THE HART HOUSE SINGERS are a non-auditioned choir that provides an opportunity for first-time and experienced singers to share in the joy of choral singing, to learn the art of song, to have fun, and to sing culturally and historically diverse repertoire.
The art of song is an old tradition in Hart House, beginning with the all-male Hart House Glee Club, which amalgamated with the co-educational University of Toronto Chorus in 1972 to form the Hart House Chorus. This group accepts members by audition and continues to flourish today.
In the Winter of 1976 however, the Chorus Conductor, Professor Denise Narcisse-Mair, proposed the addition of a second choir at Hart House "to provide the opportunity for people of the University community to sing in a less formal atmosphere", with the vision that it may one day become an independent group. The debate within the Chorus Committee over whether Hart House could or should support a second choir was highly contentious, and the motion to create the Hart House Singers succeeded by a margin of only one vote.
In the Fall of 1976, with a modest budget and under the supervision of the Chorus itself, the Hart House Singers had its first season. It continued to grow, and became fully independent with its own committee governance and budget in the Fall of 1987. Today, the Singers are one of seven music performance ensembles at Hart House. The Singers have a formal summer season in addition to the regular academic year, thus ensuring that music is made and heard all year round.
DAVID ARNOT-JOHNSTON, conductor, has directed many vocal and instrumental groups, including at Canada's National Ballet School and Tafelmusik's Baroque Summer Institute at the University of Toronto. He completed the graduate program in early music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, The Netherlands, and holds a Masters degree in music history and performance from the University of Toronto.
As a tenor soloist, David has performed with several early and contemporary ensembles, including Tafelmusik, the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Opera Atelier, Dancemakers, Utrecht Barok Consort, La Capriola of Amsterdam, Utrecht Bach Society, Ottawa Choral Society, and The Toronto Consort. He has sung as a soloist under Sigiswald Kuijken, Andrew Parrott, William Christie, and with Emma Kirkby in works by Mozart, Handel, Bach, Lully, and Monteverdi. David has recorded as an ensemble soloist on the Naxos, CBC, Marquis, and RCA/BMG labels with Aradia Ensemble, Tafelmusik, Canadian Brass, and Toronto Consort. A dedicated instructor of music, David directed the music education program at the National Ballet School for ten years. He has been conductor of the Hart House Singers since 2003.
Onnie Grissom is a graduate of St. John's College, Santa Fe, Baylor University, and earned her DMA in piano performance from the University of Oklahoma. She has played recitals, both collaborative and solo in numerous cities in the United States. She recently competed in the J. S. Bach International Competition in Würzburg, Germany, and has participated in music festivals in Beverly Hills, CA, Waco, TX, Seattle, WA and Vienna, Austria. In Seattle, she served as an accompanist for the Seattle Girl’s Choir, and faculty member at the Seattle Conservatory of Music. She currently works as a freelance accompanist and coach in Toronto.