Toronto female vocal group set to celebrate 50 years of music and friendship

A female vocal group known as the Toronto Accolades sings four-part acappella harmony, mostly in barbershop style.

“It’s a group of women who really care about each other,” said Wendy Arnold, director of the Toronto Accolades. “What brought them together is that they love to sing, but what keeps them together is what they care about – and that’s each other.”

The chorus has approximately 24 members – women of all ages and from all walks of life. But for most members, like Wendy Pegg, it isn’t all about the music.

“It’s the friendship mostly. The combination of the friendships and the music and the challenge,” Pegg said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's the friendship mostly. The combination of the friendships and the music and the challenge," Pegg said.

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Founded in 1968, The Toronto Accolades is a chapter of Harmony, Inc., an international, educational singing organization for women.

“We get a lot of good training here and at our international organization,” Pegg said. “We do craft classes — not the craft of knitting — but the craft of barbershop.”

The chorus loves to perform a variety of songs both old and new and fast and slow throughout the city. They also spend time competing in annual contests, and in September, the Accolades will celebrate 50 years together.

“Five decades is a long time,” Pegg said. “We don’t always agree on everything, nor should we, but we have always stayed together, we are mutually supportive of each other, we sing together and the health benefits of singing are world renowned – so we just embrace that.”