Media

Media Room

November 10, 2019

A stellar cast and brilliant orchestral playing result in a remarkable performance by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra!

2019-20 Season

TMC media review

Dave Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews. Last night’s foréee into grand opera by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall was indeed very special. It is rare to attend concert versions of grand opera with full orchestra. (I haven’t been a fan of the scaled-down piano accompanied versions). TSO’s Interim Music Director Sir Andrew Davis led an outstanding cast in a dramatically and musically charged performance of Massenet’s Thaïs that kept me riveted for the full two and a half hours. That the performance was being recorded for the Chandos recording label meant that orchestra, soloists and chorus were all fully prepared to make it a memorable night.

November 8, 2019

Sir Andrew Davis And The TSO Offer Rare Treat In Massenet’s Thaïs

2019-20 Season

TMC media review

Stephan Bonfield, ludwig van Toronto. The TSO, under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, the Toronto Mendselssohn Choir, and a talented cast of singers, treat Toronto to a lively, nuanced performance in the nineteenth-century French grand opera tradition.

November 8, 2019

Massenet’s Thaïs loses its impact in transition from opera to concert stage

2019-20 Season

TMC media review

John Terauds, Toronto Star. Thaïs Grand Opera in Concert. 3 stars out of 4. The playwright George Bernard Shaw enjoyed playing music critic. He described French opera master Jules Massenet as “one of the loudest of modern composers.” The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, hosting a rare concert performance of an opera on Thursday night, proved Shaw’s point.

October 22, 2019

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrates its 125th Anniversary with Singing Through Centuries

2019-20 Season

TMC media review

Denise Lai, La Scena Musicale. Canada’s oldest choir celebrated its 125th birthday with a gala concert at Koerner Hall yesterday afternoon. Interim artistic director David Fallis put together a diverse program that featured works from each of the three centuries in which the choir has performed. Among the many alumni and friends in attendance was Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

October 22, 2019

Singing through Centuries celebrates 125 years of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir!

2019-20 Season

Dave Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews. Interim Artistic Director David Fallis curated a magnificent program entitled Singing through the Centuries, a homage to the longevity of the Choir’s musical excellence. At his creative best, Fallis found works that not only showcased the music of three centuries, but also found music that uplifted the human spirit, including a newly commissioned piece by Cree-descended composer Andrew Balfour.

October 21, 2019

Singing through Centuries: TMC’s 125th – a review

2019-20 Season

Leslie Barcza, barczablog. Today the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrated their 125th anniversary with a gala concert at Koerner Hall, joined for the occasion by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (who haven’t yet had their centennial, and who only came into existence in 1922). Led by the TMC’s Interim Conductor & Artistic Advisor David Fallis (whose title could also be “saviour” although he’d probably blush at the suggestion), the program he assembled, titled “Singing through Centuries”, is a fascinating nod to the occasion being celebrated.

October 18, 2019

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir: Canada’s Oldest Choir Celebrates 125 Years

2019-20 Season

Denise Lai, La Scena Musicale. Founded in 1894, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) is Canada’s oldest choir. It performed its first concert at the inaugural season of Massey Hall in January 1895. John McCrae, who famously penned the war memorial poem “In Flanders Fields,” was in attendance. Throughout its long history, the TMC has been served by eight artistic directors. Since 2018, David Fallis has been its interim conductor, and the choir undertakes an international search for an artistic director to take the helm in 2020-21.

October 17, 2019

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir announces new Executive Director

2019-20 Season

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) Board Chair Erin Finlay announced today that respected arts administrator Anna Kajtar has been named as Executive Director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; she assumes the position from Cynthia Hawkins who recently retired from the Choir after 15 years.  

October 7, 2019

Program Notes: Singing Through Centuries

2019-20 Season

When Augustus Stephen Vogt founded the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in 1894, it was perhaps no surprise that the new choral ensemble should be named after one of the most beloved romantic composers at the time, Felix Mendelssohn. His rich repertoire of choral music was sung widely, and was especially favoured in the English-speaking world. And it is perhaps no surprise that we should start this afternoon’s 125th-anniversary concert with two beautiful works by our namesake: they both display his unerring ability to create sweet, lush harmonies for unaccompanied voices.