Media

February 27, 2018

TMC to cancel March 6 & 7 MacMillan & Pärt concerts

2017-18 Season

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir regrets to inform patrons that our MacMillan & Pärt concerts on March 6th and 7th have been cancelled. Patrons who have purchased tickets to this concert…

January 26, 2018

Grammy-nominated Toronto Mendelssohn Choir leader recalls brush with Lady Gaga

2017-18 Season

David Friend, The Canadian Press

Noel Edison didn’t expect to rub shoulders with Lady Gaga when he attended the Grammy Awards for the first time, but the chorus master at the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir couldn’t resist the opportunity when it arose.

At the glitzy celebration for the 2010 awards in Los Angeles, Edison found himself standing near the “Bad Romance” singer. So he stuck out his hand and introduced himself.

“(I) said, ‘Look, I want to congratulate you — I think you’ve got a unique sound and a unique approach to this modern-day popular culture,'” he recalls.

“We had a nice chat with her big thugs standing around. We had a little vodka together, so that was fun.”

Edison didn’t win the Grammy that year, but he’ll have another chance on Sunday as he vies for best choral performance with his choir and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The Toronto performers share a nomination with British conductor Sir Andrew Davis for his daring take on Handel’s “Messiah,” which throws in new elements that elevate the composition’s theatrical flair.

January 24, 2018

The Art of Honing the Next Great Musical Communicators

2017-18 Season

Brian Chang, ludwig-van Toronto. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Elora Singers under Artistic Director Noel Edison host Connor Doran (Rochester), Alexandra Grabarchuk (Los Angeles), Trevor Kroeger (Cincinnati), Virginie Pacheco (Montreal), and Daniel Parsley (Cincinnati) for the annual Conductors Symposium January 23-27. Free Concert Saturday, January 27, 3 pm, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Toronto. “Conducting is a lonely profession,“ said Noel Edison, Artistic Director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Elora Singers, ”[the symposium] is a shot in the arm for conductors.” 2018 marks the 8th year Edison has run this unique conducting program out of Toronto, bringing some of the finest emerging conductors to Toronto from across North America and immersing them in the full artistic and administrative process of successful choral music.

January 9, 2018

Composer’s Commentary on Seven Last Words from the Cross

2017-18 Season

James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross was commissioned by BBC Television and first screened in seven nightly episodes during Holy Week 1994, performed by Cappella Nova and the BT Scottish Ensemble under Alan Tavener.

The traditional text of the Seven Last Words from the Cross is based on a compilation from all four gospels to form a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ. Composer James MacMillan comments on all seven movements.

January 9, 2018

TMC brings a focus to the art of conducting – and shares an inside look

2017-18 Season

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Conductors’ Symposium, now in its eighth year, is an important part of its Emerging Conductors Program to further the development of young conductors. The week-long series of workshops and conducting sessions, led by acclaimed conductor Noel Edison, brings together five conductors from across North America. Participants have the rare opportunity to conduct 100 voices of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the 20-voice professional Elora Singers in rehearsals throughout the week and in the concluding free public performance on Saturday, January 27th, which is also webcast live.  

December 19, 2017

Halls Brings TSO Messiah Brilliantly Into Focus

2017-18 Season

Arthur Kaptainis, Ludwig Van Toronto.

In the age of sexed-up and dumbed-down Messiahs, it is good to be reminded how utterly self-refreshing Handel’s masterpiece is when addressed by the right personnel under a conductor with something to say. Such were the conditions that prevailed Monday in Roy Thomson Hall, where Matthew Halls led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and a crack quartet of Canadian soloists in through a performance that could fairly be called electrifying.

December 11, 2017

The enduring high note of Handel’s Messiah returning in dual Toronto productions

2017-18 Season

John Terauds, Toronto Star. No one expects a stopgap to turn into a masterpiece. But that’s what happened to George Frideric Handel when one of his collaborators, Charles Jennens, handed him some texts to set to music.

Messiah has, since its premiere in Dublin at Easter time 275 years ago, become one of the best-loved pieces of classical music in the English-speaking world. Toronto is no exception, becoming a virtual shrine to Messiah at this time every year.

The city’s two flagship orchestras — the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on modern instruments, and Tafelmusik Orchestra on historical ones — present multiple performances every December. The two-hour oratorio, either in part or whole, is also heard in churches, cathedrals, schools and community concerts from the city core to rural villages.

December 6, 2017

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir marks the beginning of the holiday season with glorious sounds!

2017-18 Season

Dave Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews.

For the eighteenth consecutive year, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has begun its hectic December schedule of performances with its Festival of Carols. The cathedral-like Yorkminster Park Baptist Church was festooned with twenty-five foot high Christmas trees at either side of the chancel, lit with thousands of sparkling lights. The sounds of the TMC, organist David Briggs, the Canadian Staff Band of the Salvation Army, and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company was glorious. This was indeed the beginning of a month of great music, celebration and festivities.

From the opening bars of Bob Chilcott’s arrangement of the Sussex Carol, the energy of the choir’s rhythmically charged singing was joyfully uplifting.

December 5, 2017

Performers Also Work Extra Holiday Hours: Noel Edison, Conductor

2017-18 Season

Liz Parker, Classical 96.3 Blog.

Q: The holidays can be a lot of fun for the fans who love to be entertained – but it’s a lot of fatigue for the performers. What is the hardest thing about performing over the holidays? Be honest.
Noel: To be honest, I actually enjoy performing over the holiday season. When you conduct so many choirs, there is so much variety in what you are doing, you never get bored! Now, all the programming that has to happen in October ….that’s tedious!