‘It just lifts me up’: Winnipeg church choir still around after 70 years

Many hold holiday traditions. In particular, for one Winnipeg church, the tradition of choral worhsip has lasted several decades, with minimal change.

Christmas carols float on angel voices, cascading into a place of worship to tell timeless stories through tradition.

For Julian Vanderput, the music director at St. George’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg, it puts life in perspective.

“It reminds us of better things. It helps remind us that were placed on Earth, really, I think, for something more than just ourselves,” he said. “We live in such a narcissistic, ‘Me, me, me, me, me, me and I’ society.

“Choirs, when they’re singing, are a group of individuals that have put aside those individual things to come together.”

The choir he directs at St. George’s has been running for more than 70 years. He is the third music director there, and is anxious to keep the tradition alive.

“We hope that, you know, choir singing at Christmas will encourage people both in hope, but also to continue the message of love. And the important part is, to make it last all year. Not just a one-time thing,” he said.

Prior to Vanderput, Rick Morgan was the music director for 19 years, and the director before him was there for 50 years.

“As they say, you don’t have to throw the baby with the bathwater. So you can introduce some new things, but keep the traditions going as well,” Morgan said.