St. Michael's Choir School (also known as SMCS, The Choir School, or St. Mike's Choir) is a semi-private Catholic choir school for boys from grades 3-12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is jointly operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto and Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, which manage the school's music curriculum, and the Toronto Catholic District School Board, which administers all other academic subjects, athletics programs, and extracurricular activities. The school is a member of the International Boys' Schools Coalition.
St. Michael's Choir School trains choristers and musicians in classical and liturgical music through regular choral, music theory, and piano instruction, and optional lessons in music history, vocal, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral string instruments. Admission to the school is by audition and students sing in concerts in Canada and internationally and during weekly mass at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica. In addition to music and the performing arts, the school's alumni include professionals in business, academia, law, medicine, media, and politics.
History
St. Michael's Choir School was founded in 1937 by Monsignor John Edward Ronan as a private elementary school to train choristers and provide liturgical music services to St. Michael's Cathedral, where Ronan was Director of Music. Then called Cathedral Schola Cantorum, the school's founding was inspired by Pope Pius X's Tra le sollecitudini and started in a single room at 67 Bond Street, Toronto. Monsignor Ronan was a composer and graduate of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, 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.
As the school expanded and added a secondary school, it moved into a new building at 66 Bond Street, which was designed by the ecclesiastical architect James Haffa and opened in 1950. 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. The affiliation authorized St. Michael's Choir School to grant the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Music, with a specialization in Gregorian chant. In 1966, St. Michael's Choir School entered into an agreement with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, then called the Metropolitan Separate School Board, to place secular, non-music courses under the publicly funded Catholic school system. In 1975, the secondary school expanded further and moved to 69 Bond Street. 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 mayor Art 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.
Notable school instructors have included composer and piano virtuoso John Arpin, who taught piano from 1956 to 1957, and Canadian Opera Company tenor John Arab, who taught vocal from 1954 until his death in 2000.
Concerts and tours
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 to James Cooper House, before moving to Massey Hall, where the school celebrated 50 years of performances at the venue in 2015. In 2013, CBC listed the school's Christmas concert as one of Toronto's top 13 classical Christmas events of 2013.