work of the Shepherds of Good Hope. Details below.

How it works

To celebrate their 40^th anniversary, and as part of the Canada 150 celebrations, Stairwell Carollers’ director Pierre Massie has crafted a unique, all-Canadian program of Christmas carols, and the choir has launched a special 40th fundraising campaign, "Sponsor a Song!"

The Christmas carol list is below. Choose a song that has special meaning for you or someone dear to you, and sponsor that song with a minimum donation of $200.

Your name (or a loved one’s name) will be acknowledged as a sponsor of that song in the choir’s souvenir program given to hundreds of concert goers at our five Xmas 2017 concerts.

NB: when you make your donation below, be sure to mention which song you are sponsoring.

Where will donations go?

All donations to “Sponsor a Song” will be presented to the Shepherds of Good Hope at the choir's 40th anniversary “gala” concert on December 15 at Knox Presbyterian Church.

Shepherds of Good Hope is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the needs of the homeless and vulnerably-housed in the city of Ottawa.

Founded in 1983 as a soup kitchen and emergency shelter, today Shepherds of Good Hope operates eight facilities across the city, including a soup kitchen, transitional shelter, five supportive housing locations and a social enterprise day-program. 

For more information, visit shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Which songs can I sponsor?

Here is the list of carols that the choir will be presenting this Christmas. Many of these can be heard on the Stairwell Carollers Youtube channel.

3 brand new carols to be premiered this Christmas:

A baby is born/L’Enfant est né – a special, bilingual, Canada 150 carol by Pierre Massie.

Carol of the Bells – a brand new arrangement of this popular carol by Pierre Massie.

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen – new arrangement of this German carol by choir tenor David Rain.

Songs by noted Canadian composers:

Thou Shalt Know Him When He Comes – by Kingston’s Mark Sirett, who led the choir in a special choral workshop on October 14.

En el Portal el Belen – Puerto Rican Carol by Vancouver’s Ed Henderson.

D’où viens-tu bergère? – by Québec composer André Bellefeuille.

Tout le ciel reluit – by Ontario’s William McCauley (1917-1999).

Mon beau sapin – by Québec composer Maurice Dela (1919-1978), intro/outro by Pierre Massie.

The Bird Carol – by noted Ontario music educator G. Roy Fenwick (1889-1970).

Bell Carol – by Alfred E. Whitehead (1887-1974) from Nova Scotia & Québec.

Lo, He Comes – by Manitoba composer Rev. John Black (1818-1882).

Other songs with a special Stairwell Carollers connection:

Mourning Dove – by Pierre Massie, title track to the choir’s 3^rd CD.

The Gower Wassail – by Robert Frederick Jones (1947-2012), father of choir tenor Andrew Jones. For male choir.

Eya, eya gaudeamus - by Pierre Massie, placed first in the Toronto Amadeus Choir Carol Competition in 2007.

A Christmas Lullaby – by Martin Fairbank, former tenor in the choir.

The Rideau Carol – by choir tenor David Rain.

Other Pierre Massie favourites:

Joy to the World

Do you hear what I hear

We Three Kings of Orient

Stille Nacht/Silent Night

Nouvelle agréable

Un flambeau Jeannette, Isabelle

Ca, bergers assemblons nous

Dans le silence de la nuit

What child is this – to the tune of Greensleeves.

Iesous Ahatonnia – sung with the original Wyandot text.

Again, if you’d like to sponsor a song with a $200 donation (or more), be sure to mention which song you are sponsoring when you fill out the donation form below.

Thank you for showing your appreciation of great a cappella singing, and for supporting the important work of the Shepherds of Good Hope!