Is there any greater testament to someone’s talent, accomplishments, mentorship, and influence than the establishment of a legacy fund in their honour?
For 35 years, as founder and conductor of the Peterborough Singers, Syd Birrell has checked all those boxes, and no doubt many more. Now, as Birrell nears his retirement from the beloved choral music group, an ambitious fundraising campaign for a legacy fund in his name has been launched.
The goal is to raise $250,000 by the end of the non-profit charitable organization’s 2025-26 season in May, with a shorter-term goal of attaining $100,000 by the end of this year when Birrell, who is in his early seventies, retires. More information about the fund can be found at www.peterboroughsingers.com/support-us/syd-birrell-legacy-fund/, where donations can also be made.
In a message about the Syd Birrell Legacy Fund, Birrell explains it “is not a monument, but rather a toolkit.”
“It will help the choir with things like supporting emerging young artists, hiring world-class soloists who lift the roof, and maintaining all the invisible gears that keep the machine running,” he says. “Above all, the success of this campaign for the Legacy Fund will help ensure that the music will go on … for the next 35 years!”
Campaign director John Jalsevac, a 15-year member of the Peterborough Singers, says the main long-term vision for Syd’s Legacy Fund is to secure bequests “so we’re not scrambling to meet the budget in any single year.”
“What we’re doing is getting way ahead financially, supported by investments bringing in interest. That what’s going to make sure this choir is here another 30 or 40 years from now. We’re really aiming to cement this as a cultural institution that will be here decades from now.”
“It’s a balancing act at the beginning, making sure as we have a new artistic director come in we have the funds we need to run the choir, but also moving toward putting money into long-term investments. By leaving more and more of the principal intact, hopefully, over time, we’ll have a significant investment fund to keep the choir sustainable.”
Also an accomplished organist, Birrell founded the Peterborough Singers in 1990 as the Peterborough Symphony Singers, an unauditioned choir that annually performed Handel’s Messiah with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. Three years later, frustrated with the difficulties related to rehearsing an ever-changing roster of singers for that oratorio, Birrell and his wife Pamela (herself a soprano soloist) formed the Peterborough Singers as a year-round, auditioned choir.
Each season since has seen the group perform four concerts, ranging from classical oratorios to the annual preventation of Handel’s Messiah, and tributes to mainstream artists songs to music from Broadway, Celtic, blues, and gospel genres.
Noting “It’s almost impossible to overstate what Syd has done for Peterborough and the arts,” Jalsevac adds Birrell brings a lot to the table that people don’t see or hear about.
“He’s a man who takes the people in the choir very, very seriously,” says Jalsevac, adding “He has a huge heart. He’s constantly helping people.”
“As an example, my son — who joined the choir — was working last year on a science fair project that had to do with aerospace stuff. Syd heard about it and immediately put him in touch with a friend of his who works at the Peterborough Airport, and brought my son out to meet with him.”
“One of the things that Syd has put a huge amount of emphasis on is finding and mentoring young musicians. He has a relationship with one of the professors with the University of Toronto’s vocal program. He connects with him every year to find out who his most promising students are, and then he goes and auditions them, and then hires the best of them for shows. A lot of young singers have their first paid gigs with the Peterborough Singers. One of the priorities of the fund is to keep that side of Syd’s legacy alive.”
Jalsavec admits the fund goal of $250,000 is ambitious, but is buoyed by the fact that “people are very, very passionate about the Peterborough Singers.”
“People know that Peterborough should not have a choir that’s as good as the Peterborough Singers. People who have moved here from Toronto who have come to our shows have said “I was paying a hundred bucks for a ticket, even a hundred and fifty bucks, in Toronto to see a choir that wasn’t as good as this one.'”
“Syd has cultivated relationships with a number of donors who donate to what’s called the Conductor’s Circle. He’ll do personal outreach to get donations (for the legacy fund). But in terms of asking the entire choir (to solicit donations), the only other time we did that was during COVID as a single ask. That brought in more than $40,000. People really responded in a big way then, and we expect they’re going to respond in a big way now, not only not only to keep the choir going and thriving, but also out of love and respect for Syd.”
For his part, Peterborough Singers board chair Dr. Carey Gibson says Birrell “has created a warm community in which countless people have found a sense of belonging.”
“Thanks to Syd’s three and a half decades of service, our city is a much more musical, connected, compassionate and beautiful place. We created Syd’s Legacy Fund out of a desire to do everything in our power to preserve that legacy for the next generation of music lovers and singers.”
With Birrel about to retire, the board is currently conducting a search for a new artistic director.
“How do we find a new director that not only emphasizes the quality of the music, but also understands, and maintains, the sense of community that Sid has built?” asks Jalsevac.
With that search continuing and Syd’s Legacy Fund launched, all roads now lead to the Peterborough Singers’ presentation of Handel’s Messiah on Sunday, December 14 at 3:30 p.m. and Monday, December 15 at 7:30 p.m., with both performances at Emmanuel United Church.
Those concerts, which feature six soloists at each performance, mark Birrell’s last go directing the choral group.
“I think Syd has no idea what’s going to hit,” says Jalsevac.
“I know he knows that he’s built something special, but in my conversations with him, I don’t think he knows just how attached people are to him and his vision for the choir. I’m going to be sad to know Syd’s not at the helm anymore but, on the other hand, there’s going to be a real spirit of jubilation celebrating 35 years. I think Syd’s going to be blown away by the appreciation that he’s going to receive.”
Jalsevac says it’s no accident that Handel’s Messiah is the curtain closer on Birrell’s career, referring to his eight-year-old son James, who was diagnosed with the nerve cancer neuroblastoma when he was only three years old.
“Twenty-four years ago, Syd conducted Handel’s Messiah,” Jalsevac says. “He went home after and his son passed away from cancer hours later.”
Following James’ death on December 18, 2001, the Birrell family started The James Fund For Neuroblastoma Research, which has since raised millions of dollars for research into the disease, one of the most fatal childhood cancers, and which supports families at SickKids in their battle against neuroblastoma.
Jalsevac notes that Birrell has decided to retire after the Handel’s Messiah performances, rather than continue on for the entire 2025-26 season.
“The Handel’s Messiah concerts, for Syd, sum up everything the Peterborough Singers is,” he says. “That show has got him and his family through very tough times. He wants to go out on that symbolic note.”
For more information on the Peterborough Singers’ 2025-26 season and to order tickets, visit www.peterboroughsingers.com.
VIDEO: The Syd Birrell Legacy Fund
