THE GOOD PLACE
This Halifax Choir Group Teaches Lessons That Go Beyond the Stage
Capella Regalis is training a new generation with its free musical education programs.
By Lana Hall
(Above) Choir director Nick Halley. (Below) Young singers performing in the tradition of European church choirs. | PHOTOS: COURTESY BEATRICE SCHULER
When Nick Halley followed his father, a renowned composer and choral director, to Halifax from their Connecticut home in 2008, he merely hoped to spend a year apprenticing under him. The younger Halley grew up playing and learning music with his father, later directing a children’s choir alongside his dad. In Nova Scotia, Halley noticed a “dearth of young men who were trained in the art of singing.” He saw an opportunity to bring his love of music to a new audience and, more importantly, equip them with the skills and provide them with the benefits that performing music provides.
In 2010, he founded Capella Regalis, a charity that trains young singers in the centuries-old tradition of European church choirs. He took a leap — one that has paid off. “I made claims about how it was going to work, and that kids of all backgrounds would fall in love with this music and all this stuff,” Halley says. “That now has been proven to be true.” Halley, a keyboardist and drummer by trade, grew up singing in choirs himself and is an experienced conductor. Together with a small team of professional choral directors, he teaches students the basics of music literacy, vocal control and how to harmonize in a group.
Capella Regalis has grown to offer eight choral programs, including those dedicated to boys, girls and men. The choirs regularly perform at Halifax’s Cathedral Church of All Saints, at festivals and on tours in Nova Scotia and beyond. Participants can progress through levels in the choral programs, graduating from the Young Men’s program into the Men’s Choir, for example.
Despite the program’s emphasis on “musical excellence,” Halley was determined to ensure it had as few barriers to entry as possible for promising vocalists. The children’s choirs are free for kids who pass a basic audition. What started off as Halley and his wife “driving kids around in borrowed vehicles” has now become a fully-fledged transportation program with a roster of volunteer drivers who shuttle kids to and from choral practices and concerts. “In the arts, that’s a real thing. If it costs money, some people aren’t able to do it.”
For Halley, the skills taught in choirs travel beyond the concert stage. Helping students find their voices teaches confidence, collaboration and listening skills, and builds community. Research has also shown that learning to read music can improve cognitive skills such as memory and attention span. “I could talk forever and a day about what happens psychologically and societally among the boys and our future men in terms of combating toxic masculinity,” Halley says of music’s impact. “Developing one’s ability to listen — and to listen to somebody else — we need that.”
Though some Capella Regalis students go on to professional music careers, Halley is just happy to see the “life-giving joy” on his students’ faces when they sing. “For the rest of their lives, they’ll be able to walk into any choir, any church, the Royal Canadian Legion.... They’ve got this ability to read music and make a beautiful sound.” CAA
“For the rest of their lives, they’ll be able to walk into any choir, any church, the Royal Canadian Legion.... They’ve got this ability to read music and make a beautiful sound.”
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(From left) Choir director Nick Halley; Young singers performing in the tradition of European church choirs. | PHOTOS: COURTESY BEATRICE SCHULER
(From top) Choir director Nick Halley; Young singers performing in the tradition of European church choirs. | PHOTOS: COURTESY BEATRICE SCHULER
When Nick Halley followed his father, a renowned composer and choral director, to Halifax from their Connecticut home in 2008, he merely hoped to spend a year apprenticing under him. The younger Halley grew up playing and learning music with his father, later directing a children’s choir alongside his dad. In Nova Scotia, Halley noticed a “dearth of young men who were trained in the art of singing.” He saw an opportunity to bring his love of music to a new audience and, more importantly, equip them with the skills and provide them with the benefits that performing music provides.
In 2010, he founded Capella Regalis, a charity that trains young singers in the centuries-old tradition of European church choirs. He took a leap — one that has paid off. “I made claims about how it was going to work, and that kids of all backgrounds would fall in love with this music and all this stuff,” Halley says. “That now has been proven to be true.” Halley, a keyboardist and drummer by trade, grew up singing in choirs himself and is an experienced conductor. Together with a small team of professional choral directors, he teaches students the basics of music literacy, vocal control and how to harmonize in a group.
Capella Regalis has grown to offer eight choral programs, including those dedicated to boys, girls and men. The choirs regularly perform at Halifax’s Cathedral Church of All Saints, at festivals and on tours in Nova Scotia and beyond. Participants can progress through levels in the choral programs, graduating from the Young Men’s program into the Men’s Choir, for example.
Despite the program’s emphasis on “musical excellence,” Halley was determined to ensure it had as few barriers to entry as possible for promising vocalists. The children’s choirs are free for kids who pass a basic audition. What started off as Halley and his wife “driving kids around in borrowed vehicles” has now become a fully-fledged transportation program with a roster of volunteer drivers who shuttle kids to and from choral practices and concerts. “In the arts, that’s a real thing. If it costs money, some people aren’t able to do it.”
For Halley, the skills taught in choirs travel beyond the concert stage. Helping students find their voices teaches confidence, collaboration and listening skills, and builds community. Research has also shown that learning to read music can improve cognitive skills such as memory and attention span. “I could talk forever and a day about what happens psychologically and societally among the boys and our future men in terms of combatting toxic masculinity,” Halley says of music’s impact. “Developing one’s ability to listen — and to listen to somebody else — we need that.”
Though some Capella Regalis students go on to professional music careers, Halley is just happy to see the “life-giving joy” on his students’ faces when they sing. “For the rest of their lives, they’ll be able to walk into any choir, any church, the Royal Canadian Legion.... They’ve got this ability to read music and make a beautiful sound.” CAA