Tag: christmas concert

The Toronto Consort .A Medival Christmas.A Father on the Breath of God.

Helen Polishuk

Each of those present felt the mystery and mysticism, the beauty of the sound of Hildegard von Bingen’s music .Her Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum, featured soaring, mystical chants expressing divine light and cosmic harmony, distinct from Gregorian plainchant, with lyrics praising Mary, saints, and divine wisdom, including the famous morality play Ordo Virtutum, making her one of the earliest known composers with extensive surviving works that blend intense spiritual feeling with unique melodic lines, often linked to her prophetic visions and known to us as best medieval composer.Her melodies — wildly expressive, richly melismatic, and imbued with a profound spiritual imagination — feel timeless, as though she was channeling something far larger than herself.

Hearing this music on the Toronto Consort stage in December 2025 is a huge honor and a huge thank to the team of musicians who worked on the program.

Opening remarks by the President Heather Turnbull

This is monophonic music 12th century,which is imbued with her spiritual vision. These are unique individual musical lines that unite into harmony.

I want to say right away that those who attend and attend the Toronto Consort’s concerts, in all seasons, are fortunate admirers of Renaissance music, which this team of musicians so reverently creates and reproduces for Toronto under the direction of a wonderful, talented conductor Daniel Taylor.

On December 7, Toronto Consort Honorary Patron Dame Emma Kirkby returns to our stage for A Medieval Christmas – A Feather on the Breath of God and Her presence at this concert added a line of continuity between generations, care and love for the admirers of this music, and her singing is a separate admiration.This is a deeply moving Advent concert by the Toronto Consort, led by the legendary Dame Emma Kirkby.

I want to say that being an admirer of this team of musicians, helping them financially, and supporting them is important to preserving the traditions of Renaissance music.


That’s why hearing this a cappella singing is breathtaking, and the choir’s division into two parts and their union during singing is the height of pleasure. The audience feels as if they are drowning in the music, it flows from below and surrounds the hall on all sides.

Following centuries-old traditions and never changing them, Christmas is divided into pre-Christmas and post-Christmas caroling.

So, another magnificent post-Christmas concert awaits us.

Save the date—January 17, 2026 Trinity-St.Paul’s Centre,Jeanne Lamon Hall

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
427 Bloor Street West

,,A spotless rose”

Don’t miss out.
I’ll leave you with a list of concerts for next year’s seasons. There are several, but each one is unique. Allow yourself to savor the bliss and experience the splendor of Renaissance music.

Incarnation-An inspired sequence of 12th century carols through the 15th century to today

Helen Polishuk

On January 10, 2025, a very important and unforgettable event in the cultural life of Toronto took place. As part of the Christmas concerts, this unique evening was held, dedicated to renewal, the winter solstice, the birth of a new year, a new era, a new era, a turning point in the year – when the sun is first covered by clouds and the day is full of gloom and cold, and with each new day of renewal more light comes, darkness goes to its usual time and takes its usual volume. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 16th century, “Beautiful Youth”, sounds. The choir members enter the hall by candlelight, in darkness and absolute silence and sounds ,,O Sapientia”by Janella Lucyk.

The voices of the choir soloists are clearly selected and harmoniously placed, as the next piece sounds, they seem to envelop us with singing from all sides, a feeling of 3D reality arises, when the sound seems to come from behind, goes around in a circle from left to right, rises up and sounds powerfully from all sides. This is an amazing feeling that makes everyone sitting hold their breath, and this continues from the beginning of the concert until its end.

Thanks to the masterful creativity and unrealistically beautiful gentle creation of atmosphere to conductor Daniel Taylor.

Shakespeare’s sonnet sounds in the head and the actions taking place on stage repeat the movement of the sun, when after the winter solstice, the motionless sun begins to move slowly, giving the promise of light to conquer the cold darkness. We see how the wheel is turning more and more, the pagan holiday of geola, the Wheel, conveys the mystery and meaning of the idea of ​​the year, when one ends and slowly comes the transformation and the light gradually enters the winter cold, stillness and darkness. Every day it gains more and more strength and power and eventually it defeats the darkness and gives us hope for renewal, rethinking and victory. This is very significant, since this year 2024 at the hour of the winter solstice many dates and holidays coincided and for the first time this coincidence gave hope. Gave birth to hope. A moment that echoed through many cultures around the world. Sacred. Touching. Magical, when this state is conveyed through singing and accompanied by the music of the Christmas carols of the 12-15 centuries, Scottish, Italian chants

The Toronto Consort Choir sounds wonderful, divine, angelic together with Schola Cantorum Singers.

The entire concert is based on the cycles of the Gregorian calendar and in the finale, it sounds updated, powerful, loud, apotheosis-like at first ,,Lully,lulla” by Nicolas Burns and final,,Hymn to the Mother of God” /J.Tavener/

The fact that everyone in the hall was in the magic of the melody and singing – it sounds like nothing. Divine performance and a wonderful idea for a concert. Thank you for such a creation and the opportunity to realize it THE TORONTO CONCORT( 427 Bloor St.W.,Toronto,Canada) Heather Turnbull and all creative team.

Beautiful music from the 12th-15th centuries was heard, hymns, music by Poston, Pärt, Britten, Tavener.

I love classical music, but what makes the Toronto Consort unique is that each concert remains in the memory. The memories are so vivid and colorful, they give a connection between modernity and classical works and introduce the authors and performers.

For me, this is a line that cannot be erased or changed and I am proud that there is a society in Toronto and I enjoy their work.
As they beautifully showed the flow of time, which has a cycle, a circle, and being born, becoming stronger, we produce more and more light, becoming adults and mature, we give our light, give birth to victory and life and after the summer solstice, in the aura of strength and life, we gradually fade away. Today we are talking only about birth and victory. I will describe the second part later. I have the strength and did not live to see it.

For all those who are obsessed with this unique place of intimacy and treasures, I inform you that the next concert will take place on January 25th,2025 at 8 pm and you can get more information at the link:

https://torontoconsort.org