The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMChoir) had introduced the upcoming renewal of Jean-Sébastien Vallée’s contract as Inventive Director and Principal Conductor for an extra 5 yr time period. The brand new contractual interval begins with the 2026-27 Season, and continues via the 2030-31 Season.
The renewal is available in recognition of Vallée’s excellent management and course for the choir, taking the 131-year previous group firmly into the twenty first century.
“Jean-Sébastien has introduced a unprecedented renaissance to TMChoir, elevating our creative requirements to unprecedented ranges whereas creating an inspiring tradition that energizes everybody — from our choristers to our workers,” says David Raju, Board Chair of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in a press release.
“His ardour, meticulous preparation, and profound understanding of the choral artwork have reworked rehearsals into thrilling experiences and performances into unforgettable moments. Most significantly, JS has constructed a vibrant neighborhood the place members are challenged, supported, and impressed to succeed in new heights collectively. The Board is thrilled to proceed this outstanding journey with him.”
Jean-Sébastien’s management as Inventive Director of TMChoir started in 2021, making him solely the eighth AD within the choir’s lengthy historical past. His tenure started through the troublesome pandemic years, and TMChoir not solely emerged from the expertise intact, however has remained on an upward monitor.
His tenure at TMChoir has seen the group tackling adventurous repertoire, attain out with prolonged neighborhood programming, and resulted in seminal recordings.
- The 2025/26 season started with a excessive observe, and three sold-out performances of Carmina Burana with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Different highlights to this point embrace:
- Creating the TMSingers within the 2022-23 Season, an expert chamber choir that expands on the group’s capabilities. TMSingers have carried out particular live shows together with In Time: On the Intersection of Music & Dance with Compagnie de la Citadelle, Schubert’s Winterreise, and the multimedia manufacturing of The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
- TMChoir’s 2024 recording Bear in mind: 130 Years of Canadian Choral Music (ATMA), a double CD that pays tribute to the group’s previous and future.
- TMChoir returned to the Nationwide Arts Centre in 2024 for the primary time in virtually 30 years to carry out Jacques Hétu’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 81 with Alexander Shelley and the mixed forces of the Nationwide Arts Centre Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Québec. (TMChoir will return to the Nationwide Arts Centre in June 2026 for Shelley’s ultimate efficiency as NACO Music Director to eperform Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony)
“Working with Jean-Sébastien Vallée and his terrific ensemble is all the time a privilege,” says Alexander Shelley, Music Director of Canada’s Nationwide Arts Centre Orchestra. “They’re one of the crucial refined and technically exact teams I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with — all the time ready and constantly beautiful with the standard and depth of their sound.”
Jean-Sébastien Vallée
Along with his work with TMChoir, Vallée is Director of Choral Research at McGill College’s Schulich College of Music. Visitor engagements embrace conducting with the Nationwide Arts Centre Orchestra (December 2025), the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (February 2026), and future appearances with the Tanglewood Competition Refrain and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He can be main the Alberta Youth Choir in 2026.
“Over the previous 4 years, I’ve been profoundly moved by the artistry, resilience, and generosity of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir neighborhood,” says Jean-Sébastien Vallée.
“Collectively, we now have reimagined what this historic ensemble may be, whereas honouring the legacy of those that got here earlier than us. Wanting forward, I’m impressed by the probabilities that lie earlier than us — creating new music, deepening our ties with audiences, and sharing the facility of choral artistry on a global stage. On the coronary heart of this imaginative and prescient is my unwavering belief within the energy of the human voice — particular person voices becoming a member of collectively to create one thing larger than themselves. That is the essence of choral music, and I’m thrilled to proceed this journey with TMChoir, shaping the following chapter of its historical past with boldness, creativeness, and pleasure.”
Bravo to TMChoir and Jean-Sébastien Vallée — wanting ahead to the following 5 years.
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
