At Modern Sound Collective, we aim to foster a nurturing community that inspires young artists through accessible opportunities for growth and collaboration, and to share our love of contemporary choral music through sincere and passionate performances.
Frisson is a non-auditioned, Mississauga-based choir of 40 voices conducted by Kai Leung, Emily Parker, and Tyrese Walters. They perform a variety of contemporary repertoire spanning genres and cultures and are committed to building the choral community among the youth of Mississauga. Over seven beautiful years of singing, Frisson has performed music from Indonesia, Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Latvia, and from all over Canada and the United States, and has premiered three new choral works and many new arrangements of pop songs by young composers from within the MSC community.
Sehnsucht is the MSC’s auditioned, summer-season, Toronto-based chamber choir. Made up of 60 members, they present moving and immersive performances of both contemporary and classical choral music. They use an innovative leadership structure developed by the MSC’s artistic team, with a strong focus on collaborative leadership that allows every member to work at the highest level possible. Over the past nine years, Sehnsucht has premiered a wealth of newly composed Canadian works, including Benjamin Gabbay’s major work “Requiem l’homme armé” (Commissioned by Conductor Emeritus Victor Cheng), Sami Anguaya’s transcendently rhythmic “Lying Awake, Waiting”, and Katherine Petkovski’s stunning part-song “Warm Summer Sun”. Sehnsucht is available throughout the summer for hire to provide music for events or recordings.
Duende is MSC’s soprano-alto choir, conducted by Emily Parker. Duende is a Spanish word that refers to the deep emotional response one may have when experiencing a work of art. This choir showcases the broad palette of sounds that a treble choir is capable of producing, ranging from tender, to powerful and strong, to innovative. Duende aims to expand on what most audiences come to expect from a treble choir’s sound. It strives for a gender-balanced and otherwise diverse repertoire, in part by prioritising works by female and contemporary composers.
Rocambolesco is MSC’s TTBB choir directed by Tyrese Walters. Formed in 2021, they are dedicated to exploring the great low voice choral music across both the classical and contemporary repertoire, including a wide variety of genres. In their inaugural season, they premiered a piece for TTBB ensemble, bass drum, and electronics by Canadian Composer Nicholas Wanstall.
Concreamus is a 32 voice new music choir dedicated to innovation in the choral arts and the creation and performance of excellent new works by young composers. The group is made up of young singers, students, composers, and educators from around the GTA. Concreamus, Latin for “we create together,” encourages a creative dialogue between composers and performers through which both groups can offer their insight and be inspired in new ways. It is committed to creating opportunities for new vocal music to be developed and presented, as well as exploring new sounds and vocal textures through improvisation and collaborative exploration. To date, the choir has premiered over 28 choral works by emerging composers. Many of their premiere performances can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube. Concreamus has collaborated with various musical organisations, including appearing in concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Green Room Music Collective, at SING! Festival Toronto, and several appearances at the University of Toronto’s Composer Concert series.
