West Island Chorus History

In the summer of 1965, nine ladies, all residents of the West Island and all with previous barbershop experience, got together over coffee and decided to start a chorus. They found a director, started recruiting, and in November of 1966 the West Island Chorus of Sweet Adelines was officially chartered. In March of the following year, under this same director, Ted Snider, a chorus of thirty-one members competed for the first time. They placed tenth in a field of twenty-seven choruses.

During the next few years the chorus grew steadily in size and knowledge under the guidance of three different directors. In 1979, under the direction of Judy Comeau, West Island Chorus realized a dream and won first place at the Regional Competition, after which they traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete at the International Convention in the fall of 1980.

In the fall of 1982, Judy Comeau moved away and was replaced for two years by Frank Tortorelli. In 1984 however, he resigned the position. By this time there was a young lady on the risers singing baritone by the name of Lynn MacMartin. She was a barbershop veteran, having been indoctrinated at a young age by her Mom, and was persuaded to take the position of director. That year, 1984, with a novice director, the chorus placed eighth at Regional Competition. Five year later, in 1989, they again took first place. In the fall of 1990, eighty very excited ladies went to Salt Lake City, Utah to experience another competition at the International level.

Lynn, however, was also destined to leave us, and in 1994 one of the Chorus members, Edith Blacklock, took over as interim director until a permanent replacement could be found. Marci Alegant was with the chorus only a year before moving away, and in 1996 another chorus member, Nicole St-Jean, came off the risers to become director. The first year Nicole took the chorus to competition we were awarded the trophy for most improved chorus and she continued her goal to improve every year, until she stepped down in 2001.

Rob Mance had been working with the chorus as a coach during that year, and decided to accept the position of interim director to take the chorus to Regional Competition in May, where we improved our standing, and where Rob was given the Novice Director award. In June 2001 we officially welcomed Rob as our new Musical Director. 2002 continued to be an exciting year for the chorus. We welcomed 10 new members, learned new repertoire and choreography, and for many, the challenge to learn new voice parts.

Once more in the summer of 2006 we were faced with the task of finding a new director. Rob would leave us in the fall to continue his studies in the USA. We were fortunate to have found Mark Lewis an extremely talented musician. He plays several musical instruments, is a vocal production expert, and has many years of experience both in singing and in directing in the barbershop style. Since Mark took over, we have attracted numerous guests, ten of whom are now chorus members. New Director! New Members! New Songs! A new Entity! We look forward to growing and improving as we share the joy of singing in harmony.

Our History