By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Since Michael Korn established the North Lakeshore Chorus in nearby Prince Edward County in 2012, they have produced remarkable concerts in tribute to Canadian veterans and Commonwealth Royalty with a body of accomplished vocalists that includes many local residents.
Though the choir has literally performed around the world, they have also enjoyed a number of local concerts that are not only close to home for its Northumberland members, but also an occasion to call on the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 133 (Cobourg) to provide the Colour Party (as well as to bring in their Pipes & Drums group as well as the Concert Band of Cobourg).
Their most recent concert tour was a musical tribute to the D-Day Landings in Normandy June 6 some 80 years ago, as well as a commemoration of the German occupation of the Channel Islands (June 30, 1940, through May 9, 1945). The program also carried a notation that this year is the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
And while performances in Toronto, Belleville, Kingston, Trenton and Cobourg are regular gigs, this one took place in significant European locations for the concert’s theme – We Will Remember Them.
Local audiences got the chance for a preview, when the North Lakeshore Chorus performed at Cobourg’s Trinity United Church June 8, showcasing a number of local performers – sopranos Sharon Boyko, Tass Corbier and Suzanne Routh; altos Marion Castleton, Dina Fernhout and Astrid Nordhof; tenors Walter Fernhout and Ian Hartford; and basses William Boyko and David King.
Local residents William and Sharon Boyko of Roseneath, Astrid Nordholt of Cobourg, Tass Corbier of Colborne and David King of Brighton were along for the European tour, with 16 performances in nine days at a number of significant locations.
June 30 – Drury Mill War Cemetery, at the grave of Sgt. Heber Clinton Nichol of Roseneath (killed Sept. 2, 1918, at the age of 21)
July 1 – Vimy Visitor Centre at the Vimy Ridge Memorial for the Beaumont Hamel official service of remembrance
July 2 – Amiens Cathedral, and in Ypres at the St. Martin’s Cathedral and the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate
July 3 – Town Church at St. Peter Port, Guernsey (a June 22 preview article in the Guernsey Press for this concert featured a submitted photo of the choir taken in Trinity United Church)
July 5 – Louisa Gould Memorial and Town Church in Jersey, with Dr. Kyd and the Lieutenant Governor in attendance
July 7 – Ardenne Abbey, Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Juno Beach Centre and Canada House at Juno Beach
July 8 – St. Etienne Cathedral in Caen and Steps of Monet’s House in Giverny
Interviewed a few weeks later, choir founder Korn was still enthusiastic about the experience, as well as the group he shepherded through it all.
Korn has sung in choruses since his days with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and still keeps some of the key concerts close to his heart, such as one in 1994, marking the 40th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. Another was in 2000 to mark the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday, he said, as well as the 2005 concert to mark the end of the Second World War.
As his work colleagues left Toronto one by one, Korn discovered Picton on a visit to one of them. He was charmed, and purchased a 100-acre farm for himself.
He was also intrigued with the history of the area and set out to do some research, during which he discovered Clifford Wilson, who had enlisted from Picton to fight in World War I. He was killed at Passchendaele on Nov. 3, 2017. Korn even travelled to Ypres to visit the grave, bringing along some soil from the farm to sprinkle at the site.
Then he discovered Gordon Craig and Alex Ross, two airmen killed in a crash that took place near his farm during a training flight. He enlisted the help of an Air Force friend for this research. He discovered Craig still had a living brother, and he was able to locate his grave near Lake Erie. He helped arrange a ceremony, at which the Concert Band of Cobourg performed.
He has erected a memorial to these two pilots on his farm.
Similarly, visiting the grave of Sgt. Nichol June 30 was a meaningful experience for him. He displays a photo of the headstone where, above the name, the words “Believed to be” are inscribed. The photo also shows the wreath William Boyko placed there – too small to be seen is the bit of Roseneath soil he also left there.
Korn also provided local newspaper coverage of Sgt. Nichol’s loss, describing him as “a young man of exemplary character and a quiet disposition.” William Nichol had given the land for Roseneath’s St. James Anglican Church, and a plaque in Sgt. Nichol’s honour was mounted there. The church was lost in a 2019 fire, and Korn is trying to get a replacement for the plaque.
His own family history is somewhat unique, with forebears serving in the German army in World War I and with the Allies in World War II.
His grandfather was actually German-Jewish, so the events of Kristallnacht in 1938 (a two-day spree in which Nazis terrorized the Jewish community in an event that translates to “Night of Broken Glass”) put him in the Buchenwald concentration camp – from which, fortunately, his service in World War I eventually got him released.
From there, he made his way to England, where the British put him in what was known as a transition camp from which German Jews would eventually be dispersed to other countries. He still has his grandfather’s papers, stamped, “Refugee from Nazi oppression.” When war came, he joined the British army. He was in London for the Blitz.
Korn is fortunate to have much documentation of his grandfather’s experiences, and recalls his admiration of the resilience of the Londoners in the face of these attacks.
Little documentation remains of his mother’s family.
“My mother was from Cologne, which was flattened in the Second World War,” he said.
“She said, ‘All we had left was a suitcase for the four of us.’ I don’t know how many years it took for me to understand that is why we only have about 10 photographs of my mother. I have about five photographs of my grandfather in the First World War in the German army, so that obviously meant a lot to him. I have maybe one of my grandmother as a young girl.”
They became a refugee family, managing to grab a single room in which they all lived for about five years, he said.
“You don’t think about that. You think, ‘They were bombed. Okay.’ You don’t think how long it took to rebuild – where do these people live in the meantime?”
Korn has two thick scrapbooks of photos from this recent North Lakeshore Chorus European tour, which he calls “a fascinating trip.”
Among the photos is a letter of thanks he has received from John Desrosiers of Veterans Affairs Canada.
The letter singled out their July 1 appearance at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, thanking them for “ensuring that the memory of those who served 100 years ago and who continue to serve today is not forgotten” – with a special compliment for their performance of the Ode to Newfoundland.
“They certainly enhanced the dignity and solemnity of our ceremony,” the letter said.
This kind of praise must be shared by all concerned, Korn said.
“I am amazed at the loyalty of the choir. They drive from Toronto, the Kingston area, to perform. They go tripping over Europe.
“I’m hoping next year will be my last kick at this,” he added, referring to plans for a 2025 tour around the anniversary of VE Day on May 8, 1945, with a proposed itinerary that will take them from Amsterdam to Antwerp.
