2021-22 Presenter Profiles (Blue Pages)

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The Royal Canadian College of Organists is the oldest organization of musicians in Canada, dedicated to supporting our country's organists and promoting the organ and its music to a broad audience. The College publishes the quarterly journal Organ Canada, offers examinations for organists from beginner to professional levels, and holds a major organ convention every second summer. The Toronto Centre has approximately 200 members in the city and GTA, and is led by a vibrant executive committee that meets monthly to coordinate and plan short- and long-term events. Our events this season will be in a hybrid online and in-person format, featuring guest recitalists, our popular "Phantoms of the Organ" concert, and the return of our annual "Bach Walk"; please see our website or Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.

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Celebrate the New Year with a joyful spectacle featuring celebrated singers, dazzlingly costumed dancers, and a full symphony orchestra. The exuberant music of Johann Strauss and his contemporaries springs to vibrant life with selections from beloved operettas, elegant dances, lively overtures, and the beautiful Blue Danube Waltz. Salute to Vienna recreates the beloved "Neujahrskonzert", hosted each year in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein.

The short, effervescent pieces performed in the concert are brought to life by ballroom dancing and ballet, ushering audiences into the New Year with the charm of the old world.

Energetic, lighthearted, and full of romance, Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert is a celebration of music, beauty, and the limitless possibilities each New Year brings.

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SINE NOMINE was formed in Toronto in 1991 to research and perform music from before 1500, and has given concerts in Canada, the United States, and the UK. The members have varied backgrounds in vocal and instrumental performance (wind instruments, fiddles, lutes, and percussion), musicology, medieval history, language, literature, liturgy, and manuscript studies. In preparing repertoire, we draw on all of these specialties, and experiment with improvisation and ornamentation, as well as medieval pronunciations and tuning systems, hoping to create performances which are intelligible and enjoyable to modern audiences – and which would not have been wholly foreign to medieval listeners! We blend vocal and instrumental music from medieval courts and churches with readings, and occasionally drama, liturgy, or dance, to provide insight into the artistic and intellectual culture of the Middle Ages.

Details of our 2021/22 Toronto season remain fluid, pending public health developments, and will be announced at a later date. Our current project is a detailed exploration of a 14th-century Italian manuscript with an unusually rich combination of vocal music and instrumental dances.

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SoundCrowd, Toronto’s first large-scale contemporary a cappella ensemble, burst onto the scene in 2016 backing up former Barenaked Ladies' frontman, Steven Page, at the Danforth Music Hall. The brainchild of artistic director, Scott Pietrangelo, they have since studied and performed under the direction of Deke Sharon (Pitch Perfect, The Sing Off) at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, created exciting viral videos with over 200,000 views and growing, been seen at special events at the Princess of Wales Theatre, The Opera House, the Distillery District, Nathan Phillips Square, Richmond Hill, Fort York, the Harbourfront, and even on national television - flashmobbing the hosts of CTV’s The Social' for its 1000th episode. In its five short years, SoundCrowd has shared billing with the likes of Chantal Kreviazuk, Cadence, Margaret Atwood, Tomson Highway, Countermeasure, Retrocity, cast members of Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and various productions of Les Miserables. The group stayed very active during 2020/21 despite not being able to sing together in-person, creating virtual choir videos and performing online cabarets and concerts. For more information about everything SoundCrowd, please visit our website.

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Soundstreams is one of the world's leading contemporary music companies, and the largest global presenter of new Canadian music. Founded in 1982, founder and artistic director Lawrence Cherney is committed to showcasing the work of Canadian and international composers, has commissioned over 170 new works, and programmed hundreds of unique and compelling concerts including chamber music events, multi-choir spectaculars, operas, music theatre works, and seven highly successful international festivals. Soundstreams serves a broad community of music lovers through their yearly “Main Stage” series and free outreach and education programs that include “Encounters”, the “Insider” program, “RBC Bridges”, and “SoundMakers.”

Soundstreams exists to strengthen public engagement with new Canadian music and music theatre/opera through commissioning, developing, producing, and disseminating that music. We aim to inspire, foster, and enable excellence at the highest international standards.

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Since 1937, St. Michael’s Choir School has served the Archdiocese of Toronto by educating and training the boys’ choirs that sing every weekend at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Founded by Monsignor J.E. Ronan, St. Michael’s Choir School is unique in offering both an enriched academic program, including extended French instruction, integrated with a lively ministry of sacred music. Choirs from St. Michael’s Choir School perform annually on tour and at many local concerts and events. During the school year, they sing three weekly Masses at St. Michael’s Cathedral. School alumni are active in Toronto and beyond, performing in choral groups, operas and more. St. Michael’s Choir School accepts boys grades 3 to 12. For more information please visit our website or contact us via email.

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Led by music director Elisa Citterio and executive director Carol Kehoe, Tafelmusik is an orchestra, choir, and experience that celebrates beauty through music of the past.

Founded over 40 years ago on the pillars of passion, learning, and artistic excellence, Tafelmusik continues to bring new energy to baroque music and beyond. Historically informed performances of 17th- to 19th-century instrumental and choral music (led by chamber choir director Ivars Taurins) share the stage with vibrant, insightful multimedia programs, and bold new music written just for the group. Each piece is played on period instruments, underscored and illuminated by scholarship.

Through dynamic performances, international touring, award-winning recordings, and comprehensive education programs, Tafelmusik invites audiences to engage with beauty and experience the breadth of emotion music can inspire.

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Tapestry Opera is an award-winning Toronto-based company that is dedicated to creating, developing and performing original Canadian opera. Tapestry is passionate about uniquely Canadian stories, told in innovative settings, unforgettably interpreted by world class singers and musicians. Tapestry supports emerging artists, develops new audiences and brings Canadian opera to the world stage. Founded in 1979, Tapestry is the voice of original contemporary Canadian opera.

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Currently in their 13th season, That Choir is one of Toronto’s most exciting a cappella ensembles, combining high-calibre performance with storytelling through choral music. Founded in 2008 by artistic director Craig Pike, That Choir now draws together close to twenty-five auditioned singers with diverse backgrounds in culture, work and study. It is That Choir's goal to share their passion for choral music with the arts community and to inspire audiences both young and young at heart. They endeavour to reach not only the established choral community in Toronto, but to encourage new audiences to experience the art of a cappella choral singing. We look forward to sharing our music with you!

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The Toronto Chamber Choir has held a prominent place in Canada’s early music scene since 1968. An accomplished group of 30-40 auditioned singers, the TCC specializes in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, collaborating with period instrumentalists, but also explores music from other time periods and diverse cultures. A typical season presents two evening concerts as well as two afternoon “Kaffeemusiks” that contextualize our repertoire through narration and a multimedia component.

Rehearsals take place Wednesday evenings with occasional Saturday daytime ‘retreats’ featuring guest presenters. In September 2021, we plan to sing together in person at our new rehearsal venue, Church of the Transfiguration (111 Manor Rd. E). We welcome diversity in our membership and are currently seeking new members, with auditions held anytime by arrangement with the director.

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The Toronto Choral Society (TCS) was founded in 1845 to foster a positive musical environment that enables members to learn and develop both musical ability and choral repertoire. The TCS is an integral part of the community of Toronto, presenting important works from the traditional choral repertoire, as well as exploring the music of the many cultures that make up our community. Over the years we have made an active contribution to the life of the city by participating in many community events. This fall, TCS members will reunite for in-house rehearsals of Handel’s Messiah. Please go to our website where we will provide our followers with more information about a possible upcoming concert.

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For 30 years, Toronto Classical Singers has been known for its unique musical point of view and its high-quality performances, often presenting the lesser-known and rarely performed vocal/orchestral repertoire as well as the standard works. With its exuberant approach, the group celebrates the choral tradition with its complex sonority of large choir with professional orchestra.

We are resuming our concert schedule in 2022 just in time to celebrate our 30 years of contributing to the fabric of musical life in Toronto. On March 6, we will be presenting Mozart’s Requiem with soloists and Talisker Players. Our anniversary concert will be on May 1, featuring celebratory music by Handel. Artistic director Jurgen Petrenko will conduct the choir, orchestra and soloists.

Join us this winter and spring for inspiration and joy while we look towards the next 30 years of thrilling choral music. Our concerts are presented at Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge Street. Please visit our website for more information.

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Since its founding in 1972, The Toronto Consort has become internationally recognized for its excellence in the performance of medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque music. Led by a collective of Artistic Associates, the group’s members are amongst Canada’s leading early music specialists, including both singers and instrumentalists on early plucked and bowed strings, flutes, keyboards, and percussion.

In November 2020, The Toronto Consort launched Early Music TV – an all-new video-on-demand service dedicated to music from 1100-1700 AD. Early Music TV offers feature-length productions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and extensive video and audio libraries. Accessible on over 1000 devices, members can stream directly from the website or download the iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, or Fire TV apps. Visit EarlyMusic.tv to start streaming today.

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Canada’s world-renowned large vocal ensemble launches an exciting 2021/22 season under the artistic leadership of our new artistic director Jean-Sébastien Vallée. We plan to return (with safety protocols in place) to rehearsing and performing together and are excited to welcome back our patrons - either in person at our Yorkminster Park concerts or online enjoying the live-streamed concerts. In this season of reconnecting, the TMC will present concerts that bring together different artists and composers in compelling ways.

On November 2, the TMC launches its season with “Coming to Carry Me Home” - bringing together Brahms’ Requiem and Nathaniel Dett’s Chariot Jubilee. December 1 sees the return of TMC’s popular “Festival of Carols” concert.  April 15 - Sacred Music for a Sacred Space with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. May 28 - Endangered - featuring a commission by Barbara Assiginaak and the Canadian premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered.

Visit the TMC website for updates on 2021/22 programs and how to purchase in-person and online tickets.

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Operated by the Mozart Project, the Toronto Mozart Players are composed of professional solo, chamber and orchestral musicians dedicated to performance of the highest calibre. Specializing in the music of Mozart and his contemporaries, the Toronto Mozart Players perform a varied repertoire from the early eighteenth century to the twenty-first century under the direction of David Bowser. With commitment to Canadian repertoire and commissioned works by Canadian composers, the Toronto Mozart Players present world premieres along with classical repertoire.

Toronto Mozart Players perform both at Church of the Redeemer, in the Bloor Street Cultural Corridor, and virtually. Concert programs offer variety and include chamber, orchestral, vocal and choral works - featuring the Toronto Mozart Choir.

For more information, including concert dates and information on the Toronto Mozart Choir, please visit our website.

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Toronto Operetta Theatre is in its third decade as Canada’s only performing arts company dedicated to music theatre in all its variety.

After more than a year and a half of pandemic hiatus, TOT will be back on stage! The 2021/22 season opens with a Canadian premiere, A Waltz Dream by Oscar Straus, performing at the Jane Mallett Theatre on December 29 and 31, 2021, then January 2 and 4, 2022, followed by Jacque Offenbach’s Orpheus In The Underworld. This operetta is a lampoon of the ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice and performances are on February 16, 18, 19 and 20, 2022.

Postponed from May 2020, the season finale is the long-awaited world premiere of Canadian work A Northern Lights Dream by Michael Rose, performing on April 27, 29, 30 and May 1, 2022, featuring Natalya Gennadi, Dale Miller, and Karen Bojti with Suzy Smith as a conductor.

All main performances are held at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts with safety protocols in place. Proof of full vaccination will be required to enter the venue.

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One of Canada’s most respected arts organizations, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) plays a vital role in the city’s dynamic cultural life. Committed to serving local and national communities through vibrant performances and expansive educational activities, the TSO offers a wide range of programming that resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds. It has a notable recording and broadcast history and has been celebrated internationally during its many tours. Toronto’s iconic Roy Thomson Hall is the TSO’s home, drawing patrons from around the world.

Gustavo Gimeno - who began his role as the TSO’s music director in 2020/21 - has programmed the 2021/22 season to reflect his own expansive artistic vision, intellectual curiosity, and sense of adventure, and will conduct eleven concerts. The TSO continues to offer a range of performance options, from a much anticipated return to in-person concerts at Roy Thomson Hall and the George Weston Recital Hall to a continuation of virtual concerts streamed throughout the season. For all the latest news, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Trio Arkel is a chamber music ensemble presenting classical music in the heart of Toronto. Leading musicians Marie Bérard, Rémi Pelletier and Winona Zelenka collaborate with renowned guest artists in three eclectic programs each season, performing both favourites and lesser-known works in concerts that fascinate and delight.

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The Ukrainian Art Song Project (UASP) is a ground-breaking initiative which aims to raise awareness of the politically repressed art songs by Ukraine’s most eminent composers; to promote live performance; and to educate artists, teachers, students and the public through free, online access to scores/texts, the Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute, published anthologies and outreach to conservatories, artists and teaching professionals.
UASP has recorded 411 of approximately 1100 art songs by Ukraine's major composers such as Barvinsky, Lysenko, Stetsenko, Stepovy and Turkewych. The recordings feature internationally renowned vocal stars such as Pavlo Hunka, Russell Braun and Krisztina Szabò with principal accompanist, Albert Krywolt. The recordings are available on all major online platforms.

Musical scores and a pronunciation guide for over 300 art songs can be found in the Millennium Online World Library on UASP’s website at www.ukrainianartsong.ca. These free scores are in Cyrillic text with English transliteration, are transposable and have no copyright.

Plans for 2022 include live performance and the annual Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute, August 24 to 28. Please visit our website or Facebook for more info.

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The University of Toronto Faculty of Music is a vital destination for the professional and scholarly study of music in North America. As part of one of the world’s top universities, the Faculty is home to a diverse and dynamic community of performers, researchers, composers and educators. With extensive academic offerings in fields such as classical and jazz performance, music education, composition, and history, theory and ethnomusicology, we also explore popular music studies, music technology and digital media, and music and health.

Our numerous ensembles and visiting artists provide all our students with practical opportunities to perform and to engage with a wide range of musical repertoire and research. We are thrilled to invite Toronto’s vibrant music community to enjoy many of these opportunities as part of our annual season of events including our free lunchtime series Thursdays at Noon featuring U of T Music faculty, alumni and special guests, master classes and presentations by distinguished visiting artists and researchers, major opera productions and student ensemble performances.

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The Upper Canada Choristers is an SATB community choir in Toronto with a history of collaboration with choirs and professional guest artists. UCC is committed to excellence and diversity. Cantemos is UCC’s auditioned Latin-American ensemble. Founding artistic director Laurie Evan Fraser, and accompanist Hye Won Cecilia Lee, provide the professional musical leadership for this vibrant organization.

Despite the challenges we face in these uncertain times, the choir continues to meet and rehearse regularly in person and on Zoom, following protocols as advised by Public Health.

Our 2021/22 concert season opens with To Sit and Dream - Voices of Women, devoted to choral works written by women through the ages, including Ontario’s Sarah Quartel. The concert will be live-streamed from Grace Church on-the-Hill on October 1. On December 3, the choir will perform From Darkness Into Light featuring Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and non-seasonal music with themes of light. Our spring concert on May 13, “The French Connection”, features the Faure Requiem with baritone soloist Bradley Christensen.

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Vesnivka Choir is an award-winning women’s ensemble established in 1965 by founding artistic director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki. The choir has delighted audiences with its rich repertoire of Ukrainian classical, sacred and traditional folk music. Vesnivka Choir, together with its partner, the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir, are often joined in concert by area musicians and professional soloists. Despite the challenges of these uncertain times, the choirs have continued to meet and rehearse on Zoom and in person following protocols as advised by Public Health. We are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to present a three-concert series in the new year, starting with a Ukrainian Christmas concert on January 9, 2022, followed by “Kobzar: Celebrating Taras Shevchenko” on March 6, 2022, and “A Tribute to Lesia Ukrainka” on May 1, 2022. We are working towards presenting live performances safely and following all Public Health guidelines and hope you will be able to join us when we return to in-person concerts. Our plans remain fluid pending Public Health developments. We encourage you to visit our website for updates.

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The VOCA Chorus of Toronto, a dynamic, auditioned ensemble under the leadership of artistic director Jenny Crober, performs a broad range of repertoire in collaboration with a variety of superb guest artists. VOCA's season consists of concerts, cabaret fundraisers, community performances and workshops. Our talented, versatile accompanist is Elizabeth Acker. Several remarkable artists have joined VOCA as clinicians, including composer Ola Gjeilo, conductor Ivars Taurins and jazz musician Dylan Bell.

VOCA's 2021/22 season opened with our long-awaited return to in-person rehearsals (and a live-streaming feature), joined by all of our professional staff, including our six vocal leads. Our leads and special guests will be featured at our "Love Stories" Cabaret/ Fundraiser on Friday, November 5 at 7:30pm. VOCA is thrilled to have been invited to perform in Roy Thomson Hall’s “Choir and Organ Series”, where we will present a premiere by renowned Cree composer Andrew Balfour. In April 2022, we very much hope to perform both "Star Songs" concerts: our RTH debut, and our Spring concert (at Eastminster United), featuring guests Shawn Grenke, organ; Colleen Allen, sax; and Jamie Drake, percussion. Rehearsals are held on Mondays at Eastminster.

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VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert is Canada’s only company dedicated exclusively to the presentation of rare opera programming. Our performances rely on the power and beauty of the human voice, the dramatic inflection of text and poetry.

Season 2022 features three operas each focused on extraordinary women. It opens with Vanessa by Samuel Barber on January 23, 2022. It is an American opera about three generations of women, who confront society's intrusions into their secluded world. Vanessa is a high voltage drama of exquisite character detailing. Florence: The Lady With the Lamp by Canadian composer Timothy Sullivan and librettist Anne McPherson is next. Based on the life of Florence Nightingale, a British nurse who was a transformative social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. The performance is on March 27, 2022. The Mother of Us All by Virgil Thomson is the season finale on May 22, 2022. This dramatic opera imaginatively chronicles the story of Susan B. Anthony and the women's suffrage movement. All three performances will be with OIC Chorus led by chorus director Robert Cooper.

Performances are held at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. Proof of full vaccination will be required.

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Westben, located in Northumberland County, two hours east of Toronto near the beautiful rural town of Campbellford in Trent Hills, just announced its 23rd season of live concerts opening July 1st, 2022. The month-long festival will feature over 70 artists and 25 concerts of classical, broadway, jazz, folk, pop, fiddle, rock, opera, and comedy.

New this year is spoken word by Peterborough’s poet laureate Sarah Lewis from Curve Lake First Nations. From his home on the Yendinaga Mohawk Territory, David Maracle brings to life the ancestral teachings of the Haudenosaunee People through magnificent stone carving and music around the Westben Campfire. Musicians Natalie MacMaster, Joel Plaskett, William Prince and Eve Parker Finley will perform on Willow Hill, and Ofra Harnoy, Barbra Lica, Carol Welsman, Karina Gauvin, Queer Songbook orchestra, OKAN, Brian Finley, Mary Walsh, and Canadian Brass will be featured in The Barn.

The Broadway revue "ABBA Mia" will have you dancing in your seats in The Barn and on Willow Hill. The campfire series features Sarah Lewis and David Maracle, hosted by Alderville First Nations Chief Dave Mowat and Suzie Undgerleider and Julian Taylor hosted by Ken Tizzard. Experience music in a natural setting.

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Wychwood Clarinet Choir is excited to be rehearsing live and preparing for a May 2022 concert. After two years of Jamkazam, syncing tracks on GarageBand, and creating mosaic videos, it has been amazing to be in sync with the baton of our Maestra, Michele Jacot. Michele Jacot, Roy Greaves, and the WCC composers' collective worked over the past two years to keep our special clarinet choir alive. The Wychwood Clarinet Choir founded and directed by conductor and clarinetist Michele Jacot, is now in its 13th season. Choir members are clarinetists who share a love of playing music in a collegial environment. The choir’s instrumentation extends from the contrabass clarinet to the E flat sopranino. We perform new compositions and arrangements, many written or transcribed by our Composers’ Collective. Choir members are admitted by audition and pay an annual membership fee. We strive to create opportunities for serious amateur musicians to develop their musical skills and we are committed to sharing our music in educational settings and in the wider community. The group rehearses on Wednesday evenings and performs on a regular basis in Toronto’s St. Clair and Wychwood area. We look forward to seeing people at our concert on May 29 at St. Michael and All Angels in Toronto. Until then, check out our YouTube videos and look for updates on our website.

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Yorkminster Park is synonymous with magnificent music. Whether it’s the choir accompanied by the majestic Casavant organ or the congregation lifting their voices in hymns of praise, vocal and instrumental expressions of faith are integral in the Yorkminster Park experience.

The senior choir, under organist and music director William Maddox, enjoys a reputation as one of the best congregational choirs in the city of Toronto. Yorkminster Park presents a series of free organ recitals at 12:30pm, every Wednesday from September through June, with performers from around the world.

We have a wide variety of unique musical events throughout the year but Yorkminster Park is renowned for its special seasonal concerts. The quality and dedication of the music ministry at YPBC is never more evident than during Advent and Holy Week and these services have become community traditions: “City Carol Sing”, “Carols by Candlelight”, the “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols”, Passiontide Devotion during Holy Week and traditional Evensong services three times a year.

Our sanctuary is frequently made available to other choral and concert groups, which draw appreciative audiences from all over Southern Ontario.