He has big shoes to fill, but accomplished Toronto-based conductor, pianist, and organist Shawn Grenke is up for the challenge.
The board of the Peterborough Singers has announced that the Belleville native will be the choir’s new artistic director and conductor, succeeding founder Syd Birrell who retired in December after 35 years leading the ensemble.
According to a media release, Grenke was selected for the position after the board conducted a “comprehensive national search” that included surveying choir members, screening applications, conducting in-person interviews and reference checks, and inviting finalists to lead the choir in conducting sessions.
“Our search committee sought a leader who would carry the choir strongly forward while honouring the history and tradition that have made the Peterborough Singers what they are,” says board chair Dr. Carey Gibson. “In Shawn, we are confident we have found exactly that.”
Grenke currently serves as director of music at Eglinton St. George’s United Church in Toronto, collaborative pianist with the Elmer Iseler Singers, artistic director and conductor of the Achill Choral Society in Orangeville, and instructor of conducting at Brock University in St. Catharines.
With a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University and a Master of Music from the University of Toronto, Grenke is currently a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at the University of Alberta, where his research focuses on a collaborative choral commission with Cree composer Andrew Balfour, supported by a fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Grenke has performed throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, and has participated in international choral festivals and competitions in Sweden, China, and Quebec. His performance credits include appearances at Roy Thomson Hall and the Winspear Centre, as well as broadcasts on CBC Radio. He was nominated for a Juno Award in 2019 and for the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting in 2018.
“It is a true honour to become part of such an outstanding musical community,” Grenke says of the Peterborough Singers. “I am especially grateful for the remarkable legacy created by Syd Birrell during his extraordinary 35-year tenure. To follow in the footsteps of a founding conductor is both humbling and inspiring.”
An accomplished organist, Birrell and and his wife Pamela (herself a soprano soloist) 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, the couple 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 presentation of Handel’s Messiah, and tributes to mainstream artists songs to music from Broadway, Celtic, blues, and gospel genre. That tradition will continue under Grenke’s leadership.
“This choir has always been about more than just good singing — it is about building something meaningful in a community, and about believing that a small city can produce music that rivals anything in the country,” says Birrell. “In my conversations with Shawn, it has been clear that he shares that belief. The future of the Peterborough Singers looks very bright indeed.”
While Grenke does not officially begin in his new role until July 1, he is already working on the program lineup for the ensemble’s 2026-2027 season.
“Choral music is a uniquely powerful art form,” Grenke says. “It brings individual voices and hearts together to create something deeply moving, meaningful, and memorable. For me, fostering community through music lies at the very heart of choral singing.”
With files from Paul Rellinger.
