Toronto Children’s Chorus

The Choir
Artistic Director

The Choir

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary in the 2017-2018 season, the Toronto Children’s Chorus is recognized as one of the finest treble choirs in the world. The Chorus is committed to the enrichment of children’s lives through the discipline, teamwork and unique camaraderie of fine choral singing. The unparalleled music education and life-changing opportunities to perform exceptional music in local, national and international venues help to promote the personal welfare, growth and a portfolio of life skills that prepare children to become effective citizens.

The TCC offers artistic excellence, character-building experiences and leadership opportunities while nurturing musical academic and individual achievement. For 4 decades, the TCC has built a musical education structure that includes sight singing, theory training, master classes and workshops with expert clinicians while offering exceptional performance opportunities and collaborations with other musicians such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The choir’s vast repertoire embraces diverse cultures and traditions and covers an extensive range of musical genres. The TCC has commissioned many new Canadian works that have greatly influenced the treble voice repertoire.

“Each time the TCC performs with the Toronto Symphony, I am struck by the maturity of their sound. The children are incredibly disciplined with a warmth and richness rarely heard in children’s choirs.” Peter Oundjian, Music Director, Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Artistic Director

Elise Bradley, MNZM, Artistic Director

This season marks Elise Bradley’s eleventh year as Artistic Director of the 300-member Toronto Children’s Chorus. A passionate musician, award-winning conductor and educator, and internationally respected adjudicator and clinician, Ms. Bradley served for many years as the Head of Department, Music, at Westlake Girls’ High School in Auckland, New Zealand. She was also a soloist and member of New Zealand’s national Chamber Choir, Voices NZ.

Since arriving in Toronto in 2007, Ms. Bradley has garnered praise for her artistry and for her deep commitment to children and the art of treble choral music. She has led the Chamber Choir on eight international tours – Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany (2009), Brazil and Argentina (2011), Sweden (2012), South Africa (2013), Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland (2015), Boston and New York City (2016), Bahamas (2016) and Spain, to perform at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona (2017) – and three provincial tours: Ottawa (2012), Montreal and Ottawa (2013), and Halifax, Truro, and Amherst (2014). In late June 2018, she will travel with the Chamber Choir to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to perform once again at ‘Podium’, Choral Canada’s biennial national conference.

Under her direction, the choir’s latest CD, Sounzscapes: From Our Lands, was named ‘Outstanding Choral Recording’ by Choral Canada in 2014. She has also commissioned Canadian composers to write new works to be premiered by the Toronto Children’s Chorus and has prepared the Main Choir to perform as guests of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Youth Orchestra, Opera Atelier, the Bach Consort, Soundstreams, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Ms. Bradley receives many invitations to work with choirs and present at conferences around the world, including Choralfest 2017 hosted by the Australian National Choral Association (Brisbane), Dozan wa Awtar children’s choir (Amman, Jordan), the inaugural New Zealand National Children’s Choir (Auckland), the IFCM World Choral Expo (Macau, China), Kokopelli Choirs (Edmonton, Alberta), and Gondwana Voices (Sydney, Australia). In August 2017, she was honoured to be invited by Choirs Ontario to serve as conductor the Ontario Youth Choir during its celebrated tour to Ottawa, Cobourg, and Toronto, and next March she looks forward to adjudicating and conducting choirs in Hong Kong.