The RockSteady Choir

The RockSteady Choir is the chancel choir of St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church Choir in Toronto, Canada.
History of the choir
The St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church Choir was originally founded the mid-1920s at St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada and is the chancel choir of that church - although it was not until much later that the name "RockSteady Choir" was adopted. St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church is a Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) affiliated church.
Significance and notability
The choir with its precursor groups, has a long history and has functioned continuously for over 100 years in the same edifice - as the church's chancel choir. The church in which it is based was built in 1908. The current iteration of the choir - named the RockSteady Choir - is notable because is a good example of how a 'traditional' volunteer church choir can reinvent itself and adapt to changing times.
Two quandaries of inner-city church choirs (such as this choir) are: 1. general declining interest in church chancel choirs, and 2. maintaining musical currency and viability in this age of instant musical gratification via the internet and associated technologies. The RockSteady choir is significant in that it owes its existence and success to its ability to both sing traditional styles with a gradual transition into more modern styles. An additional ongoing difficulty for many traditional church choirs is the necessity for the members to read musical scores. The RockSteady Choir learns music by rote learning, whereby the songs and parts are learned by listening to other versions without the necessity of having to be able to read scores. One notable feature of this way of learning, is that existing choral works can be easily be transformed with fresh interpretations that are still respectful to the original versions. An additional benefit is that members do not have to have formal musical training in order to participate.
Also notable, is the occasional use of the church's historic pipe organ for accompaniment. In a 2015 study by the Association of Religion Data Archives (A.R.D.A.) — use of the pipe organ in the church service music (including the choir) was found to be at a historic 28.1% low in churches of similar nature to the home-base church of the RockSteady Choir - St. Clair Avenue Baptist Church. Another article by the 'Artistic Theologian Journal' confirms the decline of the use pipe organs in accompaniment of choirs and congregational singing in this article from September 21, 2012. The RockSteady Choir counters this trend and makes intentional use of the pipe organ in their efforts to broaden their stylistic repertoire.
The Rocksteady Choir's membership has varied from 10 to 27 singers over the years. The current membership is approximately 16 adult singers of all ages.
Development of the choir
From the 1920s to the late 1970s the original choir sang mostly traditional repertoire from an extensive collection of printed anthems and music. By the 1940s and 1950s, the choir - like many in the city - occasionally participated in live radio broadcasting of choral music. A sister church, Dufferin Street Baptist Church was also extensively involved in radio broadcasting and the two choirs were known to have sung together for this purpose on several occasions. As inner-city communities started to fragment in the 1960s, the choir was not as active due to falling membership. Revitalization of the choir was gradual and started in the mid- 1970s. By the 1990s, new directions in styles and genres of music started to be experimented with - leading to the current diverse mix of choral music with which it now performs. Musical accompaniment which originally consisted of the church's historic 1923 Franklin-Legge pipe organ and piano - now is primarily by electronic keyboard.
Current name
The choir is multi-ethnic. While primarily African Canadian, it also consists of members from Canadian First Nations, South America, Canada and the Caribbean diaspora. In the mid-2000s the choir decided on their current name: “The St. Clair Avenue Baptist RockSteady Choir” or simply “RockSteady Choir”. The term "RockSteady" refers to their trust and faith. The name was chosen (somewhat controversially at the time), to refer indirectly to the Caribbean background of many of the members - although any direct connection to the term 'Rocksteady' (referring to the Jamaican dance craze of that name in the mid-70's) was not intended. The choir decided to continue to demonstrate their distinctness by the whole-hearted adoption of the name 'RockSteady Choir'.
Constituency and repertoire
It is a non-auditioned volunteer ensemble which has enabled amateur adult singers of all ages and backgrounds to share their voices both during worship services and for special occasions in and out of the church. Their present eclectic repertoire ranges from old-time 'Sankey' songs, through Southern Gospel and Christian Country Music to Reggae and Ska-flavoured Caribbean-style Gospel. The Choir pays special attention to music from the Caribbean diaspora and traditional black gospel - from which many of its songs and performance styles are derived.
The RockSteady Choir has sung at a number of local venues, gospel concert and programs in the Toronto area - over the years
It sponsors an annual 'Choirs Concert' that invites local choirs to fellowship and network together. The most recent and 13th annual concert was in June 2016. For the first time, the RockSteady Choir advertised the concert with modern internet techniques - using the 'EventBrite' platform.
Presence on the Internet
The choir started posting music videos to the internet in the mid-2000s starting with postings on the GodTube website and currently has approximately 120 videos posted on the YouTube website.
Directors of the choir
From its inception in the early part of the 20th century, the choir has had a number of directors including (in order): R. Walker, N. Laird, G. Wallis, C. Kerslake, G. Marigold, D. Kennedy, M. Rosser, R. Strathdee, R. Neufeldt and I. Amorim. The current Choir Director - B. Wallace - assumed leadership of the choir in April 1979.

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