The Richard Eaton Singers 

Founded in 1951 by the late Richard S. Eaton, Edmonton’s symphonic choir, RICHARD EATON SINGERS (RES), has played a leading role in the cultural community of the city for six decades.

RES performances have included many Edmonton premieres of choral masterpieces such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony.

RES has also commissioned and produced world premiere performances by Canadian composers, including Mark Sirett’s In Praise of Music, Christos Hatzis’ The Sepulcher of Life, and The Houses Stand Not Far Apart by John Estacio. In March 2010 the choir premiered A Song of the Seasons by Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson with text by E. D. Blodgett to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Leonard Ratzlaff’s artistic leadership of RES.  The choir recently commissioned John Estacio to compose branche (text by Ted Blodgett) in memory of former choir-member Frieda H. Haliburton. This will be premiered at the choir’s pre-tour concert, June 22, 2013.

The choir has traveled extensively across Canada, to the Netherlands and Britain and has exchanged with other choirs including the Vancouver Bach Choir. During the summer of 2013, RES will be undertaking a concert tour of Germany.

RES is honoured to have been associated with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for over 60 years. This partnership has created many memorable choral events in our city, including in September 1997 the performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony (“Symphony of a Thousand”) with the ESO to commemorate the opening of the Francis Winspear Centre for Music.