From the Executive Director’s Desk
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.
This issue of Voice of Mendelssohn examines the issue of “what’s next” from different TMC perspectives. Our strategic planning committee is close to completing their preliminary research and interview process, and the Board and staff look forward to fine-tuning the organization’s goals and initiatives for the next four years. You can read more about our current strategic planning process later in this issue. We take a look at what our four-year-old Alumni Program has achieved to date, and hear from some of our Apprentice members about their future plans and how the TMC has contributed to their personal growth. Noel and I brainstorm on what it may take to move the TMC into the future, and in “Voices from the Choir” we get an idea of how some of our choristers see the TMC fitting into Toronto’s current choral landscape.
In a recent concert article, the reviewer referred to the TMC as “Canada’s National Treasure.” National treasures represent what is most cherished in a country: the ideas and values that unite people expressed as shared culture. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has been a national treasure since 1894, sharing our values through the choral arts to generations, and we are proud of this legacy of excellence. Yet, in a world that is evolving faster than ever before, we can’t simply rely on our successful past to tell our story—we must continue to find creative and wide-reaching ways to inspire artistic excellence, share great music, and create personal connections—to be a true “champion of choral music.”