St. Michael's Choir School
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| St. Michael's Choir School | |
 He Who Sings Prays Twice |
|
| Location | |
| Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| Website | |
| http://www.smcs.on.ca | |
| Information | |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Principal | Mr. Domnic Melino |
| Faculty | 41 |
| School type | Semi-private |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colours | maroon (Elementary), and navy blue (High School) |
| Established | 1937 |
| Affiliations | TCDSB |
| Crest image © St. Michael's Choir School | |
St. Michael’s Choir School was founded in 1937 by Msgr. John Edward Ronan to facilitate the training of a professional boys’ choir for St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto, Canada.
The official name of the school at the time was “Cathedral Schola Cantorum.” On May 17, 1955, St. Michael’s Choir School was accorded an affiliation with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome - only six other choirs and choir schools in the world share this privilege. Because of this affiliation with the PISM, the school has the power to grant degrees in Sacred Music. In 1987, the Choir School completed fifty years of service, and in recognition of this milestone, Art Eggleton, the mayor of Toronto at the time, declared June 15, 1987 as the official St. Michael’s Choir School Day.
St. Michael’s Choir School was formed from humble beginnings as a privately run institution. From its beginning, the school has provided parishes in the Toronto Diocese and beyond with organists, cantors, conductors, and professional singers, such as Michael Burgess, Matt Dusk, Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies, The Four Lads, John McDermott, Michael Schade, and Robert Pomakov. The Choir sings at St. Michael's Cathedral every weekend.
St. Michael's Choir School tours twice a year - a one-week tour in December, and a two to three week concert tour immediately following Easter. The first tour the school made was in 1971, when the choir toured England and Italy, as well as competing in (and winning) the International Choral Festival in Cork. Since 1971, the choir has toured all over Canada and the continental United States, as well as making concert appearances throughout Western Europe and in Trinidad and Tobago.
As well as touring, the choir participates in many local events. The Choir School has given Christmas concerts every year since 1937. Currently they are held at Massey Hall. A sell-out is nearly guaranteed as 8,000 concert-goers fill the hall to hear the choir two nights a year. These Christmas Concerts have been a tradition since the early days of the school.
The Choir School has performed for many notable individuals, including His Holiness Pope John Paul II during World Youth Day 2002, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in October of 2003 and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 2003. The choir also performed for charity at Toronto's Skydome with Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Wayne Gretzky in November of 2001.
The choir's tradition of excellence and high standards of musical achievement have drawn parallels with the Vienna Boys Choir, which St. Michael's Choir defeated in competition at the International Choral Festival. The Elementary and Junior choirs recently won two 1st place finishes at the Kiwanis Music Festival.
The choir was most recently on the international stage in April of 2005. A two week tour took a choir of nearly 150 to the western Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. After the Canadian portion of the tour, the choir headed south to California. The impoverished central city of Salinas, facing record deficits, had just voted to reduce expenses by shutting down all the public libraries in the city. The irony of such a thing happening in the hometown of legendary American author John Steinbeck was not lost on Dennis Donohue, chair-elect of the Salinas Chamber of Commerce. Having visited Toronto previously on business, he was awestruck when he heard the choir perform at St. Michael's Cathedral. He arranged to have them visit the area in late April to give benefit concerts for the Salinas libraries. Two very successful benefits were given. The first was in the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, where the choir was introduced by the Canadian consul-general in California Alain Dudoit. The final concert of the tour was to a packed house in Salinas. The concerts raised enough money to re-open the libraries. The appearances generated press comment from Toronto to Los Angeles.
Coasting on such success, the choir travelled to Philadelphia and Miami in the spring of 2006, where they also performed at sold-out concerts.
A series of out-of-town concerts are being held. Here are some of the contest listings for your convience. These concerts are listed in chronological order from the first out-of-town concert in December.
1.) Tuesday, December 5 in Kitchener | Senior Choir | St. Mary's Church, 56 Duke Street | 7:30 p.m. - (519) 576-3860 2.) Thursday, December 7 in Barrie |Senior Choir |St. John Vianney Church, 13 Baldwin Lane |7 p.m. - (705) 726-8007 3.)Saturday, December 9 in Burlington |Junior Choir |Holy Rosary Church, 287 Plains Road East |2 p.m. - (905) 634-7441 4.)Thursday, December 21 in Woodbridge |Junior Choir |St. Clare of Assisi Church, 150 St. Francis Avenue |7:30 p.m. - (905) 653-8000
Please note that tickets are not avaliable via the school. Please contact each of the parishes that the choirs' are going to for information regarding tickets and directions.
The Choir School will have their annual Massey Hall Christmas Concert on December 15 & 16. Tickets are available at the Roy Thomson/Massey Hall Website
