St. Michael's Choir School

Sing We Noˆ´l, Noˆ´l We Sing

Massey Hall, Friday, December 11, 2009, 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 12, 2009, 3 p.m.

Tickets: $36.50 - $22.50 - Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office

www.masseyhall.com

Toronto, November 23, 2009 -- On December 9^th 1939, the Cathedral Schola Cantorum later to become known as St. Michael’Äôs Choir School, took to the stage to present their first-ever Christmas concert. This year, the venerable boys’Äô choir will mark their 70^th Annual Christmas performance with a joyous celebration of song during their 44th annual holiday appearance at Massey Hall. On Friday, December 11, 2009 at 8 pm and Saturday, December 12, 2009, at 3 pm the inspirational voices of St. Michael’Äôs Choir School’Äôs Elementary, Junior, and Senior Choirs will usher in the Christmas season with a spirited performance of sacred and secular Christmas favourites.

For the 258 choristers participating, this milestone event offers its own rewards. "When we sing, we sing for the centre of the Catholic community in Toronto, and the Massey Hall concert is a great opportunity to do something for the community," explains Matthew Farahat a Grade 12 student who has been a student at St. Michael’Äôs Choir School since 2004.

Conducted by Dr. Jerzy Cichocki, Caron Daley and Teri Dunn, this year’Äôs concert, Sing We Noˆ´l, Noˆ´l We Sing also features the talents of gifted musician and St. Michael’Äôs Cathedral organist William O’ÄôMeara, and distinguished guest soloist, harpist Sanya Eng. Music on more traditional holiday subjects will include excerpts from Rutters’Äô choral song-cycle, Dancing Day, Lux aurumque from composer Eric Whitacre; and liturgical works such as E’Äôen so, Lord Jesus, quickly come, and Young’Äôs arrangement of Widor’Äôs Toccata ’Äì Gloria. Several popular pieces like Silent Night, O come all ye faithful and It’Äôs the Most Wonderful Time of the Year will delight with holiday fare in a lighter tone.

To highlight the Choir School’Äôs choral tradition, the choirs will also perform two works specifically connected with St. Michael’Äôs Choir School. In addition to a special arrangement of O Canada by the Choir School’Äôs former Music Director Monsignor Thomas Barrett Armstrong, the Senior Choir will present Hodie, Christus natus est an original work by Dr. Kola Owolabi. Dr. Owolabi, an alumnus and former organist of St. Michael’Äôs Cathedral, is currently an associate professor at Syracuse University.

’ÄúHodie Christus natus est is the Antiphon to the Magnificat, sung at vespers on Christmas Day. We’Äôve showcased many arrangements of this piece in our history of Christmas performances,’Äù says Dr. Cichocki, Artistic Director of the Choir School and conductor of the Senior Choirs. ’ÄúThis arrangement is particularly special because it was Kola’Äôs first published composition when he was still a teenager.’Äù

Dr. Owalabi’Äôs arrangement of Hodie Christus natus est, along with Peter Mathew’Äôs Dans Les Ombres De La Nuit, and O come, all ye faithful as arranged by Derek Holman are among the many featured performances found on St. Michael’Äôs Choir School’Äôs lush new Christmas recording. ’ÄúIn Midnight’Äôs Stillness’Äù, the Choir School’Äôs 10^th recording, will be released on December 11, 2009 to coincide with the 70^th Anniversary Christmas performance.

This remarkable CD and the historic 70^th Anniversary concert are dedicated to the memory of Monsignor Thomas Barrett Armstrong, a priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto, a graduate of St. Michael's Choir School and former Director of Music of this world-renowned institution. Monsignor Armstrong passed away on November 14, 2009.

About St. Michael’Äôs Choir School

Founded in 1937 with the purpose of providing sacred music for services at St. Michael’Äôs Cathedral in downtown Toronto, St. Michael’Äôs Choir School is a centre for musical and academic excellence. It is one of only six choir schools in the world affiliated with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. Each student admitted to the Choir School is trained in vocal, technical, and instrumental music, and sings in one of the school’Äôs choirs.

Balancing the sacred and the secular is customary for the school. St. Michael’Äôs Choir School is not only known for its music program, but also academic achievement, consistently ranking at the top of Fraser Institute surveys. For seventy years, graduates of the Choir School have pursued studies in science, education, medicine, law, business and, of course, music. In the last group are the Crew Cuts and Four Lads of the 1950s and present-day musical artists Michael Schade, John McDermott, Stewart Goodyear, Kevin Hearn (of The Barenaked Ladies), Robert Pomakov, Matt Dusk, Michael Colvin, Claude Morrison (of The Nylons), and Michael Burgess.

In addition to the annual Christmas concert, the choirs perform publicly in an annual tour and at many local events. Dignitaries such as His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrˆ©tien have enjoyed the choir’Äôs performances. For more information: www.smcs.on.ca.

Massey Hall, Friday, December 11, 2009, 8 PM and Saturday, December 12, 2009, 3 PM.

Tickets: $36.50’Äî$22.50 - Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office

www.masseyhall.com