TMC's third conductor was Sir Ernest MacMillan, Canada's "Musical Knight."
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Lorne Greene, TMC & WWII
Legendary Canadian actor and broadcaster Lorne Greene was narrator and MC for WWII fundraising and Remembrance Concerts in which the TMC performed.
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Messiah – let us count the times
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir first performed Handel's Messiah in 1932 under conductor Herbert A Fricker (2nd conductor of the TMC). It has performed Messiah every year since.
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Vogt Memorial Stained Glass Window
Dr. Augustus Vogt, founder of the TMC, died in 1926. In April 1929 a stained glass window to his memory was unveiled in St. Paul's Bloor Street.
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Hear TMC’s 1926 recording of Palestrina
You can still listen to TMC's very first 1926 recording of Palestrina's Adoramus Te, uploaded by Library and Archives Canada.
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Elmer Iseler, conductor
Acclaimed a choral genius, Elmer Iseler was at the helm of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for 33 years, from 1964 to 1997. The Choir achieved great success under his artistic leadership, a leadership and vision that not only shaped the TMC but also so much of choral music in Toronto and Canada.
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a music typewriter
This ad, from a 1939 concert program, is for a musician's typewriter. Look at the price - $70 in 1939 would be $1222 in 2019 dollars!
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Freude Freude
The Mendelssohn Choir toured to the United States a number of times in the early 1900s, with its first U.S. concert given in Buffalo in February 1905. It was a 1906 performance of Beethoven's Choral Symphony that cemented the Choir's reputation in the States.
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John McCrae attended our first concert
We were fascinated to learn that John McCrae attended our very first concert on January 15, 1895. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD is best know for writing the famous war memorial poem In Flanders Fields.
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TMC travels to Chicago in 1909 in style
In 1909 the TMC travelled to Chicago to sing three concerts with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra. The 228 members of the choir were brought to Chicago on two special Pullman trains of seven cars each, leaving Toronto Tuesday evening, arriving in Chicago Wednesday morning.
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