About Us

Founded in 2002 by the late Maestro Lillian Sit, the Alata Harmonia Chorus of Canada ("Alata") consists of the Alata Harmonia Choir and Alata Chamber Singers. Lillian's goal was to instil the essence of choral music, its multifaceted structure and contextual richness into the choir.

Alata's repertoire covers a wide spectrum of genres: from the west to the east, from classical to contemporary, and from sacred to secular. Since its inception, Alata has performed major choral works by Rossini, Mozart, Gounod, Brahms, Vivaldi, Orff and Durufle. Other performances showcased works of famous Canadian composers Ruth Watson Henderson, Eleanor Daley and Harry Freedman, as well as choral works from notable contemporary composers including Jin Xiang, An-Lun Huang, Mizi Tan, and ethnic folk songs in a cappella. The choir also premiered compositions by local artists Chuan Sha, Erhei Liang, William Wu, Christopher Si and Richard Si.

Apart from hosting regular concerts, Alata has performed in many charitable and cultural events such as fundraising for the victims of South Asia Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). In 2006, Alata performed in the Chinese New Year television show "The Same Song in Canada" hosted by the Beijing Central Television, a Chinese national broadcasting station. As well, the choristers participated twice in the International Choral Festival in Le Mondial Choral Loto-Quebec. Alata also took part in the third Dong Zhou Cup World Chinese Choral Music Festival held in Beijing in June 2008 where they took home several notable awards. Following the competition, Alata travelled to perform in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi and Hong Kong. The choir performed in the “2011 Mandarin Profile Award Ceremony” hosted by Fairchild TV of Canada. In 2013, Alata took part in a fifteen-day choral exchange in Paris, France. The choir was invited in 2017 to perform in Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci presented by International Grand Music Studio.

For over twenty years Alata has grown through challenging repertoires, choral festivals, community services and learning excursions. We look forward to further flourish in this musical journey in the coming years.