| St. Michael's Choir School | |
|---|---|
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 Latin: Schola Cantorum Sancti Michæle Archangelo | |
| Location | |
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66 Bond Street (Garden District) , M5B 1X2 Canada | |
| Information | |
| School type | Semi-privateCatholic combinedelementary school andhigh school |
| Motto | Bis orat qui cantat (He who sings prays twice) |
| Religious affiliation | Catholic Church |
| Established | 1937 |
| School board | Toronto Catholic District School Board |
| Superintendent | Flora Cifelli (Area 6) |
| Area trustee | Kevin Morrison (Ward 9) |
| School number | 518 / 834718 518 / 835200 |
| Director | Geoffrey Rawlinson |
| Principal | Martin Clough |
| Chancellor | Francis Leo (asArchbishop of Toronto) |
| Faculty | 41 |
| Grades | 3-12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Age range | 8-18 |
| Enrolment | 270 (2016-2017) |
| Houses | Ronan, Hopperton, Mann, and Armstrong |
| Colours | Maroon (elementary) Navy (secondary) Gold |
| Song | Thou Royal Knight from Courts on High by J.E. Ronan |
| Mascot | Spartan |
| Annual tuition | CAD$8,000 |
| Conductors | Sidney Bryan Priddy (Artistic Director, Senior Saturday Choir & Principal Conductor), Teri Dunn (Senior Sunday Choir, Elementary Choir, and Dean of Choral Studies), and Walter Mahabir (Junior Choir) |
| Website | www |
St. Michael's Choir School (also known asSMCS,The Choir School, orSt. Mike's Choir) is a semi-privateCatholicchoir school for boys fromgrades 3-12 inToronto, Ontario, Canada. Overseen by theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, the school provides a private music education in joint operation with theToronto Catholic District School Board, which administers all other academic subjects, athletics programs, and extracurricular activities. The school is affiliated with thePontifical Institute of Sacred Music and is a member of theInternational Boys' Schools Coalition.[1]
St. Michael's Choir School trainschoristers and musicians inclassical andliturgical music through regular choral,music theory, andpiano instruction, and optional lessons inmusic history,vocal,organ,classical guitar, andorchestralstring instruments. Admission to the school is byaudition and students sing in concerts in Canada and internationally and during weeklymass atSt. Michael's Cathedral Basilica.[2][3][4][5] In addition to music and the performing arts, the school's alumni include professionals in business, academia, law, medicine, media, and politics.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
St. Michael's Choir School was founded in 1937[12] byMonsignor John Edward Ronan[13] as a privateelementary school to train choristers and provideliturgical music services toSt. Michael's Cathedral, where Ronan was Director of Music. Then called Cathedral Schola Cantorum, the school's founding was inspired byPope Pius X'sTra le sollecitudini and started in a single room at 67Bond Street, Toronto.[14][15] Monsignor Ronan was a composer[16] and graduate of thePontifical Institute of Sacred Music inRome, Italy, and remained principal until his death on October 15, 1962, a date that is now commemorated annually as Founder's Day at the school.[15][17]
As the school expanded and added asecondary school, it moved into a new building at 66 Bond Street, which was designed by the ecclesiastical architect James Haffa and opened in 1950.[18] In 1955, the school was granted affiliation with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, becoming one of six choirs and choir schools in the world to share this affiliation.[15] The affiliation authorized St. Michael's Choir School to grant the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Music, with a specialization inGregorian chant.[19][20] In 1966, St. Michael's Choir School entered into an agreement with theToronto Catholic District School Board, then called the Metropolitan Separate School Board, to place secular, non-music courses under the publicly funded Catholic school system.[21] In 1975, the secondary school expanded further and moved to 69 Bond Street.[22] By 1987, the school was fully funded by government with the exception of its music program, for which students continue to pay fees. In 1987, St. Michael's Choir School celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, and in recognition of this milestone, Toronto mayorArt Eggleton declared June 15, 1987 as the official "St. Michael's Choir School Day." In 1996, the elementary school moved into a renovated building at 67 Bond Street and left 66 Bond Street as an administrative building, auditorium, and rehearsal space for the school's music division.[22]
Notable school instructors have included composer and piano virtuosoJohn Arpin, who taught piano from 1956 to 1957,[23] andCanadian Opera Company tenor John Arab, who taught vocal from 1954 until his death in 2000.[24]
St. Michael's Choir School has held an annual Christmas concert since 1939. From 1939 to 1964, Christmas concerts were held at the Knights of Columbus Hall, attached toJames Cooper House, before moving toMassey Hall,[25] where the school celebrated 50 years of performances at the venue in 2015.[26][27] In 2013,CBC listed the school's Christmas concert as one of Toronto's top 13 classical Christmas events of 2013.[28]
Besides the Christmas concert, the school choirs perform during the annual Founder's Day concert in October and thespring concert in May.[29] The choirs have also performed atRoy Thomson Hall and other venues around the city, both on their own and with other musical groups, including the Victoria Scholars Men's Choral Ensemble[30] and theToronto Symphony Orchestra.[31] The school performed forPope John Paul II in 1984 during his papal visit to Canada and again in 2002 duringWorld Youth Day.[32] The school choir also performed duringQueen Elizabeth'sGolden Jubilee visit to Toronto in 2002.[33] In 2017, the school opened theSistine Chapel Choir's Toronto concert,[34] sang during the Toronto Arts Foundation Mayor's Evening for the Arts gala attended by MayorJohn Tory,[35][36] and performed all three parts ofGeorge Frideric Handel'sMessiah for the first time in the school's history.[37][38] In 2020, students served ascantors during thestate funeral for formerCanadian Prime MinisterJohn Turner, with guests including Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, former Governor GeneralDavid Johnston, and former Prime MinisterKim Campbell.[39][40][41]
St. Michael's Choir School began touring in 1946[5] and its choirs have performed across Canada and internationally, including inNova Scotia,[42]Quebec,[43]Newfoundland and Labrador,[44] the Czech Republic,[45] the United States,[46][47] Germany,[48] and Trinidad and Tobago.[33] The first international tour took place in 1971, when the school choir participated in theCork International Choral Festival in Ireland, performed in the United Kingdom, and sang beforePope Paul VI at a general audience inSt. Peter's Basilica,Vatican City.[49] As part of the school's 75th anniversary celebrations in 2013, the school's choirs toured Italy, which included a performance in St. Peter's Basilica and of "Jubilate Deo," a song composed by the school's founder, forPope Francis inSt. Peter's Square.[50][51][52][53] The 2013 tour was featured in a documentary film bySalt + Light Television.[54] During the papal visit to Canada in 2022, the school performed for Pope Francis at theCathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec inQuebec City, Quebec.[55] More recently, the school toured the United Kingdom in 2023, Michigan in 2024, and Alberta in 2025.
In addition to concerts and tours, St. Michael's Choir School commemoratesMichaelmas, thefeast day ofSt. Michael, on September 29[56] each year with aBlue Mass given in honour of the city's public safety personnel at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica. The celebration includes a performance ofThou Royal Knight from Courts on High, the school song composed by Monsignor Ronan in 1942.[57] On November 11, the graduating class provides music for the school'sRemembrance Day ceremony at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica to honourarmed forces members who have died in the line of duty.[58]
The school also provides choir services throughoutHoly Week, including anEaster Vigil on the night ofHoly Saturday. DuringTenebrae, alumni return to singresponsories alongside current students in a traditional ceremony where candles are gradually extinguished throughout the service and choristers slaphymnals onpews to create a loud noise in the darkened church. Descended frommedieval tradition, the resulting noise symbolizes the earthquake that is said to have followedJesus's death.[59]
Students are divided into one of four schoolhouses named Ronan, Hopperton, Mann, and Armstrong, which are designed to encourage school spirit, peer mentorship, and student leadership.[60] Each house competes in community events for the annual House Cup award and is represented by senior students known as aprefects. The houses are named after Monsignor John Edward Ronan, the school's founder, Joan Hopperton, the school's first teacher, Kathleen Mann, the first Junior Choir conductor,[61] and Harold Armstrong, the school's first organist and Tenor-Bass Choir conductor.[62][63]
St. Michael's Choir School is named afterSt. Michael the Archangel and its motto,Bis orat qui cantat, is translated asHe who sings prays twice.[64] The phrase refers to song as a noble form of prayer and is sometimes attributed toSt. Augustine.[65][66] The school is also represented by a schoolcrest, which serves as the school's logo and is worn on students' uniforms. The crest'sblazon is as follows:
The three symbols are one. At the center of the Choir School’s academic effort to make the universe (circle) intelligible to growing minds is an experience of music (treble clef) for the praise of God in Jesus Christ (Chi Rho cross).[64]
The school's sportsmascot is theSpartan and the school colours aremaroon for grades 3-8,navy blue for grades 9-12, andgold. Students wear maroon or navy blue blazers, sweaters, andpolo shirts according to their grade level, as part of the school's uniform.[67] The school houses, Ronan, Hopperton, Mann, and Armstrong, are represented by the colours blue, yellow, red, and green, respectively.[68]
St. Michael's Choir School came under scrutiny after 17-year-old student Kenneth Au Yeung died by suicide by leaping from thePrince Edward Viaduct on December 11, 1997.[69] Earlier that afternoon, Principal John Ryall called Au Yeung and five other classmates to his office about a prank involving potentially libellous remarks linking the school choir director to a sex scandal. The comments mistakenly found its way into print in the school's yearbook, which Au Yeung had helped edit. Ryall and Louise Kane, a longtime teacher, called off-duty police officer Const. Christopher Downer, an alumnus who often visited campus in uniform as the principal's "enforcer." During the meeting, Downer and Ryall threatened the students with criminal charges, questioned them without notifying their parents on the grounds that the investigation was informal, and prevented Au Yeung from contacting his parents, which violated school board policy. It was the latter that Au Yeung's mother Catherine testified as a direct cause of the suicide during the inquiry, which made 23 recommendations, including on the mandatory notification of parents during police investigations and guidelines for police conduct off-duty. Downer and Ryall did not face legal repercussions.[70][71][72][73]
The school was mired in controversy over the removal of its artistic director, Dr. Jerzy Cichocki, a 25-year-plus employee and alumnus. On December 28, 2016, the school sent out a letter to the school community from the school's director, Stephen Handrigan, vaguely outlining Dr. Cichocki's dismissal.[74] Following some backlash from the community, the school sent a second letter from Archbishop of TorontoThomas Collins, reiterating Dr. Cichocki's removal.[75] Further backlash sparked a student-led petition in support of Dr. Cichocki's reinstatement, which was published on December 30, 2016, and earned almost 1000 signatures. The creator stated that "Dr. Cichocki is by far the most qualified candidate to fulfill this noble mission (of the choir school), having had a connection with the school from the age of eight and possessing three graduate degrees in music.”[76] Despite the significant amount of support, the petition was disregarded by the administration.
Administered by theToronto Catholic District School Board, St. Michael's Choir School's academic curriculum follows theOntario Curriculum at both theelementary andsecondary levels. From Grade 5 onward, students enrol in the Extended French Program, where they studyFrench as a second language as well as certain subjects, such associal studies, entirely in French. Graduates earn an Extended French Certificate from the Toronto Catholic District School Board and are considered functionally bilingual upon completing the program.[77][78] At the secondary level, students enrol in classes in the academic stream across core subjects such as English, French, geography, history, religious studies, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics, which qualify students for university entrance upon graduation.[64] Graduates earn anOntario Secondary School Diploma and St. Michael's Choir School Diploma and have pursuedpost-secondary education at universities and colleges in Canada,[79] the United States,[80][81][82][83][84] and the United Kingdom.[85]
In addition to the Ontario curriculum requirements, students study choral music, piano, and music theory, with the option of studying vocal, music history, and second instruments such as organ, classical guitar, andorchestralstring instruments.[86][87] Administered by theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto and thePontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the music program includes daily choral instruction and rehearsals as well as weekly mass duties at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica.
Students are divided into four choirs based on age andvoice type: Elementary (grades 3–4;soprano andmezzo-soprano ranges), Junior (grades 5–6; soprano, mezzo-soprano, andalto ranges), Senior (grades 7–12; soprano, alto,tenor, andbass ranges), and Tenor-Bass (grades 7–12; tenor,baritone, and bass ranges). Each choir hasmass duties, but the Elementary Choir, as a training choir, sings only a handful of masses every year. All choirs participate in the three annual concerts (Founder's Day, Christmas, and Spring concerts).[88] Students from the Junior, Senior and Tenor-Bass choirs also participate in the school's semi-annual tours, which take place around Christmas and in the spring, in Canada and internationally.[89]
Students at St. Michael's Choir School participate in a variety of extracurricular activities through the school'shouse system. Students also participate in the school community through itsStudent Council[90] and student clubs, including the Eco Club,Reach for the Top, Social Justice Committee, and the school'syearbookSchola. In 2015, the school's junior W5H team won the Toronto Catholic District School Board's W5H Toronto South Junior Region Championships.[91][92]
The school supports a varied sports program and offers volleyball, tennis, swimming, cross-country, hockey, soccer,ultimate, andflag football.[93] In 2012, the school's senior volleyball team placed first in the Toronto District Catholic Athletic Association tournament and won a bronze medal at theOntario Federation of School Athletic Associations provincial championships.[94] The senior volleyball team won the Toronto District Catholic Athletic Association Senior Boys Tier 2 Championship in 2017.[95]
Due to the vocal and musical instrument requirements at St. Michael's Choir School, admission is by audition only. Depending on the age of the applicant, the admission process can include an academic aptitude test, a music theory test, an audition consisting of singing a song at an appropriate voice range, vocal and ear exercises,sight-reading music, and playing an instrument, and a family interview. The audition assesses the applicant's vocal and musical ability, listening skills, and teachability. Applicants must meet the requirements for enrolment with the Toronto Catholic District School Board.[96][97]
All students paytuition fees, which were CAD$8,000 CAD in the 2023-2024 academic year.[98]
St. Michael's Choir School is highly rated by theFraser Institute's reports on elementary and secondary schools in Ontario. In 2018-2019, the secondary school received a score of 9.4 out of 10 and ranked second out of 739 secondary schools provincially.[60] The elementary school was rated 10 out of 10 and ranked first out of 2975 schools in the province, in a tie with 12 other schools, in 2021-2022.[99] The elementary school was rated as the best public school in Toronto by theC.D. Howe Institute in 2012.[100][101]
St. Michael's Choir School is located next to St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica and operates out of four buildings at 56, 66, 67 and 69Bond Street. In 2016, the school's secondary school building, located at 69 Bond Street, was rated as in need of "critical" repairs and had the worst-performing score among Toronto Catholic District School Board secondary schools on theOntario Ministry of Education's Facility Condition Index.[102] In 2018, the Ministry of Education announced it would spend $11.2 million CAD[103][104][105] to construct a new consolidated school building at 67 Bond Street designed byKPMB Architects.[106][107][108] In 2022, KPMB Architects, the Archdiocese of Toronto, and the Toronto Catholic District School Board submitted a new development plan to the City of Toronto for a revised six-storey school design that incorporates and restores the historicGothic revival-style façade at 66 Bond Street.[109][110]
St. Michael's Choir School has produced tenalbums to date, as well as music available forstreaming onApple Music,[111]Spotify,[112] andAmazon Music.[113] The albums[114] include:
was founded in 1937
John Edward Ronan
43°39′18″N79°22′41″W / 43.6551°N 79.3781°W /43.6551; -79.3781
