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The
Girlz
B i o g r a p h i e s
Dorothy McDonall
Vancouver-born, Dorothy is a western gal at heart, listing
among her major
musical influences The Eagles, Jann Arden, Alison Krauss and Terry
Clark.
Daughter of Canadian operatic soprano, Lois McDonall, Dorothy was
born into
a family of musical tradition and appeared on the operatic stage
as a child.
She came to express her own musical gifts through her membership
in the
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (1989-2001), where she connected with
Debbie and
Mary Ellen.
The ChoirGirlz have really helped me to
blossom as a singer
and find my self-expression, she notes. I treasure
the exquisite moments
of harmony the girlz and I create together.
A writer and artist, Dorothy is currently working on two
novels and always
has a veil painting on the go. She is also a poet and is encompassing
songwriting, through collaborations with Debbie and Mary
Ellen and the odd solo
effort. She is an active member of Toastmasters, aspiring
to do more public
and motivational speaking.
Dorothy is a passionate horsewoman, nationally certified as an
English
equestrian coach and Bronze Trainer in the methods of natural horsemanship
advocate, Chris Irwin. She is President of her local Dressage group
and
cherishes the hours spent with her horse, Shakespeare.
dorothy@choirgirlz.com
Debbie
Fleming
Debbie has been a professional singer, songwriter for more than
three
decades -- she can be heard on hundreds of TV and radio jingles,
and has
sung backup vocals, both live and on recordings, for many celebrated
stars
such as Petula Clark, Anne Murray, George Jones, Susan Aglukark,
David
Clayton Thomas, Mel Tillis, Alan Jackson and many, many others. One-time
Juno Nominee, Debbie has released four recordings of her own in
country, jazz and pop genres, and her voice covers many styles --
from R&B, Country, Bluegrass, Rock, Pop, Jazz to Classical.
As a soloist, she has fronted many bands over the years, and has
recently released her own solo jazz CD entitled "Steppin' Out"
-- check it out at http://www.debbiefleming.ca.
Debbie's main love is vocal group harmony, and she has become a
well known vocal arranger for choirs and jazz ensembles who sing
her songs and arrangements throughout the world. She assembled and
led jazz vocal acappella ensemble Hampton Avenue to receive the
Jazz Report Vocal Group of the Year in 1999. This group has two
recordings in its discography, both produced arranged and directed
by Debbie. She still performs with the smaller version of Hampton
Avenue -- The Hampton Avenue 4 (please visit Hampton Avenue's Website
http://www.hamptonavenue.com
) and continues to add her voice to the soprano section of the Toronto
Mendelssohn Choir. Debbie is thrilled to be taking a new path in
her musical explorations -- working on her guitar playing, and revisiting
the country music that she loved so much while a regular on the
Ronnie Prophet TV show in the 1980's. "The ChoirGirlz are a
wonderful vehicle for my songwriting" says Debbie, "and
working with Dorothy and Mary Ellen is a constant creative inspiration".
debbie@choirgirlz.com
Mary Ellen Moore
The Maritimes are ably represented by this talented singer/songwriter.
Mary
Ellen sang with a big band early in her career, and later earned
a degree in
music from Dalhousie University, while working as a jingle/session
singer.
She toured the Maritimes with rock band "Gypsy", and eventually
moved to
Toronto where she sang and danced in dinner theatre for three years
before moving to Ottawa to raise her family.Ottawa provided many
opportunities for Mary Ellen, including recording two albums with
pop band Random Axis as lead singer, fronting her own jazz trio,
and creating the children's show and album called Mrs. Songbird.
Eventually the call of the big city brought Mary
Ellen back to Toronto where she sang with the Toronto Mendelssohn
Choir for three seasons. There she met Dorothy and Debbie, and the
rest is Herstory!!!
maryellen@choirgirlz.com
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