The Villanova Singers will be touring in Montreal this fall. This will be the second tour the choir has gone on in 8 months. Last school year, the Villanova Singers, along with their sister choir, the Villanova Voices, toured in Spain. The group of 32 men will depart this Thursday in order to take the eight-hour trek across the northern border to Canada. 

When in Montreal, the French cultural hub of Canada, students will be attending many events across the city. First, on Friday, Nov. 16, the Singers will be going on a tour of Old Montreal. Old Montreal was the neighborhood in Montreal where the French established their trading ports along with many Catholic cathedrals. The Singers will be singing in one of the Catholic cathedrals, Notre-Dame de Montreal, later in the afternoon.

The next day, on Saturday, Nov. 17, the Singers will be singing in St. Joseph’s Oratory. St. Joseph’s Oratory is another basilica in Montreal and it claims to have one of the largest domes on any building in the world and is the second largest church in Quebec. 

Despite being in the middle of the urban city of Montreal, St. Joseph’s Oratory sits on a large area of green spaces with many trails used for spiritual discovery. “[St. Joseph’s Oratory] is the largest shrine to St. Joseph in the world,” said Villanova Singers Director Jeremy Triplett. “There is an area in the church with all of the crutches of the people who have been miraculously healed by St. Joseph. It’s a pretty miraculous place.”

After the tour of St. Joseph’s Oratory, the Villanova Singers will be visiting the Montreal Olympic Stadium. Montreal hosted the Olympic Games in 1976, marking the first and only time the Summer Olympic Games were held in Canada. However, the Winter Olympic Games have been held in Canada 1988 and 2010 in Calgary and Vancouver, respectively. 

Since the 1976 Olympic Games, the stadium has been used as the home of Montreal’s baseball and Canadian football teams. However, due to the departure of the Montreal Expos, the stadium has become a white elephant for the city, yet it still remains a popular tourist attraction.

Finally, on Sunday, Nov. 18, the Singers will sing at Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral. This cathedral is the third largest in the province of Quebec, only trailing St. Joseph’s Oratory and Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. Also, the Mary, Queen of the World cathedral is the seat of Archdioses of Montreal. 

Unlike St. Joseph’s Oratory, the Mary, Queen of the World cathedral is located in the heart of Montreal. The Villanova Singers will be celebrating Mass with the Mary, Queen of the World choir and her members. The Singers, throughout all of their performances, will be singing pieces in Russian, French, English and Latin. 

After the performance in the Mary, Queen of the World cathedral on Sunday, the Singers will come back to the University, just in time to make it back before Thanksgiving break.