Who We Are
THE PASSION OF MANY VOICES
Beyond a Choir
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is in fact a Choral Organization, not just a choir, and this is the main reason we have such a long legacy. We are here to serve not only the audience of the choir itself, we are also here to serve our community – choristers, musicians, friends, neighbours, educators, and creators.
Artistic Director: Jean-Sébastien Vallée Executive Director: Anna Kajtár
Our Legacy & Our Vision
A Reputation for Excellence
Founded in 1894 by Augustus Vogt, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is proud to be one of Canada’s oldest, largest, and most recognized choral ensembles, renowned for over 125 years for delivering the highest standard of musical performance. Dive into our history book here.
Grand symphonic sound that can only be achieved by a large choir has been the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s trademark. Performing both sacred and secular repertoire, TMChoir choristers have long been committed to offering audiences a profound emotional experience of some of the most powerful music ever composed.
The TMChoir is a Juno winner, and Grammy-nominated.
The TMChoir & the TMSingers
Did you know? We’re actually kind of a shape-shifter! Our ensemble includes a core of 24 professional singers – the TMSingers, and expands to the full TMChoir which includes 100+ auditioned and experienced volunteer choristers.
The flexibility of our different choir sizes means we can fill large, impressive orchestral spaces with the scale of large choir required to honour the magnificence of a symphonic choral masterwork; while our smaller professional ensemble can deliver more intimate, nimble repertoire pieces in a variety of non-traditional venues, traversing the line between concert and experience.
Creating New Choral Experiences
With the guidance of our new leadership team and the vision of our Artistic Director, we see our future growth as balanced between tradition and fresh innovation. We are evolving to include diverse, contemporary works in our repertoire, and to reimagine our performances in new, surprising, experiential ways.
And because we are “beyond a choir”, our dedication to new choral experiences also extends to creating meaningful and impactful educational and community programs, and to forging new relationships and partnerships with friends and neighbours in the Canadian choral landscape.