Sharing Joy Through Song!
Mark your calendars for our 2026 concert season!
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We can’t wait to share another beautiful season of music with you!
Artistic Director Search – Achill Choral Society
After nearly ten years of dedicated leadership, our Artistic Director, Shawn Grenke, will step down at the end of the 2026 season to pursue new opportunities. We will miss Shawn greatly and wish him every success as he continues to share his musical talents with communities both near and far.
Artistic Director Ad Achill Choral Society
A Message from Shawn
Leading Achill for nearly ten years has been an absolute joy. I will truly miss everyone who has helped make the Achill Choral Society such a special community of singers. The choir has a remarkable spirit of camaraderie, with members who genuinely care for one another.
When I first began working with the choir in 2017 to prepare the Earth Mass concert, I expected it to be a short-term commitment to help complete that season. Nine years later, I look back with deep gratitude for the many wonderful concerts we have shared with the communities of Orangeville, Bolton, and Alliston.
I am confident that the choir will select an outstanding new Artistic Director who will continue to uphold the rich musical tradition and high standards for which the Achill Choral Society has been known throughout its 40 years of serving the greater Orangeville community.
Join Achill – Your Community Choir!
Photograph by Kate Karklins – Klikd Images
As the Headwaters Region’s premier community choir, we currently have 65 singers. There’s always room for more! Our concerts feature songs diverse in style, culture and message.
Rehearsal Location:
Upstairs at Westminster United Church,
247 Broadway, Orangeville, ON, L9W 2Z5,
from 7:00 P.M. to 9:30 P.M.
New Members for Fall/Winter 2026 Welcome: Wednesday in September, 2026, at 7 P.M.
Please contact “info@achill.ca“
if you wish to attend and to receive further details including a Pre-registration Form so that you can pick up your set of vocal scores at the first rehearsal. These scores are on loan, to be returned to Achill’s Librarian.
Also you can connect with us on facebook.com/AchillChoralSociety
SHAWN GRENKE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Conductor, pianist, and organist Shawn Grenke is Director of Music at Eglinton St. George’s United Church in Toronto, Collaborative Pianist with the Elmer Iseler Singers, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the 80-voice Achill Choral Society in Orangeville, Ontario. A native of Belleville, Ontario, Shawn began his musical training as a chorister and pianist with the Hastings County Board of Education Concert Choir under the direction of the late Rudolf Heijdens. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mount Allison University (New Brunswick) and a Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto.
Shawn has performed in concerts across Canada, the United States, and Europe, including appearances in Poland, South Korea, and at international choral festivals such as Let the Future Sing (Sweden), the Xinghai Choral Competition(China), and Le Mondial Choral Loto-Québec World Choral Competition (Laval, Québec). He has also performed at Roy Thomson Hall (Toronto), the Winspear Centre (Edmonton), on CBC Radio, and at numerous concert series and festivals worldwide.
Currently a Doctoral candidate (ABD) in Choral Conducting at the University of Alberta, Shawn is completing his dissertation on a collaborative choral commission with composer Andrew Balfour. In support of this project, he was recently awarded a SSHRC Fellowship (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) through the federal government.
His academic achievements also include the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, the Opera Edmonton Assistantship Award, and the Centennial Bursary Fund Award. While in Alberta, Shawn served as Artist-in-Residence at St. George’s Anglican Church and as a Teaching Assistant with the University of Alberta’s Opera Program.
NANCY DETTBARN
COLLABORATIVE ACCOMPANIST
Pianist and Organist Nancy Dettbarn is the Minister of Music at the Westminster United Church in Orangeville, Ontario and is a member of the Music Faculty at the University of Toronto since 2007. Nancy received her degrees at the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Nancy is a faculty member at the Lakefield Summer Music Festival and has piano studios in Toronto and Orangeville. She is a dynamic adjudicator and clinician who provides workshops on piano and the Alexander Technique for musicians, and plays throughout the area and in the United States as soloist and collaborator.