2017-18 Season Archives - Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

Peter Oundjian Has Left The Building

tmchoir — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 14:21:13 +0000

Arthur Kaptainis, Ludwig Van Toronto. The 140-strong Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, on stage rather than in the loft, could hardly have failed to make an impact throughout the hall in the great climaxes, including the high-altitude fugue. These choristers know the music and love it. Strings in the instrumental fugue reminded of us of the calibre of playing we have become accustomed to during the Oundjian years.

The post Peter Oundjian Has Left The Building appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Peter Oundjian’s triumphant finale to his fourteen-year tenure with Toronto Symphony!

tmchoir — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 14:26:44 +0000

David Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews. Not many people get a goodbye celebration at Roy Thomson Hall. Such was the case last night for Peter Oundjian with the hall filled to the choir lofts with an adoring public including the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Lieutenant Governor of Ontario), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian ended his remarkable fourteen years at the orchestra's helm as the TSO closed out its 2017/18 season. The sustained standing ovation by the sold-out hall was just the beginning of the show of love and appreciation for the music he has given and for what he has done for the orchestra, the city and the province.

The post Peter Oundjian’s triumphant finale to his fourteen-year tenure with Toronto Symphony! appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Oundjian Ode to Joy

tmchoir — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 14:38:33 +0000

Leslie Barcza, Barczablog. We heard Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The piece is ideal for this sort of occasion, an instant happening. For three movements the orchestra plays while a crowd of brooding faces watch and listen from the stage. It was almost like three different symphonies, totally unlike one another, each in the presence of the 150 formally attired singers of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, waiting their turn. The dissonance that opens the last movement might almost sum up the shock we feel when oh my they’re standing up, perfectly synchronized. Something is going to happen! Of course it won’t be a surprise when they also sing in perfect synchronization.

The post Oundjian Ode to Joy appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

CANDIDE at TSO Gives You Permission to Laugh

tmchoir — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 22:06:26 +0000

Taylor Long, Broadway World.

Conductor Bramwell Tovey began the evening by saying, "in light of the way things are... I want to give you permission to laugh." It didn't take very long before the audience was in stitches with laughter. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performed Leonard Bernstein's CANDIDE last weekend, accompanied by some of the country's greatest classical voices - Judith Forst and Tracy Dahl - and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The evening was a spectacular display of fine music, drama, and comedy.

The post CANDIDE at TSO Gives You Permission to Laugh appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Candide with the Toronto Symphony: using our imaginations

tmchoir — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:25:23 +0000

Leslie Barcza, barczablog. This felt like a very authentic performance to me, Bramwell Tovey kicking the TSO, chorus & soloists along at a wonderful pace. Tovey even got into the act, singing & dancing himself, but he was having a great time.

The post Candide with the Toronto Symphony: using our imaginations appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

TSO’s Candide Pushes Bernstein’s Wordplay A Little Too Far

tmchoir — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:16:10 +0000

Arthur Kaptainis, Ludwig Van Toronto. While the score brims with good tunes and snappy rhythms, Candide’s travels never really acquire anything like dramatic momentum. Characters inexplicably return to life (as the duet “You Were Dead, You Know” explicitly acknowledges) and the unpleasant misadventures are essentially random.

The post TSO’s Candide Pushes Bernstein’s Wordplay A Little Too Far appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Noel Edison resigns as artistic director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

tmchoir — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 02:45:51 +0000

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) has received and accepted the resignation of artistic director Noel Edison,

The post Noel Edison resigns as artistic director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Board reviewing results of investigation into complaints against Noel Edison

tmchoir — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 20:57:56 +0000

In February of this year, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) Board of Directors, along with the Board of Directors of the Elora Festival and The Elora Singers, retained an independent...

The post Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Board reviewing results of investigation into complaints against Noel Edison appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Sacred Music for a Sacred Space: a special concert for a special day!

tmchoir — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 14:30:40 +0000

David Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews. The lights dimmed at St. Paul’s Basilica bringing a hush over the capacity audience and suddenly heavenly a cappella sounds began wafting down from the balcony in the rear of the church. Since 2007, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has made it a tradition to present a concert of music appropriate for Holy Week in one of the most beautiful churches in Toronto on one of the Christian church’s holiest days, Good Friday. As the choir began to sing, I squelched the temptation to look back; looking upward at the colourful ceiling paintings of the life of Paul was as far as I dared turn my head. I was transfixed in the moment. The words of Behold the Tabernacle of God reinforced the feeling that I was in a ‘sacred’ space.

The post Sacred Music for a Sacred Space: a special concert for a special day! appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

TMC announces critically-acclaimed conductor David Fallis will conduct Choir in March Sacred Music concerts

tmchoir — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 18:35:42 +0000

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is pleased to announce that renowned Canadian conductor and music director David Fallis will be guest conductor for the TMC’s annual Sacred Music for a Sacred Space concerts on March 28 and Good Friday, March 30 at St. Paul’s Basilica.

David Fallis is a Canadian conductor and music director renowned for his work in many genres of music. As Music Director of Toronto’s Opera Atelier he has led critically acclaimed productions of major operatic works. As Artistic Director of the Toronto Consort, Canada’s leading ensemble specializing in the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque, David has toured extensively in Canada, the US and Europe, and has led the ensemble in their numerous recordings. He also directs Soundstreams Choir 21, a vocal ensemble specializing in contemporary choral music.

The post TMC announces critically-acclaimed conductor David Fallis will conduct Choir in March Sacred Music concerts appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.