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)
Ilya Artemyev
Owner, Performance Index Inc. (Toronto)
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)
Mary Nesbitt
Retired, Administrator (Toronto)
Gerald Punnett
Lawyer, Guelph
Staff
Executive Director
Esther Farrell
Choir Coordinator
Heather Fleming
Graphic Design
Michael Hale
Music Librarian & Volunteer Coordinator
Kathy Houston
CRM & Administration
Melanie Jagmohan
Website design & Administration
Tom Liu & Igor Silva
Choristers
SOPRANOS TENORS
Stacey Clark Lanny Fleming
Alexandra Delle Donne Shane Hanson
Lara Housez Valdis Jevtejevs
Sasha Koukarina Shawn Oakes
Elizabeth Lepock Steve Surian
Heather Plewes Marcel van Helden
Lindsay Scott
Julie Surian
Jennifer Wilson
ALTOS BASSES
Corinne DeJong Silas Chinsen
Heather Fleming Benjamin Gabbay
Valeria Kondrashov Keith Hagerman
Mekhriban Mamedova Mike Lepock
Caroline Schmidt Lawrie McEwan
Nellie Scholtes Chris Peterson
Katie Walshaw Marc Tyrrell
Leanne Vida Nathan Walton
Leanne Vida Taylor Webb
Leanne Vida Nathan Walton Leanne Vida Taylor Webb
Testimonials
Noel Edison is one of the most inspiring choral conductors I have been privileged to work with. He manages to elicit gorgeous sounds and profoundly intelligent music-making from his singers. It is a great joy to know that Noel is at last forming his own ensemble. I can’t wait to hear it!
Paul Halley
Director of Music, King’s College, Halifax
Organist & Director of Music, All Saints’ Cathedral, Halifax
Creative Director, Pelagosmusic
I have known Noel Edison since I was a child singing in the same church choir. Through the years, I have seen him build his choirs into a musical powerhouse of high level technical accomplishment balanced by an astonishingly sensitive music making. In Noel’s hands, the choir becomes an instrument of ravishing beauty. I am very happy to see Noel back on the scene and I wish him all the best in his new venture. The musical world will be better for it.
Yves Abel
San Diego Opera – Conductor
Chief Conductor designate of the
NordwestDeutsche Philharmonie, Germany
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