Media

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!

December 4, 2017

On the history of Christmas carols and brass bands

2017-18 Season

“The typical carol gives voice to the common emotions of healthy people in language that can be understood, and music that can be shared by all.” Percy Dearmer (1867-1936)

The singing of Christmas songs and carols with music for brass instruments goes hand-in-hand – like mistletoe and eggnog, or turkey and cranberry sauce. Christmas carols date back to pagan times, originally used to mark the end of one season and the start of the next. As Christianity grew, carols gradually developed a link to the birth of Jesus, but the association to paganism remained in the shadows and the singing of carols was prohibited at times. In the 19th century, the Victorians reinvented Christmas as a sentimental festival of good cheer with families and friends and the carol enjoyed a renaissance. Many new carols and songs, in a pseudo-traditional style were written, and there was a conscious shift from the nativity story to a focus on the more secular, festive pleasures of Christmas like the winter solstice, eating, drinking and Santa Claus. By the end of the 19th century, small English parish churches began the Christmas Eve practice of lessons, prayers and a short sermon mingled with a variety of carols. It was later expanded to a festival of nine lessons and carols, made popular around the world in the 20th century by King’s College, Cambridge in England.

November 30, 2017

Meet a Member: Anne Longmore, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

2017-18 Season

Mike Rowan, Chorus America.

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir director of marketing and community outreach Anne Longmore has an unusual dual career—college professor and arts administrator, thanks to a big move.

“I worked for a year and a half in Dubai with my family, and taught some marketing classes at Canadian University Dubai where my husband was working,” recounts Longmore. “When I came back to Toronto, I wanted to work in the arts, but also look for an opportunity to teach part-time.” She teaches at Humber College, which offers a post-graduate certificate program in public relations, in addition to her work with TMC.

After obtaining her master’s in arts administration and working for some of Toronto’s large cultural institutions, Longmore was happy to combine her personal passion for singing and working for an arts organization that makes a difference in society. She also increasingly enjoys opportunities to lead seminars and webinars where she can share practical advice for those just starting out with a stretched budget or staff. Says Longmore, “I love to help other professionals understand how to make the ideas that you read about actually happen.”

Longmore spoke to Chorus America president and CEO Catherine Dehoney about trends in marketing and arts administration programs in our latest edition of ‘Meet A Member.’

November 29, 2017

Toronto Dominates Classical Music Nominees At The 60th Annual Grammy Awards

2017-18 Season

Michael Vincent, Ludwig Van Toronto. The 60th annual Grammy Awards have announced the complete list of nominees.
This year, three Toronto artists/presenters represent the only Canadians nominated over the 10 classical music categories.
Soprano Barbara Hannigan is nominated for in the Best Classical Solo Vocal Album category for her 2017 album release, Crazy Girl Crazy featuring music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio with Orchestra Ludwig. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir are both nominated for last year’s recording of Handel’s Messiah with Andrew Davis, (conductor) Noel Edison (chorus master) and soloists: Elizabeth DeShong, John Relyea, Andrew Staples & Erin Wall. TSO Messiah album producer, Blanton Alspaugh, also has a nod for producer of the year.

November 27, 2017

TMC Announces winner of the 2017 Debbie Fleming Prize for Choral Composition

2017-18 Season

Toronto composer Joannie Ing has been awarded the Debbie Fleming Prize for Choral Composition for her composition The Good News Carol.  This is the third year of the TMC’s Choral Composition Competition for emerging Canadian composers.  For 2017, the competition called on unpublished Canadian composers to submit a sacred or secular work for the Christmas season, not more than five minutes in length, for SATB, either a cappella or accompanied by organ.