Month: June 2015

Post

Luminato’s Apocalypsis is a complicated triumph

Robert Harris, Globe and Mail. Toronto’s Luminato Festival has staked a great deal on the highly original and highly idiosyncratic imaginative outpourings of a now 82-yr.-old Canadian musical wizard, R. Murray Schafer. Three long years in the making, the production of Schafer’s music ritual Apocalypsis that opened at the Festival Friday night brought together 1,000 musicians, singers, actors, dancers and technicians. It assembled a cast of internationally-known stars. It cost over a million dollars. It was a high-profile, big-time gamble.

The gamble paid off.

Brass Band Tradition at Christmas
Post

Brass Band Tradition at Christmas

One of the joys of Christmas is its predictability. Every year, we associate the Christmas season with familiar images, tastes, activities, objects and sounds. Santa Claus and Ebenezer Scrooge, Handel’s Messiah and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, roast turkey and cranberry sauce, mistletoe and eggnog…….. brass instruments and choral voices. They all provide a joyous, festive and warm mood to which we enjoy returning year after year.

Post

TSO conveys emotion of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2

Michael Vincent, Toronto Star. Singing with a singular voice, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir lined the balcony with impressive numbers. Rather than coming out for the fourth movement, they sat motionless until it was their turn to sing. But once they did, their voices filled the hall like the massive organ that loomed at their backs.

Post

Happy Ending and Then Some in Mahler’s Second

Arthur Kaptainis, Musical Toronto. I am always up for a sermon on the life everlasting, and the great finale, made of glorious sonorities onstage and off, did not fail. Oundjian found respiration in the phrasing and drama in the entries. Brass playing was firm, woodwinds were colourful and strings had the ring of truth. Most important, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (prepared by Noel Edison) entered with breathtaking solemnity. Remarkable how gripping a pianissimo equilibrium can be.

Headshot of Cynthia Hawkins
Post

From the Executive Director’s Desk – Spring 2015

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s 121st season has been hugely exciting, with an average of 92 percent of house at TMC performances, a new series of concert webcasts that have garnered 11,622 followers, and a pair of pop-up concerts that received front page coverage in the Toronto Star. Where do we go from here? you might ask.

Crystal ball
Post

Looking Ahead with Noel and Cynthia

We sat down with Artistic Director Noel Edison and Executive Director Cynthia Hawkins to talk about artistic excellence and how the TMC as an organization can maintain its hard-earned excellence in a changing arts landscape.

Alumni Futures
Post

Alumni Futures

Whether a chorister's tenure with the TMC has ended after a single year or has spanned decades, an invitation to join the TMC alumni lies at the end of their days as a full chorister. We value our alumni members, many of whom maintain active connections with the TMC family, singing at Singsations or as part of the Alumni Singers programme, attending concerts, and volunteering in the office. So it is important to the TMC that we find ways to stay engaged, connected, and associated with choristers who have transitioned to the alumni.

Post

Moving on Up: Apprentices on the Edge

The TMC Apprentice program is growing by leaps and bounds. This year saw a record 12 apprentices. Five of these young singers have come to the end of their TMC apprenticeships, and will be eligible to audition as full, adult TMC members for the 2015-16 season. We caught up with four “graduating” apprentices to chat about their plans for the future.

  • 1
  • 2