HISTORY & VISION
History
The creation of a professional calibre men’s chorus was a longtime dream of Artistic Director Greg Rainville. The Canadian Men’s Chorus is the realization of that dream. On April 24, 2010, the ensemble presented its first concert at Yorkminster Baptist Church. The concert drew accolades from those in attendance and the singers were excited about the prospect of a new chorus dedicated to repertoire for men’s voices.
Our inaugural season consisted of two very successful concerts at the Glenn Gould Studio. The first, A Gentlemen’s Christmas, took place on November 26, 2010 and the second, The Classics, was held on March 23, 2011. Both concerts featured works by Canadian composers Diane Loomer, Stephen Chatman, Healey Willan, Stephen Hatfield and Mark Sirett.
The Canadian Men's Chorus presented three concerts in our second season. The first, Honour: Love, Memorial and Peace was performed on October 16, 2011 to great acclaim. The second annual A Gentlemen’s Christmas: Winter’s Chill took place on December 10, 2011 and was highly praised by those in attendance. The third concert is entitled Out of the Depths: An Exploration of Sacred Music, to be performed on May 13, 2012.
True to its name, the Canadian Men's Chorus fosters a distinctly Canadian repertoire of choral men’s choral music by providing a professional quality instrument for which Canadian composers can write and by which they can hear their works performed. Our mandate dictates that we will premiere a new Canadian work at every concert. In our inaugural season, we were proud to premiere new works by two emerging, young Canadian composers: Sean King and Avalon Rusk. During our second season, we performed Canadian premieres composed by John Laing, Avalon Rusk and Patrick Murray.
The Canadian Men's Chorus is grateful for the partnership and support of our Founding Friends. The generosity of these audience members has provided us with the means by which to purchase our scores and to build our music library.
Vision
Website Design: Atanas Bozdarov
Art Direction: Jay Wilson
Webmaster: Cathy Landolt
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Canadian Men’s Chorus is to perform and advance music specifically for tenor/bass voices, thereby increasing the profile of this distinctive repertoire within the existing choral landscape. We will present high calibre, professional performances of choral repertoire, with a focus on music that reflects Canadian culture and on creating new Canadian music.
VISION STATEMENT
We envision the Canadian Men’s Chorus as a creative environment where traditional and new music for tenor/bass voices can be explored, rehearsed and performed so that our audiences can hear and appreciate this music both as entertainment and as artistry.
MANDATE
The mandate of the Canadian Men’s Chorus is to perform choral repertoire with an emphasis on premiering a new Canadian composition at every concert, thereby supporting emerging Canadian composers by giving them a professional quality instrument