Remember: 130 Years of Canadian Choral Music Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Jean Sébastien Vallée

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir/Jean Sébastien Valléee -"Remember: 130 Years of Canadian Choral Music" / 2024 marks the 130th anniversary of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, one of Canada's oldest, largest and most recognized choral ensembles.

Over the years, Layla Ramezan has been in touch with Iranian composers all over the world, such as Hormoz Farhat, Behzad Ranjbaran, Alireza Mashaekhi, Ahmad Pejman, Nader Mashayekhi, Iradj Sahbaï, Fozié Majd and Reza Vali. As pianist of the Matka contemporary ensemble, she has been the instigator of several projects of inter-cultural musical contact with Iran: in 2013, she organised a four-month residency at the Maison Baron in Geneva for Karen Keyhani, following the Matka ensemble's commission of a work by this young Iranian composer.

If you ask classical music connoisseurs in this country about music by Turkish composers, the name Fazıl Say is likely to come to mind – but beyond that, there’s no idea! According to the British conductor Howard Griffiths, a lot has happened in the 100 years of the Turkish Republic’s existence: the Ankara Conservatory was founded in 1936 at the suggestion of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; music students were sent to Europe and the USA for training. Starting with the ‘Turkish Five’, the pioneering generation of classical Turkish composers, an independent classical music tradition was able to develop, and a rich and lively musical landscape has emerged in Turkey.

Almost two centuries passed between the creation of the first and last pieces on the cd programme at hand, which was recorded by Bram Beekman on the De Rijckere organ in the Oostkerk (East Church) in the Dutch town of Middelburg. Almost 200 years in the wideranging history of the organ separate both the D minor Toccatas by the German organ masters Johan Sebastian Bach and Max Reger.

Jean-Sebastien Vallee is an internationally recognized conductor, scholar, and pedagogue.
Dr. Vallée is Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Ensembles & Conducting Area at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.

Discover this second album of Henry Aldrich’s Sacred Choral Music, performed by Oriel College Chapel Choir, Oxford, conducted by David Maw, with organists Alexander Pott and Alessandro MacKinnon-Botti, and The Restoration Consort. Priest, architect and composer Henry Aldrich was a key figure in the musical life of 17th century Oxford. This second album of his sacred choral music includes verse and full anthems, choral arrangements, recompositions, and occasional music.

The London Choral Sinfonia presents a captivating blend of French choral music under the direction of Michael Waldron, with soloists Nick Pritchard and Miriam Allan. Their new album includes Jean Langlais' monumental masterpiece "Messe Solennelle," accompanied by staples of the choral repertoire: Gabriel Fauré's "Cantique de Jean Racine" and César Franck's "Psalm 150". The album also features hidden gems such as Marcel Dupré's "Quatre Motets," as well as fresh arrangements of Franck’s "Panis Angelicus" and Gounod's "Ave Verum" by Composer-in-Residence, Owain Park.

Sounding as glorious as ever under Director of Music Daniel Hyde, the Choir of King’s College celebrates Easter with a wide-ranging and beautifully assembled program recorded in King’s College Chapel.

We are very pleased to present our first release in a new series from the PaTRAM Institute. The music performed on this recording of Orthodox choral music in the Slavonic language was written by famed Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944). Teach me Thy Statutes is performed by the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, a highly professional group which is a collaboration of Russian and American singers.