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Exultate Chamber Singers is an adult, mixed-voice chamber choir located in the heart of downtown Toronto. The ensemble is enriched not only by the strong musicianship of its members but also by their varied ages, cultural backgrounds, and academic and professional credentials. Together they form a passionate, committed ensemble with a wide-ranging repertoire.

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The choir is a three-time winner of the Healey Willan Grand Prize in the CBC National Radio Competition and was awarded first place in the chamber choir category of Choral Canada’s 2019 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs.

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In addition to presenting its annual concert series, Exultate has made regular appearances around Ontario, toured in Canada, collaborated with dozens of artists, released six albums, and enjoyed airplay on CBC Radio. Exultate's most recent album, At First Light, showcases new Canadian choral music commissioned by the choir in recent years.

Land acknowledgment

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge the land we perform on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13, signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties, signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.

 

Exultate Chamber Singers is committed to deepening our understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing and being and the role we can play in our collective call for reconciliation. We invite you to pause to reflect on your relationship with these lands and your path towards reconciliation.

Our Mission & Mandate

OUR MISSION & MANDATE

Exultate Chamber Singers strives to consistently achieve high quality performances of a broad repertoire of challenging music for chamber choir and to actively contribute to the development of the local and broader Canadian choral community.

OUR GOALS

To engage audiences through concerts and special performances.

To engage in meaningful collaborations with musical and community partners.

To contribute to the continued musical development of singers, composers, and conductors both in Exultate and the larger choral community.

To support the creation and performance of Canadian choral music through commissions, selective programming, touring, and special events, with an increasing awareness of diversity in the artform.

History Timeline
A collage of images of album covers, the choir founder and other historic moments

A TIMELINE OF

OUR HISTORY

Founded in 1981, Exultate Chamber Singers has been celebrated for its continuing tradition of choral excellence for forty years.

Artistic Director

MEET OUR CHOIR

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Exultate Chamber Singers artistic director Mark Ramsay portrait shot

Mark Ramsay

Mark Ramsay is Assistant Professor of Music Education and Coordinator of Choral Activities at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music. In addition to his teaching duties at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, he is the conductor of Western University Singers. Mark recently co-chaired PODIUM 2022, Canada’s national choral conference and festival, and he frequently appears as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. 

 

Mark holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from University of Toronto where he was a student of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. His doctoral thesis focused on Canadian choral repertoire written specifically for tenor/bass voices. He was a recipient of an Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting, as well as multiple U of T Fellowships and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. He holds a Master of Music from U of T and a Bachelor of Music Education from University of Prince Edward Island.

 

Dr. Ramsay has previously been a conducting fellow with the Canadian Chamber Choir and worked as assistant producer on their album Seasons of Life and Landscape. In addition, he was the conductor of the U of T Tenor/Bass Choir, the U of T Scarborough Concert Choir, and the MNjcc Community Choir. He worked for ten years as a high school music teacher and curriculum specialist in Summerside, PEI, where he was also music director at Trinity United Church and conductor of the Summerside Community Choir. (www.markramsay.ca)

SINGERS

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Dan Bevan-Baker portrait shot

Dan Bevan-Baker

Bass  |  Joined 2024

Exultate Chamber Singers bass J. Scott Brubacher portrait shot

J. Scott Brubacher

Bass  |  Joined 2016

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Rachel Bogues portrait shot

Rachel Bogues

Soprano  |  Joined 2017

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Elaine Choi portrait shot

Elaine Choi

Alto  |  Joined 2018

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Julia Brotto portrait shot

Julia Brotto

Soprano  |  On leave

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Andrew Foster portrait shot

Andrew Foster

Tenor  |  Joined 2017

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Mary Gillmeister

Alto  |  Joined 2010

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Lynn Janes portrait shot

Lynn Janes

Soprano  |  joined 1989 & 2021

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Dr. Bina John portrait shot

Dr. Bina John

Alto  |  Joined 2021

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Patrick Lam portrait shot

Patrick Lam

Tenor  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Jason Locke portrait shot

Jason Locke

Bass  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Daniel Meeks portrait shot

Daniel Meeks

Tenor  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Lindsay Naft portrait shot

Lindsay Naft

Alto  |  Joined 2021

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Lizzy Perkins portrait shot

Lizzy Perkins

Soprano  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano June Higgins portrait shot

June Higgins

Soprano  |  Joined 2016

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Manishya Jayasundera portrait shot

Manishya Jayasundera

Soprano |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers alto and pianist Mira Jung portrait shot

Mira Jung

 Pianist & Alto  |  Joined 2013

Exultate Chamber Singers soprano Shanda Lee portrait shot

Shanda Lee

Soprano  |  Joined 2015

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Adam MacNeil portrait shot

Adam MacNeil

Tenor |  joined 2024

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Anna-Maria Mersov portrait shot

Anna-Maria Mersov

Alto  |  Joined 2017

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Vyllana Nguyen portrait shot

Vyllana Nguyen

Alto  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Brian Prinzen portrait shot

Brian Prinzen

Bass  |  Joined 2017

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Jessalyn Hynds portrait shot

Jessalyn Hynds

Alto  |  Joined 2022

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Brock Jenken portrait shot

Brock Jenken

Bass  |  Joined 2024

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Jim King portrait shot

Jim King

Bass  |  Joined 2021

Exultate Chamber Singers alto Kelly Lin portrait shot

Kelly Lin

Alto  |  Joined 2022

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Hannah Martin

Alto  |  Joined 2022

Choir member Vivian Moens portrait shot

Vivian Moens

Soprano  |  Joined 2003

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M. Dawn Pear

Soprano |  Joined 2024

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Jeff Reynolds portrait shot

Jeff Reynolds

Bass  |  Joined 2015

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Michael Rowland portrait shot

Michael Rowland

Tenor  |  Joined 1989

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Gareth Simpson portrait shot

Gareth Simpson

Tenor  |  Joined 2023

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Duncan Stuart portrait shot

Duncan Stuart

Tenor  |  Joined 2004

Exultate Chamber Singers tenor Mishaal Surti portrait shot

Mishaal Surti

Tenor  |  Joined 2018

Exultate Chamber Singers bass Alan Wiseman portrait shot

Alan Wiseman

Bass  |  Joined 2022

Meet the Choir

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Exultate board is an energetic, capable, engaged, and welcoming group who work collaboratively to support the mission and mandate of Exultate. Our board of directors is made up of both choristers and community members, and possesses a wide range of professional backgrounds and skill sets. We are striving to create a board that reflects the diversity of our choir members and community.

 

Click here to find out more about the choir’s history, our mission and mandate, the roles and qualifications of board members, time and financial commitments, and how to contact us if you are interested. Or just send us a note at info@exultate.net.

Hannah Martin

Choir Member, Chair

ELECTED NOV 2023

Julia Brotto

Choir Member, Secretary

ELECTED NOV 2023

J. Scott Brubacher

Choir Member

ELECTED NOV 2018

Jeffrey Reynolds

Choir Member

ELECTED NOV 2023

Lindsay Naft

Choir Member, Vice-Chair

ELECTED NOV 2020

Sharon Adamson

Community Member, Treasurer

APPOINTED NOV 2020

Kelsey Grieve

Community Member

APPOINTED MAR 2019

Graham Thomson

Community Member

APPOINTED MAR 2019

James Maxwell Watson

Community Member

APPOINTED OCT 2023

Board of Directors

WE’D LOVE TO SHARE OUR NEWSLETTERS ABOUT PERFORMANCES, ACTIVITIES, SINGERS, COMPOSERS, AND MORE!

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