The Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir is a community children’s choir in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. For over forty years, IMCC’s focus has been to train young voices and give young singers a life-long appreciation of music while striving for excellence in all choral performances. The Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir welcomes singers from all denominations and backgrounds.
From the beginning, the Inter Mennonite Children’s Choir was rooted in the Mennonite faith tradition. Under the leadership of Dr. Helen Martens, of Conrad Grebel College, children from various Mennonite churches and other churches were drawn together to learn to sing the best sacred music with precision, skill and understanding.
In 1974, the choir won the top prize in the CBC National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs.
In 1987, Lisa Shuh introduced the Harriet Ziegenhals song “You Shall Have a Song” to the Choir and since that time, it has become a tradition to invite alumni in the audience to join the choir and close the Spring concert with that song.
Over the last 40 years, the choir released several recordings, sharing their music with the community. Be Ye Joyful was the choir’s first recording and was recorded at Conrad Grebel College with the help of a grant from the “International Year of the Child” in 1979. Other recordings include Sing to the Lord a Song (1992), Sing for Joy (1994), You Shall Have A Song (1997), We Are The Children (2002), and Joyful Celebration (2007), and What Sweeter Music (2012). As well, IMCC is featured on a CD, Cloths of Heaven (2009), produced by the Menno Singers family of choirs.
Choir trips have included destinations in Canada, including Ottawa in 1972, where the choir met then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. In 1975, the choir made the first of several tours to the Pennsylvania area and were billeted at the homes of local Mennonite church families. Other trips include: Europe (1980), Winnipeg (1994), Vancouver (1997), Ottawa (1997) and Lancaster County PA (2001). In 2002, the Lancaster Mennonite Children’s Choir visited Waterloo Region and both choirs presented a concert titled “You Shall Have A Song.” Recent overnight trips in the spring have taken the choir to Leamington, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Toronto, Hamilton, London and Collingwood.
The choir has also participated in various musical events throughout the region. In 1995, the choir participated in the competition finals for the production of Joseph’s Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Choral festivals and competitions include: The Ontario Vocal Festival (1997-2001), National MusicFest (1997-Gold Standing) Kitchener-Waterloo Kiwanis Music Festival (2002 and 2007). Members of the choir were thrilled to perform Monteverdi’s Sancta Maria with the K-W Symphony in February of 2010. Collaboration with other music groups includes The Wellington Winds. The choir joined The Wellington Winds for “A Christmas with the Winds and Young Voices” in 2011 and again in 2019. In 2014, they joined the University of Waterloo Choir for a performance of Carmina Burana and participated in the Sound in the Land Conference at Conrad Grebel College. In 2015, they sang with the K-W Symphony at a Pops Concert and the Noteworthy Singers in Kitchener.
Inevitably, over the past 50 years the Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir has influenced the musical development of many singers in Waterloo Region. Some have gone on to other communities, continuing the spirit of community singing they experienced in their early years in the Choir. Others have become professional musicians. Sustaining the musical and spiritual vision with which it started, the choir hopes to continue sharing the love of singing and music with our community for many more years to come.
Obituary for Helen Martens, Founder of IMCC
HELEN MARTENS
February 21, 1928 – April 9, 2020
Helen Martens (”Tante Leni”) passed away peacefully of heart disease at Pembina Place Mennonite Personal Care Home in Winnipeg, at the age of 92. She spent her last hours listening to sacred music and in the presence of family.
Helen was a remarkable woman and a gifted musician. Born in Stalinist Russia, she was raised in a farming community near Sanford, Manitoba, the fourth of six children. She began formal training in piano performance at age 17, eventually studying piano at Juilliard and earning a PhD in musicology from Columbia University and a Licentiate from the Royal Schools of Music in England. She worked as a professor of music at Bluffton College, Ohio and at Conrad Grebel College at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
In 1967, Helen founded the Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir, now in its 53rd year. Under her direction, the choir performed in New York, Pennsylvania, Germany, Netherlands, England, and Ontario, including at Rideau Hall in Ottawa for the then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
Over the course of her career, Helen wrote several books and published numerous articles. Her first book, “Hutterite Songs,” was based on her doctoral dissertation, and it established her as an authority on the music of the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. It was her dissertation that brought her to the attention of Hollywood director Leonard Nimoy, who enlisted her to advise him on Hutterite theology and customs, and to assist in choosing the music, for his 1994 movie “Holy Matrimony.”
Helen was a passionate researcher, and during a sabbatical to England in 1980 began reading letters by and about Felix Mendelssohn, many of which had never before been translated from the Gothic script. Over the following years, she made over 20 research trips abroad, discovering new information about Felix Mendelssohn and translating many of the over 9000 letters she had copied.
After her retirement, Helen moved to Winnipeg to be closer to family. She continued to be passionate about music and Mendelssohn, publishing two biographical books about the composer’s life and works. To the very end, she was driven by her love of music and faith in God.
Helen is survived by siblings Susan Froese, Peter Martens, and Anne Braun (Ernie Braun), and by nephews and nieces Rick Froese, John Froese, Ingrid Froese, James Martens, Colleen Braun-Janzen, Lynne Martens, Christine Froese, Carla Braun, Val Braun, Angela Martens, Andrea Martens, and Lisa Martens. Preceding her were her parents, Jacob and Anna Martens, brothers Bill Martens, John Martens, brother-in-law Dave Froese, and sister-in-law Ruth Martens.
“I have dedicated my life to music and my journey has taken me all over the world. I look back on my life with gratitude as I recall the many unique and enriching experiences that I was granted.” — Helen Martens
The family wishes to express sincere gratitude to Dr. Christine Loepp and the rest of the team at Pembina Place for the compassionate care provided to Helen during her final years. They also extend gratitude for the care provided by the staff at Lindenwood Terrace, where she resided before her move to Pembina Place.
An interment service with a small number of family members will be held at Springstein Mennonite Church on April 17, 2020.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a donation to Mennonite Central Committee.
