Roy Thomson Hall’s 9^th Annual FREE Noon Hour
Choir & Organ Concerts

Orpheus Choir of Toronto

Robert Cooper, Artistic Director/Conductor

Roy Thomson Hall

Monday, January 23, 2006 at 12:00 Noon

FREE Admission – Call 416-872-4255 for further information

Toronto– Roy Thomson Hall concludes its ninth season of Free Noon Hour Choir & Organ Concerts on Monday, January 23, 2006 at 12 Noon with a performance by the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, one of Canada’s most prominent choral ensembles. Artistic director/conductor Robert Cooper leads the choir in a captivating program of contemporary classics, including excerpts from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace; Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt’s Immortal Bach; John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit, a set of spirituals featuring the Sidgwick Scholars as soloists; plus works by Lang, Halley, Sharpe and others. The program also features several organ solos performed by Edward Moroney, including Rutter’s Toccata in Seven.

The event marks this season’s fourth and final concert devoted to the artistry of outstanding choral ensembles and organists. The popular noontime series is made possible by the continuing generous support of Edwards Charitable Foundation and spotlights Roy Thomson Hall’s magnificent Gabriel Kney pipe organ. With 71 stops and more than 5,000 pipes, the four-manual organ is one of the largest mechanical-action instruments in Canada.

The Orpheus Choir of Toronto was founded in 1964 by John Sidgwick and has distinguished itself as one of Toronto’s finest large choral ensembles. Its repertoire represents many musical traditions and showcases sacred and secular music from the Renaissance to the 21st Century, including mainstream and experimental works. The 60-voice mixed choir is known for its unique collaborations with noted artists and has been the guest of organizations such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada and Opera in Concert. The choir presents its own series of four or five concerts annually in the Toronto area.

Robert Cooper, one of Canada’s leading conductors of choral music, assumed the position as artistic director/conductor of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto in 2003. He is also artistic director of Chorus Niagara and the Opera in Concert Chorus, as well as a teaching member of the Choral Department at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Also, as the executive producer of Opera and Choral Music for CBC Radio Two, he brings choral music to all of Canada.

The Sidgwick Scholars of the Orpheus Choir are young vocalists chosen each year to be section leaders and have the opportunity to perform as soloists in the season’s concerts. Past scholars include baritone James Westman, soprano Patricia O’Callaghan, tenor Michael Colvin and many others who have gone on to significant solo careers. The John and Mary Sidgwick Scholarship Programme was founded in 1989 to commemorate the choir’s 25^th anniversary. This year’s Sidgwick Scholars are soprano Christine Lee, mezzo-soprano Paula Wickberg and baritone Philip Carmichael.