About

Musique Royale announces a province-wide concert tour featuring Capella Regalis Men and Boys Choir, directed by Nick Halley, across Nova Scotia in May 2022, with six performances held in historic venues in Windsor, New Glasgow, Antigonish, Annapolis Royal, Liverpool, and Mahone Bay. The choir, founded in 2010, has over the years gained acclaim for their uplifting performances that highlight the strength of young voices through radiant interpretations of works from both the sacred and secular choral canon.

Capella Regalis aims to build upon the best aspects of the centuries-old European tradition of men and boys church choirs, and to revitalize this method of music training in Canada. While Canada was once rich with such choirs, Capella Regalis is one of only a handful of men and boys choirs in Canada today. Repertoire highlights on tour include “How Can I Keep from Singing” (American traditional), “Away from the Roll of the Sea” by Allister MacGilvray, “They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships” by Herbert Sumsion, and “Freedom Trilogy” by Paul Halley.

About Capella Regalis Men and Boys Choir

Capella Regalis Men and Boys Choir, founded in Nova Scotia by Nick Halley in 2010, aims to build upon the best aspects of the centuries-old European tradition of men and boys church choirs, and to revitalize this method of music training in Canada. While Canada was once rich with such choirs, Capella Regalis is one of only a handful of men and boys choirs in Canada today. The choir is free and open to any boy who passes a basic audition. Most new singers begin in the Probationers Program, rehearsing for one hour each week, before being promoted to full-fledged choristers in the Senior Choir.

The choir regularly sings Choral Evensong in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, as part of the Cathedral’s Sundays at Four series, and rehearses twice weekly at St Andrew’s United Church, Halifax. The choir also performs concerts around Nova Scotia and beyond in a busy September – June season.

Annual performances include tour programs of sacred and secular repertoire from across the Western tradition, and the choir’s popular, annual Christmas series, To Bethlehem With Kings. In addition, Capella Regalis frequently collaborates with other organizations and world-class musicians in productions of major works such as J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, Handel’s Te Deum, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Monteverdi’s Selva Morale e Spirituale, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bizet’s Carmen, the Paul Winter Consort’s Missa Gaia/Earth Mass, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

Capella Regalis has hosted other choirs and performing artists from the local community as well as from across Canada for special projects, and has itself received performance invitations from presenting venues across Nova Scotia, as well as venues in New Brunswick, PEI, Quebec, and Ontario. The choir has completed five tours in the Maritimes. The Scotia Festival of Music invited Capella Regalis to premier a work in the 2020 Festival line-up (postponed to 2022 due to Covid-19). Most recently, on May 1, 2021, during the Covid pandemic, Capella Regalis managed to produce an audio-video recorded performance of J.S. Bach’s Easter Cantata BWV 4, recorded with chamber orchestra in St Mary’s Basilica, Halifax, thanks to a project grant from Arts Nova Scotia. The video is available on this website and on the choir’s YouTube channel.

Capella Regalis has released three CDs: Love Came Down: Carols for Christmas (2019), Greater Love (2017) and My Eyes for Beauty Pine (2014), as well as various online performance broadcasts (visit our Shop and Video pages for more information). The choir has also collaborated with other non-profit organizations on charitable causes ranging from nature conservation to food drives, and has given performances hosted by different Lieutenant Governors of Nova Scotia over the years. The choir has provided many free, interactive choral performances in elementary schools in Halifax, and led workshops for other children’s choirs.

In addition to services, concerts, and recordings, the boys of Capella Regalis enjoy a summer choir camp in the last week of August and other musically and socially enriching outings and experiences.

The journey to adulthood for boys is a challenge that has garnered the interest of researchers, educators, and social critics over the last few decades. A men and boys choir, with its built-in system of mentorship, is uniquely capable of addressing the issues of leadership, mental focus, and inspiration that boys face at this stage of life. The result of such training is to access some of the greatest music humankind has produced over the last eight centuries.

Capella Regalis is a free program open to any boy who passes a basic audition (although we encourage donations from families who are able to support the program, there is no dues requirement). The choir also provides volunteer-based transportation from school to regular rehearsals for boys who otherwise would not be able to participate. Capella Regalis is a registered Nova Scotia non-profit society, and an educational outreach program of Musique Royale, a music presenting charity in Nova Scotia.