The TMC celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2019 with a gala concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Koerner Hall. The Choir was founded in 1894 by conductor Augustus Vogt and had its first concert on January 15, 1895 in Massey Hall. The Choir has performed in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, as Toronto went from a city of 200,000 to the Greater Toronto Area of over 6 million. A lot has changed over the years, but the Choir continues to hold annual auditions for all choir members, a practice started by founder Augustus Vogt.
The Gala Concert will take place Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3:30 pm at Koerner Hall. The Choir will be joined by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, long-time musical partners with the TMC and a youngster at only 97 years old. TMC Conductor David Fallis has put together a program that brings together the three centuries in three major works: Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, composed in the late 1880s and re-orchestrated by him in 1894, the year of the founding of the TMC; Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, composed in 1930 and one of the greatest choral-orchestral works of the 20th century; and for the 21st century a new commission by acclaimed Cree composer Andrew Balfour. Andrew’s commission for the TMC will set Psalm 67 (Make Your Face Shine upon Us) in Cree.
Advance tickets will go on sale for this milestone concert by June 1.
The rest of the TMC 2019/20 season is coming together under the direction of Interim Conductor and Artistic Advisor David Fallis. A number of concerts in the season will be led by guest conductors as the Choir continues its international search for a new Artistic Director – only the 8th in the TMC’s 125-year history.
The TMC’s 2019/20 season will be (with conductors and repertoire to be confirmed in the coming months):
Singing through Centuries – A 125th Anniversary Gala Concert
Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3:30 pm
Koerner Hall
David Fallis, conductor
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Fauré: Requiem
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms
Balfour: New Commission
Festival of Carols
December 3 & 4, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
Free Community Concert
Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
Sacred Music for a Sacred Space
April 8 and Good Friday, April 10, 2020 at 7:30 pm
St. Anne’s Anglican Church
Great Poets in Music
New Date: May 30, 2020
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
The TMC’s 2019-20 season also includes three major concert programs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Massenet’s Thais Opera in Concert under Sir Andrew Davis in November; Handel’s Messiah under Alexander Shelley in December; and Mozart’s Requiem under Sir Andrew Davis in January 2020.
TMC will issue updates on concert conductors and repertoire and on its Artistic Director search as details become available.
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