About Us

We are a newly formed non profit organization guided by internationally acclaimed conductor Noel Edison to present choral music at its best. Our Vision is to reach out to communities large and small with the world’s finest choral music. We welcome the chance to bring this music to you.

Artistic
Director

Noel Edison

Noel Edison brings a wealth of choral music experience to his new ensemble, The Edison Singers.  For many years he has been recognized as a highly versatile and charismatic conductor, widely appreciated for his skillful interpretive work with both choir and orchestra.

Born and raised in Toronto, his love of choral music was nurtured as a chorister at St. Simon’s Church which was followed by a music degree at Wilfrid Laurier University.  In 1977, he moved to the village of Elora, Ontario, where in 1979, he co-founded the Elora Festival and, a year later, launched the Elora Festival Singers as its choir-in-residence. From 1984 to 2018, Edison served as Artistic Director of the Elora Festival, arranging a stellar yearly line-up of performances, from large-scale classical works for choir and orchestra which he frequently conducted, to intimate evenings of jazz, cabaret and chamber choral music. During this time, he also served as the Organist and Choirmaster at St. John the Evangelist Church in Elora.

In 1997 he became the conductor and artistic director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and for twenty-one years he organized and presented the concert season for the choir and rehearsed its performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  He has also been responsible for eighteen recordings of choral music, nine of them on the Naxos label, garnering both Emmy and Juno Award nominations.

In 2002, he received an honourary doctorate from the University of Guelph for his longstanding contribution to choral music in Canada, and in 2009, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario, the province’s highest honour. In 2012 he was presented with Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Board of Directors

PRESIDENT
Dennis Deters
Retired, Executive Vice-president of The Co-operators, (Guelph)

VICE – PRESIDENT & SECRETARY
John David Edison
Owner, John David Edison Interior Design, (Toronto)

TREASURER
Barbara Dunsmore
Semi – retired, Dunsmore & Associates tax preparation (Drayton)

Irene Bailey
Owner, Performance Index Inc. (Toronto)

The Reverend Canon Kevin Bothwell
Niagara, retired

Colin Fox
Actor, Writer & Director (Elora)

Sheila Gallagher
Real Estate Agent/Broker with Chestnut Park (Toronto)

Mekhriban Mamedova
Lawyer, Kitchener and Toronto

Mary Nesbitt
Retired, Administrator (Toronto)

Gerald Punnett
Lawyer, Guelph

Staff

Executive Director
Esther Farrell, Bachelor of Science (University of Toronto) Honours Bachelor of Music (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Choir Coordinator
Heather Fleming, Honours Bachelor of Music, (Wilfrid Laurier University)

CRM & Administration
Jared Davison

Music Librarian
Kathy Houston

Choristers 

SOPRANOS                                    TENORS

Alexandra Delle Donne                   Lanny Fleming
Lara Housez                                    Shane Hanson
Sasha Koukarina                             Valdis Jevtejevs
Emily Lapin                                      Shawn Oakes
Elizabeth Lepock                             Steve Surian
Heather Plewes                               Marcel van Helden
Julie Surian
Karis Tees
Jennifer Wilson

ALTOS                                              BASSES

Corinne DeJong                                James Bourne
Heather Fleming                                Silas Chinsen
Valeria Kondrashov                           Benjamin Gabbay
Mekhriban Mamedova                      Keith Hagerman
Caroline Schmidt                               Bob Knight
Nellie Scholtes                                  Adam Kuiack
Katie Walshaw                                  Mike Lepock
Leanne Vida                                      Lawrie McEwan
Leanne Vida                                      Chris Peterson
Leanne Vida                                      Marc Tyrell
Leanne Vida                                      Nathan Walton                                          Leanne Vida                                      Taylor Webb

Testimonials

Community
Outreach

The Edison Singers presents concerts in three communities: Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Wellington County. We plan to make these three centres the hub of our annual choral calendar, and our aim is to become an integral part of the musical life of each community.

A resident in each town has agreed to oversee volunteer activities such as postering, ushering, advertising, marketing, hospitality, patron services, and fundraising. And we hope to create more musical hubs over the next few years.

We also plan to give back to each community. We will be helping Knox Church in Elora raise funds for repairs to its landmark steeple. At St. David’s Presbyterian Church, our rehearsal venue in Campbellville, Ontario, we will assist them in fundraising and developing their Ministry of Music.

We welcome suggestions from all our friends and supporters regarding ways the choir can enhance the cultural environment
in your community.

Volunteer
Opportunities

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our organization. From marketing support and ushering at concerts to planning social events and sitting on the board, volunteering is a rewarding way to get involved and give back to the community.

To join our team, please contact us at: [email protected] or +1 226-384-3100

Donors

Tom Agnew & Rodney Jackson

Hanna Boos

Kathy & George Dembroski

Colin Fox

Joyce, Bill & Will Hill

Nancy & Tom Laurie

Nadia Martin

Annie Odom

Nellie Scholtes

Kathy & Tim Taylor

Margaret Wente

Anonymous (5)

Hugh Brewster

John David Edison Interior Design

Anita & Ivars Gaide

Robert Hulse

Frank Lowery

Jennifer & Neville Monteith

Dawn & Daniel O’Dwyer

Bill & Peggy Shuttleworth

Diana Tremain

Irene Bailey

Mary Byers

Dennis Deters

Sheila Gallagher

William Hurren

Priscilla McDonald

Bill Murphy & John Hessels

Peter W. Partridge & Family

Annie-Marie Spencer

Steve Truchan

Helen Batten

Walter Cross

Wilf Dinnick

Terry Grier

Susan James

Duncan MacIntyre

Susan Newman

Phil Penney

Marilyn Stewart

Carol & Richard Verity

Joan Beaton

Pat Davidson

Joyce Douglas

Susan Hall

Dixie Kee

Cinda Martin

Lynda Newmarch

Gerald Punnett

Margaret Sumberland

David Walerstein

Advisors & Volunteers

Sue Adams

Susan Brown

Michael Hale

Cinda Martin

Sharon Rice

Anne Thomson-King

Tom Agnew

Christopher Bunting

Kathy Houston

Dawn McClure

Florrie Shaw

Wilf Trivett

Irene Bailey

Beth Campbell

Rodney Jackson

Susan Meisner

Igor Silva

Anthony Whittingham

Judy Bates

Sandra Coombe

Norbert Kraft

Dawn Randall

Bonnie Silver

Judy Briggs-Bengtsson

Olga Domjan

Tom Liu

Ian Rice

Kathy & Tim Taylor

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