By 1900 the present situation of having the choir led by 4 paid soloists was in place. A November, 1929 ad in the Globe and Mail for the performance of Vaughan Williams’ opera Hugh the Drover in the Royal York Hotel concert hall states that the role of Mary would be sung by Bloor Street soprano soloist Nellye Gill, with the ”chorus to be selected from the celebrated Bloor Street United Church Choir”.

Over the years the choir has continued to present larger works in service and in concert, with orchestra or just with organ, along with the shorter anthems and motets sung regularly for services. A number of former soloists, often starting out as performance students from the nearby University of Toronto Faculty of Music or the Royal Conservatory of Music, have gone on to full-fledged professional careers. These include the late renowned soprano Lois Marshall and the well-known current star of European new opera, Barbara Hannigan.

Our current Director of Music, David Passmore, is a published composer; the Bloor Street Choir has performed a number of his works, one of which they performed in January 2001 with the Toronto Symphony as part of the orchestra's benefit concert at Bloor Street for Out of the Cold. See info on purchasing the Choir CD here.

The Bloor Street music program provides a variety of styles of music for the Sunday morning worship services. In addition to traditional hymns, the choir performs compositions by composers from Byrd to Bach to Britten and beyond. The congregation is often invited to sing traditional songs of praise from other cultures around the world, including Aboriginal, Spanish and African hymns, sometimes accompanied by instruments such as piano (a recently restored concert grand), guitar, quatro, mandolin and percussion. Each service ends with an organ Postlude, featuring the range of expression and colour of the newly restored 4-manual Casavant pipe organ.

But the core of the music programme is the volunteers who come out every week to sing for joy and to contribute to the life of the church. If you are interested in singing in the choir, or want to learn more about it, please explore the links on the left side of the page. We hope you will find our music program enjoyable and meaningful, from the pews or as a performer.

For ages 15 and up, the Senior Choir leads the music in worship on Sundays, except in July and August when the music is led by a soloist or instrumentalist. The choir sings a wide repertoire of musical styles, from Renaissance motets to contemporary classical "and beyond." In keeping with the church's commitment to inclusivity and world outreach, the choir (and congregation) have sung in many different languages (French, Latin, Korean, Xosa, Zulu, Spanish, German etc.)

The choir is non-auditioned except for the 4 soloists who lead the sections. However you will find that some acquaintance with musical notation and an ability to carry a musical line and blend will be helpful.

A public concert is produced every couple of years or so, with orchestra and soloists. (Haydn Nelson Mass, Bach St. John Passion, Bruchner Requiem, and Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio are some of the works the choir has performed in past concerts). The choir made a recording of music written for and by Bloor Streeters as a fund-raiser for the Organ Restoration Fund. See here.

Choir Practice: Thursdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 9:30am before the 10:30 am service.

For more information, please contact David Passmore, Director of Music.

The four-manual Casavant organ was completed in 1954 to replace its predecessor, destroyed in Bloor Street's "Great Fire". It is a substantial well-built instrument voiced to the English Romantic tonal ideals of the time. Along with cleaning the pipes, replacing felt and leather valves, the builder has reconfigured and revoiced some sections of the organ to produce a more present, exciting sound, while respecting the essential character of the instrument

The final stage of restoration was to replace the aging mechanical system in the console with a digital system to allow maximum flexibility for the organist to plan registration changes, and make it easy for multiple users of the instrument to preserve their own settings.

The Piano

The Young Chang concert grand in the sanctuary was purchased in the late 1960s. Over the last year the pin block and strings have been replaced and a new set of high quality German hammers installed. So now the piano sounds as good (or better) than when it was new!

The programme consists of Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson's The Bloor Street Mass, commissioned for Bloor Street's 100th Anniversary, three anthems by Frederick Sylvester, Organist at Bloor Street (1938-1966), Seasons of the Spirit, music by David Passmore and words by David Allan, former minister at Bloor Street, and the United Church Creed, "We are not alone", also composed by David Passmore.

The CD is for sale at the information table in McClure Hall after each Sunday service. For Further info or to order the CD, contact David Passmore.

Christmas Music

We are currently preparing Charpentier's charming Messe de Minuit for Christmas Eve, based on ancient French carols. The only recording widely available now is on the Naxos label with Toronto's own Kevin Mallon directing the Arcadia Ensemble.