St. Michael's Choir School

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St. Michael's Choir School
Bis Orat Qui Cantat He Who Sings Once, Prays Twice
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Information
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
Principal	Mr. Domnic Melino
Faculty	41
School type	Semi-private
Campus	Urban
Colours	maroon (Elementary), and navy blue (Secondary)
Established	1937
Affiliations	TCDSB
Homepage	http://www.smcs.on.ca
Crest image © St. Michael's Choir School

One of the campus buildings of St. Michael's Choir School

St. Michael’s Choir School is an all-boys' university prepatory school that embodies a unique learning environment for its students. The school serves as a union between two distinct institutions: the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. While providing rigorous academic training, the Choir School also instructs choristers and musicians.

1 A Brief History
2 Choral Excellence
3 House System
4 Distinguished Alumni
5 External links

[edit] A Brief History

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” and was a privately-run institution. 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.

[edit] Choral Excellence

From its beginning, the school has provided parishes in the Toronto Diocese and beyond with organists, cantors, conductors, and professional vocalists. 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. Touring commenced in 1971, with the choir performing in England and Italy, and competing in (and winning) the International Choral Festival in Cork. Since then, 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.

Besides 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 Hallin downtown Toronto. 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 become a vital tradition to life at St. Michael's Choir 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 former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 2003. The choir also participated in a charity performance at Toronto's Rogers Centre 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.

The choir has also just recently completed its stunning sold-out Massey Hall Christmas Concerts, and a series of Concerts in Burlington, Barrie, and Peterborough. The choir has also been televised singing at the 8:00 PM Christmas Eve Mass at St. Michael's Cathedral. This mass was aired on VisionTV in Canada.

[edit] House System

Students from grades 7 to 12 are divided among four school houses, which are dedicated to notable Choir School community members for their committed service to the school. The school houses are as following: