The Toronto Consort Unveils New Leadership & 2024-25 Season

The Toronto Consort has appointed Daniel Taylor, O.C. as the company's new General and Artistic Director, Dame Emma Kirkby as the Consort's first-ever Honorary Patron, and the launch of the Consort's 2024-2025 Season: BLESSED LIGHT - BLESSED ECHO. The Consort's five-concert season kicks off on October 11. 

"This is an extraordinary moment in the history of The Toronto Consort," said Turnbull. "Daniel Taylor is a beloved Canadian singer, a leading figure in the field of opera and early music, and noted by the CBC as Canada's most prolific classical recording artist. Dame Emma Kirkby is an iconic legendary soprano known for her clarity of text and message and for her guidance of a new generation of singers across the world. As co-curators of our season's first concert, they will welcome a stunning roster of rising young artists alongside returning Consort members, ushering in a new era of early music in Toronto. Daniel and Emma are the perfect individuals to introduce our audiences to promising young voices, program sought-after guest artists active on today's world stage, and program beautiful yet often neglected repertoire spanning from the 12th century to today."

Executive Director Andrew Adridge added: "I am very excited about the Board's decision to appoint Daniel to this role. Visionary leadership is something that our artists and administration have actively pursued during my time here, and I have every confidence that Daniel will bring a unique and informed perspective to the role that will maintain the Consort's level of excellence. We sincerely thank the team of dedicated Artistic Associates who so passionately led The Toronto Consort over the past few years, and who remain valued collaborators."

Daniel Taylor brings an enviable reputation and wealth of talent and expertise to The Toronto Consort. He is known for drawing elite talent to the University of Toronto Opera and Early Music programs alongside the distinguished baritone Russell Braun and Taylor's famed studio partners Jean MacPhail and Mary Morrison. As a Professor of Opera, Voice and Early Music and the Director of Historical Performance, Taylor led the building of what is considered the most sought-after Historical Performance program in Canada.

He conducts two of the world's great award-winning early music ensembles in The Trinity Choir and the Theatre of Early Music. Earlier this year, Daniel became the first musician in Canadian history to both sing and lead the orchestra and choir in a State Funeral, a tribute to the life of the Honourable Ed Broadbent and to Social Democracy.

The Toronto Consort's 2024-2025 season will feature the return of familiar Consort artists, including lutenist Esteban La Rotta and bass Martin Gomes, joined by a roster of early music talents, and some of Canada's most promising emerging artists. Highlights of the 2024-2025 cast include sopranos Sinéad White, Rebecca Genge, and Jennifer Wilson, countertenor Nicholas Burns, tenors Sharang Sharma and Shane Hanson, baritone Keith Lam, and members of Toronto's newest Renaissance vocal ensemble 'Diapente' as well as violinist Cristina Prats-Costa, viola da gambist Felix Deak, lutenist Jonathan Stuchbery and virginal and harpsichordist Louise Hung. The new Artistic and Administrative team includes dynamic Consort members soprano Anaïs Kelsey-Verdecchia and countertenor Ryan McDonald.

THE TIME TRAVELLER

Daniel Taylor, O.C., commented on his appointment: "I am grateful to work with The Toronto Consort here on Turtle Island and to join a truly inclusive collective of artists. I appreciate the support and welcome that I have been offered during these first few days with the company and I look forward to engaging with our community. I have known David Fallis, the Consort's former Artistic Director, since I first sang for him when I was a university student before my studies overseas. I was impressed by his musicianship and élan and I count him among my valued colleagues and friends. I am honoured and thankful to Emma Kirkby for her dedication to the strength and beauty of our repertoire and for her collaborative way of music-making that continues to inspire artists and listeners. I am humbled to stand with Andrew, Esteban, Martin, Ryan, Anaïs and our brilliant collective as we plan our path forward.

Our goal in programming BLESSED LIGHT - BLESSED ECHO as this debut season is to allow our audiences to see themselves represented not only by the people on the stage but also to hear their own voices and stories. Together, we will travel through time exploring repertoire spanning from the 12th century to the present day. We welcome excellent musicians to the Consort who will no doubt grow and nourish the artistic vision of the larger ensemble through their unique lived experiences."

Dame Emma Kirkby, awarded the Queen's Medal for Music, has developed long partnerships with the world's leading ensembles, individual players, and record companies. Emma's voice and style are recognized worldwide. She has taught at "historical" chamber music courses, schools and at major venues in many countries, where she values especially coaching young singers and ensembles. As the first Honorary Patron in the history of the Toronto Consort, she will continue her longtime collaboration with Daniel Taylor, lending her insights and guidance to the Consort, hosting and curating programs as well as working with the individual artists.

Emma Kirkby remarked: "I am deeply honoured to be appointed as Patron of the Toronto Consort. After more than half a century it is clearly as vital as ever, and I look forward to the next phase in its distinguished history. It is a particular joy for me that Daniel Taylor will now be directing, as he and I go back a long way to my first trip across the Atlantic. We sang a duet together - the first of many! Daniel at this point was barely out of his teens but already a striking performer. His beautiful voice has naturally matured over the years and acquired further beguiling colours. To me and many others its purity and a special quality of stillness continue to inspire. I am lucky to have sung with him in so many projects, live and recorded, but also in the last two decades to have met the hosts of singers who have studied with him, first in Montréal and now in Toronto. They are very fine and confident artists, each as individual as one could wish, (the sure sign of a good teacher), and I love to come and work with them."

Since its founding in 1972, The Toronto Consort has become internationally recognized for its excellence in the performance of Medieval, Renaissance and Early Baroque music. The collaborative nature of its creative process has led to diverse productions enthusiastically received by varied modern audiences, from dedicated music-history aficionados to occasional or first-time patrons, and this lends itself to Daniel and Emma's proven ability to bring artists and community together.

THE TORONTO CONSORT 2024-2025: BLESSED LIGHT - BLESSED ECHO

The season will open with a Renaissance program "The Muses Garden" on October 11, tracing the path of composers John Dowland, Tobias Hume, William Lawes and Henry Purcell hosted by famed soprano Dame Emma Kirkby and performed by The Toronto Consort and the Dowland Collective.

On December 6, Toronto Consort artists Esteban La Rotta and Martin Gomes with guest artists will explore a rich tapestry of Latin American culture through the lens of Christmas traditions, in "Navidad."

In the new year, on January 10, Consort Artists will join the Theatre of Early Music to present an inspiring sequence of candlelit performances, from 12th-century chants to 15th-century carols to works of today in a New Year's "Incarnation."

On January 25, Consort audience favourites, the international medieval ensemble Sequentia with Benjamin Bagby, will perform "Gregorius."

And on April 4, The Toronto Consort will present "Olde Madrigals and Folk Songs - Aprile is in my Mistress' Face."

"My aim in this role is to continue advocating for boundary-pushing and meaningful work that reaches beyond identity politics and to the hearts of communities around the world," added Taylor. "I believe that the pursuit of artist truth itself is an ethical and human good. The Toronto Consort now enters into a conversation with the past as we build our future, honouring the memory, accomplishments and lives of all those who came before us."

All concerts take place at Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, 427 Bloor St W, Toronto.

Tickets and subscriptions are on sale soon: visit TorontoConsort.org for more details.

THE TORONTO CONSORT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

For the first time in decades, The Toronto Consort has renewed its relationship with The University of Toronto's Historical Performance Department. This partnership will feature pre-concert lectures and performances with the students from the Historical Performance program. In a unique opportunity for students, the Consort will continue its collaboration with Canada's leading Early Music educational program, providing students with invaluable learning experiences, working with top early music specialists in side-by-side projects and concerts. Guest artists at Historical Performance at the University of Toronto this year include Andrew Balfour, Adrian Butterfield, Rihab Chaieb, Michael Schade, Philippe Sly, Julia Wedman, Edith Wiens, and Citadel + Compagnie.

To post a comment, you must register and login.