Maxine Moore, director
Maxine (Oucharek) is originally from Yorkton, SK and a graduate of Dickinson State University. The highlight of her college years was performing at her music fraternity's national convention in Indianapolis.
She has taught concert band, stage band, classroom music and choirs, university music classes, as well as private voice and violin.
No stranger to the stage, Maxine has performed in many operas and musicals, with leading roles in The Marriage of Figaro, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, Oliver, Anne of Green Gables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and The King and I.
Her recital credits include 3 concerts at the Marysburg Festival of the Arts and a duo recital with Henri Loiselle at St. Mary's Cathedral in Winnipeg. She has also sung with the St. Peter’s Chamber Choir and the Saskatoon Chamber Singers.
Maxine's community involvements include the Marysburg Regional Chorus and Handbell choir, Westminster United Church music ministry. She is the ecumenical music director for the Humboldt Legion Remembrance Day service. She has also lent her talents to many benefit concerts such as Rainbow of Hope, Child find, Westminster United Church fundraiser concerts, as well as benefit concerts for Multiple Sclerosis. She also performs the Golden Memories show with Joan Jackson.
She was a recipient of the Rural Women's Achievement Award and nominee for the Humboldt Citizen of the Year. In 2019 she received the Golden Note Long Service Award from the Saskatchewan Choral Federation.
On December 19, 2022 she received the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award for her contributions in arts and music. It was awarded through the office of the Honourable Donna Harpauer, MLA Humboldt-Watrous Constituency, Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan and presented by His Honour the Honourable Russ Mirasty, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.
Maxine first joined St. Peter’s Chorus in 1980 singing soprano under the direction of Dennis Schaefer. She stepped in to direct the Chorus for the first time in 1984 and over the next years she alternated with other directors. In 1992 she took over as sole director of of St. Peter’s Chorus and has enjoyed that role up to the present day.
Ian Elliott, accompanist
Ian Elliott is a Humboldt native who boasts a long affiliation with the piano. He’s been playing since the age of 6 when he began lessons with well-known music teacher Allison Sarauer. In the intervening years, Elliott and his family moved away from Humboldt, but he diligently continued his studies prior to his return to Humboldt as a teacher.
“It’s something I’ve always really enjoyed and been really good at,” confesses Elliott. “It was to the point in Grade 12 where I was practicing an hour and a half to two hours a day. We’d get up early in the morning and my brother and I would fight over who got to practice before school because he was practicing almost as much.”
Elliott is classically trained with a particular fondness for orchestral soundtracks in movies. He also has leaned into jazz, and even his classical concert pieces are punctuated with hints of jazz sensibilities.
Written by Maury Wrubleski from Discover Humboldt