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Open Voices Choir Director
Andy Rush

Andy Rush has a wide background in music. He began taking piano lessons at a young age, and in high school, learned to play the alto sax and oboe. He also learned how to play folk guitar after attending summer camp and hearing the counsellors use them to play folk music, pop music and protest music around the campfire.

In high school, he began performing at school coffee houses and annual school music festivals. In his early twenties he played guitar to perform and entertain at supper clubs, bars and coffee houses. He also started writing a few songs.

By 1981 he knew he was committed to a lifetime career of music so he applied to Queen's University to take the training necessary to become a music teacher. He passed the mandatory Royal Conservatory of Music examinations, entered the Queen's school of music, received his teaching degree, and spent several years working, before he launched Open Voices and found the inspiration he needed to complete his master's thesis. He completed this in 2002.

In between all this, Andy was continually expanding his musical experience. He was involved in a wide array of musical activities that helped him grow into a very accomplished musician.

While pursuing the undergraduate component of his studies at Queen's, he pursued his favourite form of music, jazz. He joined the Big Swing Band of Kingston and formed a six member vocal jazz choral group, Sextet. Sextet gave him choral leadership experience and the experience of writing music arrangements for the group. Other experience came from working as a vocal coach and camp counsellor at the National Music Camp on Lake Couchiching

Andy invites audience participation
at June 2003 concertWhen he graduated from teachers college his teaching taught him other new skills. For example, his first job in an Anglican School taught him to sing the liturgical singing of the Anglican Church. A summer job at Bark Lake Leadership Centre gave him the experience of teaching folk music to adults. Many knew how to sing and play instruments so he started forming impromptu choirs. These were highly successful so, when Bark Lake closed in 1995, he continued the tradition at another camp, Camp Hyanto.

Another big influence in Andy's growth as a musician has been his regular attendance at the Blue Skies Music Festival he started in 1977. In his early years at Blue Skies he learned the skills of being sound engineer, stage manager, and artistic director. But for the past 16 years his main focus has been choir director.

It was at Blue Skies and Camp Hyanto where he met the people who ultimately joined him in forming a Board of Directors and launching the Community Choir, Open Voices in Kingston, Ontario.