Canadian Military Wives Choir carols with Measha Brueggergosman

For the second year in a row, the Canadian Military Wives Choir (CMWC) was invited to perform at the reception following the illumination ceremony on Parliament Hill. The Military Wives Choir also had a chance special performance singing along with Canadian soprano, Measha Brueggergosman.

Twenty women from the Ottawa choir gathered on the evening of Dec. 4 and performed inside the Centre Block as VIP guests filed in and mingled.

“Afterwards we were milling around ourselves and chatting with the other guests, and Measha was one of them. Being a Brit I didn’t know who she was, but several of our members were excited to see her and engaged her in conversation. As she had missed our performance, we decided to sing a couple of carols in the Rotunda, the acoustics are beautiful there, and the party was thinning out by now,” said Sue Palmer founder of CMWC.

Brueggergosman admired the performance and joined the choir in a performance of “Will the Circle be Unbroken.”

“Oh my goodness, what an awesome experience that was. The guests that were left came to watch, it was one of those wonderful spontaneous moments that we will never forget. We went on to spend an hour or so sharing a glass of wine with Measha and a few other people and telling her all about our choir and our adventures to date. Fingers crossed we may get to work with her again in the future,” said Palmer.

The performance at the illumination ceremony is one of CMWC high-profile events of the year, with thousands of people in attendance. The illumination ceremony is part of the 31st edition of the Christmas Lights Across Canada program. The program, launched in 1985, was created to highlight various monuments and landmarks while kicking off the holiday season.

Canada’s Capital Region, holiday lights illuminate Confederation Boulevard. It is said some of the best places to view the lights are in front of the lawn of Parliament Hill, Confederation Square and the Alexandria Bridge.

For the first time, the Peace Tower and Centre Block on Parliament Hill will be used as the backdrop for new winter lightscapes multimedia projection from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. every evening during the holiday season.