History

Videos:
About North Metro Chorus
North Metro Performance Samples

North Metro Chorus was chartered in 1967—Canada's centennial year.  We had our humble beginnings in the basement of a founding member.  When we hired June Dale as our director in 1970, we had just 17 members and had recently competed in the Lake Ontario Region 16 competition, placing last in a field of 23 choruses. 

In our first regional contest with June as our musical leader in 1971, we took 7th place; the following year we came 2nd.  We won our first regional contest in 1973 and have never looked back.  Our regional championship score in 2001 marked the first time any chorus had broken through the 700-point mark.  We did it with an impressive 728.  We recently achieved the highest score ever awarded, 751 points out of a possible 800, at the regional competition in May 2014.  Since June took the helm, membership has gradually grown to over 150 women, ranging in age 26 to 89.

Internationally, we have been consistently in the top 10, and in the top five since 1994.  We won our first international gold medal in 1996 in Fort Lauderdale, with a record 2822 points, placing first in all four categories.  The second international win was in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999, our third was in Nashville, Tennessee in 2002 and our fourth one was in Denver, Colorado in 2012.  Most recently, we won our fifth gold medal in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017 with Erin Howden at the helm as our Director.

We take special pride in the atmosphere of sisterhood in our chorus.  We don’t just work together, we play together, too, by holding extra home rehearsals, running fundraisers such as our auctions, raffles, etc., and partying at every Sweet Adeline event we attend.  When one member is grieving or ill, we gather around her in support; when a member is achieving a milestone, we applaud and celebrate with her.

North Metro proudly sponsors the following annual Region 16 awards: the North Metro Small Chorus Award presented by Sweet Adelines International to the first place small chorus, and the Larry Dale Coaching Achievement Award presented by the regional management team to a nominated coach from Region 16.  In addition, for many years the chorus presented an annual trophy and monetary scholarship to a local high school student whose future included the study of music.

North Metro is widely known for our unique performance packages, which include Toy Soldier, Newsies, Oliver!, Paint Your Wagon, Mary Poppins, Anchors Aweigh, our Irish set, and more.  We welcome visitors and prospective members to our regular Wednesday-night rehearsals in Toronto.