Mission Statement
ArsMusica provides performance opportunities for young Canadian professional opera singers and instrumentalists by performing concerts consisting of complete opera scenes and solo works with chamber orchestra. We also incorporate visible minorities, women, and artist of Caribbean heritage into our performances. ArsMusica is a non-profit(since 2002) concert presenter in the greater Toronto area.
Founded in 1994 by soprano Cherry Ann Mendez and music director Colin Mendez Morris, Arsmusica performs 4 programs per year featuring opera singers with chamber orchestra, piano and Children's Chorus.
Our singers are younger "up and coming" Canadian professionals who wish to perform full length opera and oratorio scenes. We make every attempt to incorporate Canadian singers from multicultural backgrounds- especially visible minorities and those of Caribbean heritage.
The 2011 Christmas concert featured the world premiere of the carol “Some Children See Him” set by renowned New Orleans pianist/composer Ellis Marsalis. The 2011 concert was the 3rd consecutive year we performed a shortened version of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel with a children's chorus.
Our 2011 October concert gala featured 8 young Canadian professional singers in scenes from Carmen, Manon Lescaut, and La Bohème.
ArsMusica Past performances include scenes from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and La Bohème, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier as well as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and an annual Christmas concert.
Cherry Ann Mendez - Co-founder
A noted dramatic soprano and educator, Cherry Ann Mendez has been a part of the Toronto music and opera scene for the last three decades. As the founder of ArsMusica Community Concerts and has appeared most recently as a soloist with Coro San Marco on tour in Ontario and Quebec. Through ArsMusica, Ms. Mendez has presented a series of concerts since 1994.
After hosting her own radio show in Trinidad as a teenager, Ms. Mendez attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Her teachers include Lotte Leonard, Louis Quilico, Daniel Ferro and Shirley Verrett. She has appeared in concert at the White Mountains Festival in New Hampshire, Queen’s Hall in Trinidad, the Purcell Room in London England and the Gubbio Festival in Italy. In Toronto Ms. Mendez and ArsMusica have performed many concerts at Heliconian Hall, The Arts & Letters Club,The Church of St. George the Martyr, St. Michaels and All Angels, The 1st Unitarian Congregation, Orangeville Opera House, The Stone Church, Hart House, York University, The Columbus Centre (in association with the Centro Scuola) and Mt. Dennis United Church.
Colin Mendez Morris - Music Director
Conductor Colin Mendez Morris recently premiered Ellis Marsalis' setting of “Some Children See Him “ with the ArsMusica Players. Other projects include a recording of Duke Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder with Delfeayo Marsalis. Mr Morris served as assistant conductor to Maestro Bernhard Klee at the Hamburg State Opera and also on tour with the German National Youth Orchestra. He has also completed residencies at the Munich Biennale Festival .
He began his studies on trombone and attended the Tanglewood Festival as a teenager. After his second summer at Tanglewood he was admitted into Boston University. He then studied at the Mannes College of Music. Mr Morris began studying conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in the Conductor's Worshop, where he participated in masterclasses by Victor Feldbrill, Simon Streatfield, and Jose Louis Garcia.