"To make the journey to Buffalo and Cleveland a success musically it was necessary for the chorus to be relieved from the countless worries usually inseparable from the luxury of travel. It was necessary for some one to assume two hundred burdens." Excerpted from a lavish thank-you letter of illuminated calligraphy presented by the Choir in February 1910 to their Choir President G. H. Parkes.
The Mendelssohn Choir of Toronto (now the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir) performed its first concert on January 15, 1895 in Massey Music Hall under the direction of its founder Augustus Vogt.
To celebrate the TMC's 125th anniversary, and in line with our long tradition of commissioning Canadian composers, the TMC commissioned a new work by Andrew Balfour to be performed on October 20, 2019 at our 125th anniversary concert at Koerner Hall, with guest artists the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
In 2012 the TMC found a way to tour its music internationally (without the high airfare) and make choral concerts more accessible - webcasting. TMC webcasts have brought great choral music to people unable to attend concerts - whether they be in the Toronto area, or living somewhere across Canada, or anywhere in the world with internet access.
For five Saturdays every season, beginning in our 1999/2000 season, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has been inviting those who love to sing, from across the GTA, to attend choral workshops where they can sing through major repertoire with guest conductors and members of the TMC.
Lois Marshall was internationally regarded as one of the great sopranos of the 20th century. In 1947, at just 22 years old, and at the beginning of her career, she was engaged by Sir Ernest MacMillan as a soprano soloist singing, on three successive nights, the soprano solo work in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s Bach festival.
In 1973 the CBC commissioned Canadian composer André Prévost to write a work to be performed by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir under Elmer Iseler, and broadcast on CBC Radio. The work was Missa de Profundis.
TMC's third conductor was Sir Ernest MacMillan, Canada's "Musical Knight."
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir first performed Handel's Messiah in 1932 under conductor Herbert A Fricker (2nd conductor of the TMC). It has performed Messiah every year since.