One city
many songs
one Shared Future











Pro Coro Canada
Bold Stories, Bold Sounds
Pro Coro Canada (PCC) is not just a professional choir; it is a vital public asset whose core activities directly align with key political and civic aspirations for a successful city: heritage, community health, and economic growth.
Guardian of the Past - The Heritage
We safeguard and advance our national identity by preserving and creating artistic heritage. This is the essence of cultural resilience.
Honouring Tradition: We preserve the world's great choral masterworks and interpret them with artistic excellence, ensuring this shared cultural wealth is passed to the next generation.
Creating a Canadian Canon: We commit to building a legacy of Canadian art, commissioning and premiering over 100 new choral works in the last decade alone. This means we are actively writing our city’s future cultural history today, giving students and musicians worldwide "something from the past" to study tomorrow.
Advocate for the Present - the Social cohesion
We are a vehicle for immediate community development, social connection, and cultural health.
Rippling Impact: Our professional singers are working conductors, teachers, and coaches who actively reach hundreds of community singers across the Greater Capital Region every week. This organic transfer of high-level skill directly improves the quality of choral music and participation throughout Edmonton.
A Tool for Well-being: By fostering active community participation, the arts directly contribute to social cohesion, mental health, and quality of life—essential components of a robust social welfare agenda. Read Misha’ Story below.
The Story of NOW: Our commitment to innovation, to addressing current issues through Art and to pushing boundaries also earns us national recognition, including the prestigious Innovation Award from Choral Canada, enhancing our city's modern cultural image.
Nurturer of the Future - The creative Workforce
We are a premier training ground that actively cultivates the next generation of creative professionals, investing in the talent pool required for a thriving creative economy.
Building the Future Workforce: Our extensive Emerging Artist Program mentors between 20 and 60 young singers, conductors, and composers annually. These programs provide rigorous training and sometimes paid professional experience, ensuring the national arts industry has a continuous flow of high-calibre talent rooted right here.
Accessibility & Global Reach: Our commitment to accessible art, including free global livestreams of all concerts, makes our local artistry a global resource, providing cultural access to all citizens regardless of mobility or location, and broadcasting Edmonton's artistic vibrancy to the world.
ROI: The Economic Argument
Investing in Pro Coro Canada is not an expense; it is a high-return public investment that demonstrably drives local economic activity and creates jobs.
Guaranteed Return: Economic analysis confirms the massive multiplier effect of public arts funding. For every dollar the Canada Council invests in core organizations, those organizations spend an average of six dollars back into the community.
More Bang for the Buck: The Edmonton Arts Council's data is even more specific: arts and festival organizations generate over $68.4 million in value-added GDP and create over 1,400 local jobs each year.
Pro Coro Canada is a crucial part of the ecosystem, turning public and private funding into local economic activity, employment, and a flourishing cultural life.

Calls to Action
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Champion a municipal policy that formally recognizes the arts as an essential component of public health and social development, and that positions the city nationally as a leader in arts & health integration.
Allocate a dedicated portion of community health and wellness budgets to subsidize arts programming that targets mental health, social isolation (seniors/newcomers), and youth engagement, leveraging organizations like PCC as service delivery partners.
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Commit to increasing the base funding for the Edmonton Arts Council in line with inflation and population growth to protect the demonstrated economic return, and to keep existing grants in place while also addressing new needs and priorities.
There are over 850,000 cultural workers across Canada.
Recognize that the arts sector is a job creator generating $68.4 million in value-added GDP; treating this funding as a strategic economic investment, not a discretionary expense.
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Create a municipal grant stream explicitly and primarily dedicated to paid mentorships and emerging artist development.
Directly support the costs associated with programs like PCC's Emerging Artist initiative, solidifying Edmonton's reputation as a training hub for Canada's future creative workforce.
Because We Sing
It is about all people who have the opportunity to create a stronger identity when they have the opportunity to introduce music into their lives.
Let’s create a musical Alberta.
Let’s create an Edmonton that sings!
Misha Van Thienen
Sarah Hoffman (MLA for Edmonton-Glenora), and Susan Rockwood (Pro Coro Society board member)
Guests, including municipal election candidates, elected politicians, and members of Edmonton's arts community, at the Pro Coro Canada informational event held at St. Basil's Cultural Centre
Sarah Hoffman (MLA for Edmonton-Glenora), Kathy Classen (Executive Director of The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation), and Patrick Kalita (Chair of the Pro Coro Society Board of Directors)
Michael Phair (social justice advocate and former Edmonton City Councillor) and Jon Sutton (Pro Coro Canada singer)
Nicholas Rheubottom (Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi) and Michael Zaugg
Jason Bale (Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward Karhiio) and Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada)
Renée Williams (Executive Director of Edmonton Arts Council), with guest, and Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada)
Nicholas Rheubottom (Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi), Stuart Beatch (local composer), and Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada)
Vanessa Denman (Edmonton mayoral candidate), and Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada)
Joseph Mugodo (Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward Nakota Isga), and Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada)
Michael Zaugg (Managing & Artistic Director of Pro Coro Canada), speaking to assembled guests at St. Basil's Cultural Centre
Twilla McLeod (member of the Pro Coro Society Board of Directors), Rose Ginther (Vice-Chair of the Pro Coro Society Board of Directors), and Nakita Edwards (Treasurer of the Pro Coro Society Board of Directors)
Nicholas Rheubottom (Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi), and Jon Sutton (Pro Coro Canada singer)
Patrick Kalita (Chair of the Pro Coro Society Board of Directors), addressing the assembled guests