Millgrove United Church (The liveliest little church in Flamborough/Ontario/Canada!)

Hamilton may be better known for its steel mills than its choirs, but the national and international communities have certainly taken notice of the music coming from the Harbourtown. Over the past few years the Hamilton Children’s Choir (HCC) has won big awards in Tolosa, Spain and sung at the prestigious Songbridge in Szczecin, Poland. Last May, after winning the 2008 CBC Radio National Amateur Choral Competition for the Children’s Choir category and for best Canadian Work of a Children’s or Youth Choir, they took home the CBC Radio/Le Mondial Choral Grand Prize Cantabile Award for best performing choir at the Gala Concert in Laval.

Under the artistic direction of Zimfira Poloz, the HCC has grown to include approximately 160 choristers from Hamilton and its surrounding areas. The group has been selected as finalists in the bi-annual European Broadcasting Union’s Let the People Sing: Euroradio Choral Competition against nine other international amateur choirs in Oslo, Norway, on October 18. HCC will compete via live audio satellite feed from the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.

In July, HCC will again travel to Laval to compete in the Loto-Quebec 2009 World Choral Competition, an invitation received thanks to its win in the CBC competition last year.

And the best news of all is that, just prior to leaving for Laval, the HCC will perform at Millgrove United Church on Sunday, July 5, at 4:30 p. m. Tickets are $20 for adults, and $10 for children under 16 and are available by calling Millgrove United Church at 905-689- 7144.