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Author: Elmer Iseler Singers

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An invitation from Elmer Iseler Singers Artistic Director Lydia Adams

Elmer Iseler Singers, Parry Sound 2025 (photo: Jeffrey Saffer)

Dear Friends –

Welcome to the 47th celebratory season of the Elmer Iseler Singers!

In 2025-2026, we present the resplendent music of Eleanor Daley – the glorious sounds of G.F. Handel’s epic Messiah and the luminous sounds of composers worldwide celebrating the earth!

On Nov. 2nd, we sing the music of Eleanor Daley, one of Canada’s most beloved composers, and whose works are sung by choirs around the world. Eleanor’s  music is imbued with warmth and beauty with a magical touch of the angelic, and EIS will show our love for Eleanor’s music singing some of her most well-loved works.

Messiah by George Frederick Handel carries the depth and exultation of some of Handel’s greatest writing through Charles Jennens’ expansive text. The EIS are thrilled to welcome soloists Leslie Fagan; Catherine Wyn-Rogers; Colin Ainsworth, Doug MacNaughton and guest choirs VIVA Chamber Singers and the Amadeus Choir, all accompanied by orchestra, for the performance of this beloved work.

On April 12th, EIS sing a program dedicated to the earth in all its beauty, substance and sustenance.

This program, including works by Ešenvalds, Caroline Shaw, Gjeilo, Tichelli, Mari Alice Conrad, Carmen Braden and John Rutter, will feature a special tribute to the late Canadian composer, Norma Beecroft, with a performance of her masterwork, The Living Flame of Love, and world premiere performances by Canadian composers Brad Barnham and Carmine Lappano. We welcome broadcaster, producer and composer David Jaeger, a close colleague of Norma Beecroft, for this tribute.

Join us for this season of exceptional music celebrating beauty, life and joy. We’ll see you on November 2nd! 

Lydia Adams
Conductor and Artistic Director
Elmer Iseler Singers

This Moment to Shine! EIS Season 47 banner

NEW! Early Bird Offer Subscribe before SEPTEMBER 30, 2025

Join our community of supporters and subscribe to all three 2025-2026 season Toronto concerts today!

Season 47 Toronto Series Concert Details


♫ A Portrait in Song: The Music of Eleanor Daley
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 4:00 pm at Eglinton St. George’s United Church
♫ Handel’s Messiah
Friday, December 12, 2025 at 7:30 pm at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
♫ The Earth Sings
Sunday April 12, 2026 at 4:00 pm at Eglinton St. George’s United Church

Thanks to our Sponsors

We appreciate the generous contributions of hundreds of individual donors.

Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council
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Open Call for Auditions 2025-26 Season

The Elmer Iseler Singers
Lydia Adams, conductor and artistic director
OPEN CALL FOR AUDITIONS
2025-2026 CONCERT SEASON

The Elmer Iseler Singers invite Canadian professional singers to apply!

Based in Toronto, The Elmer Iseler Singers and Lydia Adams, Artistic Director, are excited to announce auditions for all voices for the 2025-2026 Concert Season for core and substitute work with the choir.

The Elmer Iseler Singers, established in 1979, is a foremost Canadian professional chamber choir performing a wide range of choral styles and genres, specializing in contemporary Canadian and international repertoire, and is known for its superb musicianship, its spirit of collaboration with organizations nationally, and its educational focus.

The choir is looking for choral singers with excellent musicianship and sight-reading skills, and an ability and desire to work closely within the team. The Elmer Iseler Singers is committed to the principles of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility.

Auditions will entail:

  • 2 prepared arias or songs. Please bring music for the provided pianist. One of the works should be in a language other than English.
  • sight-reading
  • ear tests and voice range check

Please note: Applicants must be Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents of Canada.

Submission deadline: July 11, 2025

For more information, please contact Jessie Iseler, General Manager by email jessie@elmeriselersingers.com or phone (416) 217-0537.

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Call for submissions: James T. Chestnutt Scholarship

The Elmer Iseler Singers
Lydia Adams, conductor and artistic director
announce a call for submissions for the James T. Chestnutt Scholar position for the 2025-2026 Concert Season

The James T. Chestnutt Scholarship is an annual award to an emerging choral musician to participate as a singer with conducting study and performance opportunities with the Elmer Iseler Singers for a complete season.

The EIS welcomes submissions for this unique opportunity to work with conductor Lydia Adams and the EIS, a foremost Canadian professional chamber choir based in Toronto, specializing in contemporary Canadian and international repertoire, and known for its superb musicianship, its spirit of collaboration nationally, and its educational focus.

The Scholarship is open to all emerging singers and conductors.

The Elmer Iseler Singers is committed to the principles of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility.

Please note: Applicants must be Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents of Canada.

Submission deadline: July 11, 2025

For more information, please contact Jessie Iseler, General Manager by email jessie@elmeriselersingers.com or phone (416) 217-0537.

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This Sunday 🍓🥂 Strawberries & Champagne at the Lake!

Strawberries and Champagne by the Lake

Join us this Sunday
May 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm

For our annual spring fundraiser at 
The Toronto Hunt, 1355 Kingston Rd

Dear EIS friends –

The Elmer Iseler Singers look forward to welcoming you to a gorgeous afternoon of music-making in the spectacular setting of Toronto Hunt, high on the Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario.

As singing fills the room, you can enjoy tasty hors d’oeuvres and sweets with lots of succulent strawberries accompanied by delicious hot or cold beverages.

Along with all this, you can support the choir further with a bid on one of the fantastic auction items you can purchase for yourself or as a gift, including a specially signed copy of Dr. Roberta Bondar’s new award winning book: Space for Birds: Patterns and Parallels of Beauty and Flight, recently awarded a coveted Indie Award. Included among the many auction items also are tickets for events you won’t want to miss, and the chance to win your very own personalized delicious cake for a special occasion, baked and decorated by the brilliant soprano and cake maker magician, Rebecca Whelan.

Our heartfelt thanks to all individuals and organizations who generously donated items to our silent auction – something for everyone – gifts galore!

This is always one of the most special and memorable events the Elmer Iseler Singers present during the year! 

Come and hear choral music, from Bach to Rodgers and Hammerstein, at its best as you enjoy delicious food while delighting in the aura of beauty that surrounds you.

The weather is going to be perfect and the Singers are in ’top form’, so join us for this stunning afternoon watching the sail boats and the birds, and supporting this amazing choral organization!

We know that you will love it!

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Lydia Adams
Artistic Director
Elmer Iseler Singers

Proceeds from this annual fundraising event will support the Elmer Iseler Singers’ outstanding musical performances, workshops and educational activities throughout the GTA, around Ontario and across Canada.

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2025 Conductors’ Workshop

The Elmer Iseler Singers, Lydia Adams, Artistic Director, were delighted to welcome seven outstanding Canadian conductors taking part in the Singers’ Conductors’ Workshop, held at the Canadian Music Centre on Saturday, May 17th, 2025.

The EIS sincerely thank the TAKLA Foundation for their generosity in sponsoring this inspiring EIS educational initiative of great music making.

The EIS are thankful to the Canadian Music Centre, national champions of great Canadian music, for their support for this event highlighting the music of Canadian choral composers Eleanor Daley and Hussein Janmohamed.

Thank you to all who took part, and who made this a most special afternoon.

From left to right, shown with EIS Artistic Director Lydia Adams (centre), are conductors: Ania Suri; Christopher Burton; Yuan Chen; Edmee Nataprawira; Nila Rajagopal; Tyler Versluis and Jonathan Alter.
From left to right, shown with EIS Artistic Director Lydia Adams (centre), are conductors: Ania Suri; Christopher Burton; Yuan Chen; Edmee Nataprawira; Nila Rajagopal; Tyler Versluis and Jonathan Alter.
2025 workshop conductors: Ania Suri, Christopher Burton, Yuan Chen, Edmee Nataprawira, Nila Rajagopal, Tyler Versluis and Jonathan Alter; with EIS Artistic Director Lydia Adams, EIS General Manager Jessie Iseler and the members of the Elmer Iseler Singers.
2025 workshop conductors: Ania Suri, Christopher Burton, Yuan Chen, Edmee Nataprawira, Nila Rajagopal, Tyler Versluis and Jonathan Alter; with EIS Artistic Director Lydia Adams, EIS General Manager Jessie Iseler and the members of the Elmer Iseler Singers.
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Your donations make a difference!

Elmer Iseler Singers, 46th Toronto Concert Season, Lydia Adams, C.M., Conductor and Artistic Director with photo by Mark Rash from Summer 2024 in Parry Sound

With just 10-days to go before our annual spring fundraising event, Strawberries and Champagne at the Lake, we would like to share with you one of the ways your financial support helps build the Canadian choral landscape.

This weekend, Lydia Adams will lead a workshop for emerging conductors at the Canadian Music Centre. Focused on Canadian choral compositions, these conductors will have the opportunity to interact with the Elmer Iseler Singers and Lydia Adams on the clarity and focus of their technique, their understanding of the work, sound colour painting, and their ability to bring their chosen choral work to life. 

Next month, the Elmer Iseler Singers and Lydia Adams, conductor, will return to the Canadian Music Centre to present a workshop for Canadian emerging composers. The composer, conductor and singers will have the opportunity to interact about various aspects of the works, including colours, textures, musical phrasing, appropriate text writing for choirs, and any other aspects of writing successfully for choir, to test out new concepts or to help develop the completed work. The compositions to be workshopped will reflect Canada’s diversity and also works which advance collaborative choral and collective singing opportunities with Indigenous creators.

The Elmer Iseler Singers are grateful for the generous support of the Takla Foundation as primary sponsors of these two educational initiatives.

The composer and conductor workshop initiative began last season to great success and three of the new compositions workshopped were presented last March at Springburst, our third Toronto series concert of the EIS’s 46th season. We look forward, with your support, to keeping these important educational programs going. With this in mind, please join us at Strawberries and Champagne at the Lake on Sunday May 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm.

Strawberries and Champagne by the Lake

May 25, 2025 from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
The Toronto Hunt, 1355 Kingston Rd

Participate in our 🎁 amazing silent auction, 🍓 enjoy Strawberries and 🥂Champagne and 🌟 spend a delightful musical afternoonwith 🎶 Canada’s Elmer Iseler Singers, Lydia Adams, C.M., conductor. 

Carmine Lappano
Carmine Lappano
Composer for Give us the Wings of Faith

Carmine Lappano was born in 1977 and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Working primarily as a liturgical musician, Carmine is well respected as a Composer/ Conductor/ Organist, having held appointments in several churches throughout the last 18 years. Carmine has extensive choral experience, having sung with several professional choirs including the Elmer Iseler Singers. Carmine has had the privilege of working with prominent Canadian choral musicians such as Lydia Adams, Eleanor Daley, Jerzy Chichocki and Matthew Larin. A member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Carmine holds a professional diploma in Choral Conducting (Ch. RCCO). He has written several pieces of sacred choral music for liturgical use, and continues to create music for church choirs of any level. More recently, Carmine’s composition “Arise, Arise”, won first prize in the Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Composition Competition, and was premiered in November of 2023.

Matthew Boutda
Matthew Boutda
Tenor

Matthew Boutda (he/him) is a Lao-Canadian conductor, tenor, and organist pursuing his Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting at McGill University, Schulich School of Music.

Matthew is the Principal Conductor of the McGill Concert Choir in Montréal, QC, and is also the Director of Music at Leaside United Church in Toronto, ON. He also serves as an ambassador for the Centre for Congregational Song, member of the executive committee of the Hymn Society in Canada and the United States, and Community Director for the Summer Institute of Church Music.

As a conductor, he has had the opportunity to work with choirs such as the Ontario Youth Choir, Pax Christi Chorale, Schulich Singers, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Vancouver Chamber Choir, and the Western University Singers.

Matthew holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Western Ontario, a Bachelor of Music, and a Master of Sacred Music from the University of Toronto, and an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Matthew is a recent recipient of the Clifford Evens Graduate Conducting Award, Gerald Wheeler Award, Helen Hall Prize, and Wayne Riddell Choral Award.

Norman E. Brown
Norman E. Brown

For the past 5 years bass-baritone Norman E. Brown has split his musical time between singing and conducting.  He has been conductor for many Ottawa-based choirs, including conducting pieces with the Ottawa Choral Society, Atlantic Voices and Musica Ebraica.  He has also been assistant conductor in Italy for the operas “Suor Angelica” and “Cosi fan tutte” with AEDO, and has conducted “Alcina” (Handel), “Suor Angelica” (Puccini), “Magic Flute” (Mozart) and two world premieres by Jack Hui Litster - “What is Love?” (2022) and “Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace” (2024) with OperOttawa. 

In the 2023-24 season, Norman was the recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts grant in conducting which enabled him to be mentored by Leslie Dala (Vancouver Opera and Vancouver Bach Choir), and shadow conductors Alexander Weimann (Messiah - Vancouver Early Music), Tania Miller (Magic Flute), Jacques Lacombe (Don Pasquale), and more recently with Simon Rivard (Orchestre Classique de Montreal).  Norman will be participating in the Conducting Workshop in June with Robert Franz and the Boise Baroque Orchestra. 

Michael Colla
Michael Colla

Michael is a vocalist and a music educator based in Toronto, who advocates and encourages the role of community in music. Michael is a graduate of St. Michael’s Choir School, York University (B.F.A. Vocal music), and Wilfrid Laurier University (B.Ed). He currently works as a Music Teacher in the Toronto Catholic District School Board and as a choir conductor for the Community Music Schools of Toronto. He served as an interim conductor for St. Paschal Baylon’s R.C Church choir and Coro San Marco and has been a guest conductor for “Singing Together”- a multicultural choral festival. Michael’s passion for music education and community music is a driving force in his development as an educator, conductor, musician, and lifelong learner.

Nataprawira Edmee
Edmee Nataprawira

Edmee Nataprawira is a music educator and multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto, Ontario. An advocate for music as a catalyst for community, creativity, and connection, Edmee enjoys collaborating with fellow artists in Toronto and Montreal. In addition to playing cello and piano, Edmee is an avid choral singer and taiko drumming enthusiast. She currently teaches music at St. Clement's School and VIVA Singers Toronto through song, movement, play, and composition. 

A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT, piano; Gr. 10, cello) and the University of Toronto (Hon. B.Mus. and B.Ed.), Edmee has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, including the Lloyd Bradshaw Prize for choral conducting, the Gordon Cressy Leadership Award and a Klingenstein Summer Institute Fellowship at Columbia University for early-career teachers. She loves to explore how music can nurture relationships, create change, and speak to our sense of wonder. 

Nila Rajagopal
Nila Rajagopal

An accomplished conductor and dedicated educator, Nila Rajagopal is driven by her passion for uniting people through the power of choral music.

Nila’s outstanding expertise has led her to assume numerous roles within the choral landscape. She is currently the Conductor of the Toronto Children’s Chorus’ Anima training choir, Associate Conductor of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and Associate Conductor of Modern Sound Collective’s Sehnsucht choir. Her exceptional contributions have earned her esteemed accolades, including the Doreen Rao Choral Award, the Iwan Edwards Award, the Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship, and the Helen Hall Prize. Nila was also a nominee for the 2023 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting.

A keen lifelong learner, Nila holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from McGill University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Toronto. Nila’s dedication to the choral community also extends to her role as South Central Regional Chair on the Choirs Ontario Board of Directors.

Zoitsa (Zoë) Gotziaman
Zoitsa Gotziaman

Zoitsa is a mezzo-soprano and emerging conductor based in Toronto. This season she sang in a new octet led and conducted by Andrew Balfour, and in the chorus of Opera Atelier’s Orphée et Eurydice. She thoroughly loves performing, and has sung in over 30 operas. She currently sings in The Nathaniel Dett Chorale. Past ensemble highlights include singing with Canzona, Dead of Winter, Xara Choral Theatre, and being section lead at Toronto Chamber Choir and VOCA Chorus of Toronto. Her education includes a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba, under the tutelage of Tracy Dahl. Zoitsa conducts the Butterfly Chorus at the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and used to teach Intermediate and Senior Choirs at Sistema Toronto.

Steven Webb
Steven Webb
Composer for The Going Out

Originally from South Africa, Steven Webb is a Tkarón:to (Toronto)-based composer and sound designer, living as a settler on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and the Mississauga’s of the Credit. With his artistic works being filtered through the personal lens of his own battle with mental illness, Webb creates new music and video art from an eclectic mix of influences including retro science-fiction, horror, 1990s computer software and video game culture, obsolete consumer gear, and the orchestral cinematic tradition.

His current compositional work is concerned with examining the contemporary human experience, with the disorientation, confusion, and dread that arises from living in a world dealing with a climate crisis, growing conflict and marginalization towards minority groups, and the increasing isolation of the individual in spite of our hyper-connectivity. Webb creates art primarily by investing in communitybased music making, aligning his musical output and practices to create closer communities through public performances, sound installations and musical recordings.

Webb is a member of the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers, (SOCAN), as well as the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, and is an Associate Composer at the Canadian Music Centre.

Elienna Wang
Elienna Wang
Composer for Words Unspoken

Elienna is a Toronto-based composer studying with Professor Norbert Palej at the University of Toronto. Her music has been performed at the University of Toronto's Student Composers Concerts and New Music Festival, the Women's Art Association of Canada, the Neighbourhood Unitarian Universalist Church, and retirement homes across the GTA. Most recently, her choral piece, "Wings," was premiered by the Spirit Singers Choir at the "Come In From the Cold" fundraising concert this March, and her art song, "Rosé Leaves" will be premiered at the SPO's "Prelude to Hope" concert this April. By sharing her musical voice, Elienna hopes to bring joy, hope, and belonging to her listeners.

Emily Hiemstra
Emily Hiemstra
Composer for Oudh

Emily Hiemstra is a real life viola mom. She is a violist, composer and mom to four boys under 6.

A JUNO-nominated composer, she has had her music performed at festivals throughout Europe, USA and Canada. Her orchestral and operatic background as a performer has deepened her understanding of colour and texture which she readily applies in her compositions to create clear and innovative works.

As a violist and dedicated chamber musician, she has performed at festivals around the world and is founder of the Charis Collective, a chamber ensemble creating family-friendly concerts in London, ON.

Andrew Wolf, Tenor
Andrew Wolf
Tenor

Tenor, Andrew Wolf, is a recent graduate of the Master of Music program at Western University where he studied with Prof. Torin Chiles. He began his singing career in Victoria, BC where he participated in a large variety of vocal performances such as Actéon, Carmina Burana, and The Wizard of Oz. Since moving to Ontario, Andrew has performed as part of the Ukrainian Art Song Program in Toronto, as a tenor soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vespers Massin London, and as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah in Stratford. His recent opera credits include Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosí Fan Tutte, the titular role in Britten’s Albert Herring and Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Having recently moved to Toronto, Andrew is thrilled to be joining the Elmer Iseler Singers for their 47th season.

Doug MacNaughton, Baritone (Photo: Catherine Charron-Drolet)
Christopher Wilson
Baritone

Christopher Wilson is a professional performer, arts educator, writer, independent producer

Gordon Burnett, Bass
Gordon Burnett
Bass

Gord Burnett maintains an active career as a singer, conductor and voice teacher. In addition to the Elmer Iseler Singers, his professional choral experience includes the Elora Festival Singers, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and 16 years with Tactus Vocal Ensemble, an octet dedicated to the performance of early music. Presently he conducts the Sanctuary and Handbell Choirs at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kitchener and the Guelph Male Choir. He maintains a successful private voice studio in Waterloo. In his spare time, he enjoys working through the Sunday New York Times crosswords.

Sharang Sharma, Tenor
Sharang Sharma
Tenor

Sharang Sharma is an emerging musician with interests in performance and historical musicology. His interpretation of repertoire from the Middle Ages to 1800 brings a refreshing take on little-performed music by less renowned composers. His most recent engagement as lay clerk at The Queen’s College, Oxford (UK), has set him up for a life in ecclesiastical music, which he pursues as Director, Chapel Music at Huron University College, London (Canada). He focused on monastic culture in medieval Italy as part of his recently completed masters in musicology at the University of Oxford.

Sharang has performed in professional and amateur choirs, such as The Strand Consort in London (UK), Fount & Origin in Oxford, Kammerchor and Chor Amica in London (Canada), and with theatre and opera companies, such as LINK in London (Canada), and Spectra Ensemble in London (UK). During his undergraduate degree, he participated in Western University’s choirs and opera productions and was an active member of London’s musical community. His range of experiences comprises recording with the BBC, performing with the Academy of Ancient Music and Instruments of Time and Truth, studying historical repertoire and performance with Canadian Renaissance Music Summer School and Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and appearing as guest chorister and soloist at many music festivals including the Huron County Bach Festival and the Sherborne Early Music Festival.

Sharang was the 43rd and 44th season James T. Chestnutt Scholar.

Michael Sawarna, Tenor
Michael Sawarna
Tenor

Michael began singing with the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2004. He is the second Iseler Singer to originate from Kemptville, Ontario a small town south of Ottawa. Now living in Toronto he is a Tenor Section Lead for the Amadeus Choir and St. Andrew’s United Church Choir. He is studying voice with Catherine Robbin at York University. In his spare time Michael hopes to become as good a hockey player as now-retired tenor Ed Wiens.

Mitchell Pady, Tenor
Mitchell Pady
Tenor

A Graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Mitchell Pady pursued his studies in composition and voice.  He has performed and participated in many festivals and conferences including the national conductors’ conference run by the Association of Canadian Orchestras.  He has acted as choral adjudicator for both the Kiwanis and Music Fest Canada competitions and is the Choral Conductor for the acclaimed Inter-Provincial Music Camp.  During the last six years Mitchell has worked with teachers and students as a choral clinician for a number of professional development workshops across the Toronto District School Board. He is presently Artistic Director of the Oriana Singers and conductor of The Cellar Singers, succeeding Albert Greer who retired in May 2012.

Doug MacNaughton, Baritone (Photo: Catherine Charron-Drolet)
Doug MacNaughton
Baritone

Doug MacNaughton began his singing career at the age of 20, when he made his operatic debut with Edmonton Opera. Since then, he has gone on to sing throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. He is at home in opera, operetta, musical theatre and concert work, and he is known as much for the versatility of his acting as for his singing.

Eric MacKeracher, Tenor
Eric MacKeracher
Tenor

Eric is from Pickering, Ontario. He joined the EIS in September 2000 and in the same month became the music director at Kingston Road United Church in the Beaches area of Toronto. He also sings tenor in the Amadeus Choir. In his spare time Eric likes to read – preferably with one of his several cats curled up in his lap! 

Michael Thomas, Bass
Michael Thomas
Baritone

Baritone Michael Thomas, a native of Toronto, has been a member of the Elmer Iseler Singers since 1998. His powerful, emotive voice has been featured in performances as a soloist with numerous choirs in the Toronto area, most notably with the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers. He was also the baritone soloist with the Toronto Symphony’s New Creations Festival in 2013 in the Canadian premiere of Vabeni: Ritual of Prehistoric Fossils of Man by Krystof Marayka. Michael is a music instructor for the Toronto District School Board and, since August 2006, has been Music Director at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Markham. Michael was selected to sing with Placido Domingo as a member of the Blackcreek Summer Music Festival Chorus.

Nelson Lohnes, Bass
Nelson Lohnes
Bass

Nelson was born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Organist and music director at St. James The Apostle, Brampton. Occasional teacher for the Dufferin Peel Roman Catholic School Board and Peel Board of Education. Grade 10 Silver Medal and A.R.C.T. Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Music Associate and Music Licentiate Diplomas from the Western Board of Music. Solo work during career has included opera, musical and choral societies in England, the United States and Canada. Recent solo work was in August at Niagara on the Lake International Festival singing several Spanish Tango pieces with chamber quartet. Nelson will soon be recording a new solo CD, including “Song for the Mira”.

Andrea Ludwig, Mezzo Soprano (Photo: Bo Huang)
Andrea Ludwig
Soprano

Juno-nominated mezzo soprano Andrea Ludwig is an artist of tremendous depth, musicality and scope. Hailed by Halifax Chronicle Herald critic Stephen Pedersen as having “tones of silver and gold,” Andrea has appeared with the Canadian Opera Company in numerous roles including Nireno in Handel’s Julius Ceasar, the Second Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Flora in The Turn of the Screw, Moira in Paul Ruder’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Liesgen in Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Andrea is proud to announce her recent Juno nomination for a recording of Canadian composer Peter Togni’s Responsio in collaboration with Jeff Reilly, Suzie LeBlanc, Charles Daniels and John Potter.

Gisele Kulak, Soprano
Gisele Kulak
Soprano

Saskatchewan native, Gisele Kulak has enjoyed a widely varied career, beginning with opera and operetta, but shifting to oratorio and recital work, dabbling in pop and jazz along the way. Gisele has performed as a soloist with The National Ballet Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, The Victoria Symphony, The Oakville Symphony, The York Symphony, The Burlington Civic Chorale, and in many concerts with “Music at Metropolitan”, the concert series of Metropolitan United Church in Toronto.

Gisele has established a focus on choral music, singing with the Elmer Iseler Singers for eleven seasons and Soundstreams’ Choir 21 for seven seasons.  She has also been a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, “voxworks”, and the Adelphi Ensemble. Gisele teaches singing and provides choral techniques workshops as well as being the vocal coach for The Oriana Women’s Choir.

Susan Suchard, Soprano
Susan Suchard
Soprano

Soprano Susan Suchard is a native of London, Ontario. She holds a BMus from Western University and an MMus in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Toronto. Now in her 21st season with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, she is also a frequent singer with the Elmer Iseler Singers, and a former member of the Elora Festival Singers, the professional core of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Canadian Opera Company Chorus. She enjoys a career as a voice teacher, with students ranging from beginners, to advanced amateurs, to aspiring professionals. As a conductor, Susan has served as Director of Music for Rosedale United Church,  as Preparatory Chorus Conductor for VIVA Singers Toronto, and on projects with Tapestry Opera and Jumblies Theatre. She was an Artist Educator for the Canadian Opera Company and a music teacher in the public school system. As an arts administrator, Susan was General Manager for VIVA Singers Toronto, Managing Editor for Opera Canada magazine, and Leadership Legacy Intern for Tapestry Opera.

Valerie Nunn, Alto
Valerie Nunn
Alto

Valerie was privileged to sing for Elmer in the 80’s and is thrilled to be back singing with EIS.  While in the Singers, she met her husband, Gord Burnett and has Elmer to thank for that!

Her choral experience includes Hart House Chorus, Ontario Youth Choir, University of Western Ontario Faculty Singers, Gregg Smith Singers (NYC), Elora Festival Singers and Tactus Vocal Ensemble. She enjoys playing guitar for the Buddy Choir, a group of developmentally challenged adults who love to sing! 

Karen Freedman, Alto
Karen Freedman
Alto

Despite growing up in a musical household, with her mother a founding member of Elmer Iseler's Festival Singers, Karen only discovered choral singing herself at McMaster University, where she studied French. During an 11-year stay in France, she sang with the Ensemble Vocal de Provence and Audite Nova de Paris. Throughout her teaching career with the Toronto District School Board, she sang first with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir under the direction of Elmer Iseler, then with the Amadeus Choir and Lydia Adams.

Now retired from teaching, Karen joined the Elmer Iseler Singers as a substitute in 2018. She is busier than ever, as an alto and librarian with the Amadeus Choir and as a volunteer in the Choirs Ontario Music Library. She loves to travel and read historical novels when she has time.

Shawn Grenke, Accompanist
Shawn Grenke
Accompanist

Conductor, Pianist and Organist Shawn Grenke is Director of Music at Eglinton St. George’s United Church in Toronto, Associate Conductor and Accompanist for the Amadeus Choir of Toronto, Accompanist to the Elmer Iseler Singers of Toronto, and Artistic Director to the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers of Woodstock Ontario.

Shawn is also the Director of the 80 voice Achill Choral Society based out of Orangeville, Ontario. Shawn has made international appearances as conductor, pianist and organist in Poland, Sweden, Korea, the United States and Europe.

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Paul Winkelmans, Baritone - Photo:Simeon Rusnak Photography
Paul Winkelmans
Baritone

Paul Winkelmans joined the Singers at the start of their 2017/2018 season, having just received his Master of Music in Voice and Opera Performance from McGill University. At McGill he enjoyed performances as part of Opera McGill, as well as his involvement in Michael McMahon’s Song Interpretation class. He loves exploring and sharing both standard and unconventional repertoire, combining works by classical masters Schubert and Schumann with contemporary pieces in his programmed recitals, and even commissioning a new Canadian work to premiere for his fourth year undergraduate recital at the University of Manitoba.

Graham Robinson, Bass
Graham Robinson
Bass

Graham studied under Dr. Bruce More, Alexandra Browning, and Susan Young. He was a featured performer for the University of Victoria Chorus and Chamber Singers, and the Victoria Chamber Orchestra In addition to his role as a soloist, Graham has managed a vocal studio and provided vocal coaching to the Cantiamo Youth Choir. After spending time in Cuba and Japan, he now resides in Toronto. In addition to singing with Elmer Iseler Singers, he is featured regularly with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Univox, Humbercrest United Church, and All The King’s Voices.

Cathy Robinson, Soprano
Cathy Robinson
Soprano

Cathy joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2005. She has an extensive operatic career, including the role of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust with Premier Opera, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte with Oberlin’s Summer Opera Program in Casalmaggiore, Italy. Cathy has also appeared in three operas with the New Opera and Concert Centre in Toronto, and was the winner of the 1996 Oshawa-Whitby Kiwanis Senior Rosebowl Competition. Cathy maintains her role as a soprano with the Amadeus Choir, in which she has sung for many years.

Claire Renouf, Soprano
Claire Renouf
Soprano

Claire is thrilled to be a part of the Elmer Iseler Singers. Born in Toronto, she began her formal training as a child when she joined the Toronto Children’s Chorus. After singing with them for seven years, she continued her studies at Queen’s University, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. During her time at Queen’s, she also sang with the Queen’s Choral Ensemble, and performed in several stage productions, such as Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretal, as well as Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. After graduating, Claire sang as a member of the Exultate Chamber Singers under Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt for five years. Claire has studied under such Canadian talents as Patricia Harton-McCord, Elizabeth McDonald, and Bruce Kelly. She continues to use her vocal training as a prospective voice-over talent.

Claudia Lemcke, Alto
Claudia Lemcke
Alto

Claudia Lemcke studied Piano and Voice in her native Germany. With her ‘warm and clear voice and a reliable sense of style’ (Rheinische Post) and ‘her charming sound and directness of interpretation’ (Brantford Expositor) she has established herself as a versatile Mezzo Soprano equally at home in art song and oratorio.

Claudia has been a frequent soloist in Toronto and the GTA and has extensive choral and solo experience with several of Toronto’s finest ensembles. After singing with the Elmer Iseler Singers as a substitute for several years she finally joined the ensemble in 2016.

When she is not singing in Toronto, Claudia can either be found in Montréal, singing with La Chapelle de Québec under Bernard Labadie, or teaching Piano and Voice in her own private studio.

Lynn McMurray, Alto
Lynn Featherstone
Alto

Lynn Featherstone joined the Singers in September 2017. She was raised in Cambridge, Ontario, where she started piano lessons at age six, beginning a life-long pursuit in musicianship – as a choral singer, soloist and conductor. At the University of Toronto she completed both her Bachelor of Music in Music Education in Voice Studies and her Masters in Music Education, and has sung with the University of Toronto MacMillan Singers and the Bach Festival Singers. For over a decade Lynn has been an alto soloist at Fairlawn Avenue United Church. She was formerly Associate Conductor for the Bach Children’s Chorus, under conductor Linda Beaupré. Lynn is the private vocal coach and piano teacher at Crescent School.

Amy Dodington, Soprano
Amy Dodington, Soprano

Amy Dodington joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in the Fall of 2012.  Amy's musical family has had a long association with the Elmer Iseler Singers since the days of the Festival Singers.  Originally from Port Carling, Muskoka, Amy moved to Toronto in 1996 to study Zoology and then Voice Performance at the U of T.  She is now a freelance soloist regularly performing concert works and eclectic solo recitals.  As a soloist and section lead, she started at Kingsway-Lambton Church under Ruth Watson Henderson in 2001 and remained there for 16 years. She also sang for 7 years with the Toronto Chamber Choir and she currently sings at Fairlawn Avenue United Church under Eleanor Daley. 

Gillian Grant
Alto

Since graduating from Queen's University School of Music, Gillian's enthusiasm for her work has provided her with a breadth of experience including teaching private piano and voice lessons, singing with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, singing backup vocals in a folk band, and working as soprano section lead at St. Aidan’s in the Beach. 

Charles Davidson, Tenor
Charles Davidson, Tenor

Noted for “refined tone, luxurious timbre and superior technique” (Opera Gong Toronto), Charles has joined some of Canada’s leading choirs as soloist and ensemble member, including Tafelmusik (two JUNO nominations), Soundstreams’ Choir 21, and currently, the Elmer Iseler Singers. Oratorio highlights include Mozart Requiem, Bach St John Passion and Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle. Equally at home on the stage, Charlie trained at the Guildford School of Acting in the United Kingdom. 2023/24 included highlights from Haydn’s Creation (Masterworks Oakville), Bach Cantata 131 with Toronto Beach Chorale, and H.M.S. Pinafore in concert with The Cellar Singers. Thank you for supporting great music. 

Alison Roy, Alto
Alison Roy
Alto

Alison was born in Ottawa, Ontario and has been with the Elmer Iseler Singers since 1994. She works for the Toronto District School Board as a Music Itinerant. Alison is Second Alto Section Lead at Metropolitan United Church and Alto Section Lead for the Amadeus Choir. In her spare time (whenever that is!), she does studio work, and writes.

Will Reid, Tenor
Will Reid
Tenor

Will is a Toronto-based musician, conductor and educator. When not singing with the Elmer Iseler Singers, he can be seen singing lead for the funk and soul band, Yasgurs Farm as well as the 50s group, The Redeemers. Will is also the Assistant Choir Director and George Black fellow of Sacred Music at the Church of the Redeemer, a position held since 2015. Will holds a B.Mus from the Faculty of Music and a B.Ed from OISE, UofT. 

Ben Keast, Tenor
Ben Keast
Tenor

Ben joined EIS in the fall of 2016. He is a composer, chorister, teacher, and music director. As a composer, he combines his experience in Korean traditional music and his knowledge of western classical music to achieve a unique soundscape – with a focus on choral music. Every summer, he can be found working with talented children, putting on six musicals over the course of a summer at Camp Manitou in McKellar, Ontario. Every Sunday, he sings Renaissance polyphony at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Parkdale, Toronto. He holds a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Music from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.