Who We Are
Our Vision, Mission, and Values
Vision Statement
Choral music from around the world has the power to enrich our lives, foster connection, and bring about greater cultural understanding.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Jubilate Singers is to celebrate the rich diversity of choral traditions from Canada and around the world. We learn and perform the music of other cultures in a spirit of respect, sincerity, and enjoyment while advancing the knowledge and cultural understanding of our members and audiences. We are a welcoming, inclusive chamber choir dedicated to building community among our members and supporting their development in the pursuit of musical excellence, while enriching the communities in which we live.
Values
We believe in the transformative power of music to enhance our physical, emotional, and social well-being.
We are dedicated to fostering the following values:
Community. We take positive actions to build and maintain a warm and welcoming community among our members. We offer free outreach events to share our music with diverse communities in the greater Toronto area.
Inclusion and accessibility. We are an inclusive community that welcomes and supports members from a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives.
Cultural diversity. We approach the music of other cultural traditions with integrity, respect, and appreciation. We collaborate with musical partners from those traditions whenever possible, educating ourselves on the languages and cultures, and aiming for authenticity in performance.
Equity. We recognize the historical inequities in our society and seek to contribute to the mitigation of systemic barriers. Recognizing that equity work begins within the organization, we strive to adopt an equity lens in all our policies, decision-making, and day-to-day interactions in the choir, in the Board, and with groups in the broader community.
Excellence and artistic growth. We challenge ourselves to achieve ever-higher standards of musical excellence, providing a variety of resources to support the artistic growth of all members.
Brief history of the choir
Founded in 1969 by the North York Parks and Recreation Department, the choir began as a non-auditioned community choir called the North York Chorus. In 1975, we became the Jubilate Singers, an auditioned mixed-voice choir. Since then the choir membership has remained at about 35–45 SATB voices that in normal years presents a three-concert season with additional community performances.
The Jubilate Singers’ list of music directors has included David Fallis, Robert Cooper, Gordon Burnett, Albert Greer, Peter Merrick, and Brad Ratzlaff. When our current director Isabel Bernaus was appointed in 2001, the choir began to develop a specialty in choral music from around the world, reflecting the cultural diversity of the greater Toronto area. This unusual and diverse repertoire, along with a particular strength in Latin American music, has become the “brand” of the Jubilate Singers by which we are best known in the local choral community.
The choir has enjoyed collaborating with a variety of other performing groups from Toronto and beyond. In recent years the choir has presented joint productions with Maryem Tollar (Middle Eastern); the drummers and dancers of Ottawa-based Baobab Youth Performers (Ghanaian); Suba Sankaran and Autorickshaw (South Asian); the Esmeralda Enrique Dance Academy (Spanish); Cassava Latin Rhythms (Latin American); Vox Finlandiae (Finnish); Toronto Jewish Folk Choir; Proyecto Altiplano (Chilean); the Shevchenko Choir (Ukrainian); Ubuntu Drum and Dance Theatre (African); Denise Williams (Black diaspora); and Bassam Bishara and Debashis Sinha (Islamic).
We have also sung in performances that were either co-productions or were produced entirely by the other organization. We have co-produced the Brahms Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the North York Concert Orchestra. We joined Denise Williams’ multi-performer concert entitled Walk Together Children, an exploration of linkages among the African, Jewish, and Muslim diasporas, presented at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. And in 2010 we were the only non-Baltic choir in the Sibelius Festival Chorus performing Finlandia with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall. In post-pandemic times we look forward to resuming our collaborations with a wide variety of arts organizations.
Artistic staff
Isabel Bernaus, music director
Isabel was born in Catalunya, Spain, and trained as a musician in Europe and North America. She obtained her Diploma in Willems Music Education in France, followed by the completion of her master’s degree in Music Education from Laval University in Quebec. Isabel studied conducting with Manel Cabero in Catalunya, Dr. James Jordan of Westminster College, Rider University, and with Noel Edison and the Elora Festival Singers. Her education and experience have established her as an accomplished and highly regarded conductor and music educator.
In Toronto, Isabel has conducted three other choirs (Common Thread Community Chorus of Toronto, Settlement Community Choir, and the University of Toronto Spirit Singers) in addition to the Jubilate Singers. She has also taught music at Sheridan College and in the Haliburton School of the Arts of Fleming College. She has participated as a guest conductor in choral events and workshops, often sharing her love of world music. She was awarded an honourable mention in the 2006 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting, granted by the Ontario Arts Council.
Isabel speaks several languages and is familiar with classical and folk music traditions from many cultures. A strong believer that music should be accessible to everyone, she has conducted several choirs with a wide range of singing experiences as part of her lifelong involvement in community projects promoting education and music.
(Photo credit: Marion Voysey Photography)
Sherry Squires, accompanist
Sherry has been the Jubilate Singers’ accompanist since 1987. She is currently coordinator of the music school at West Neighborhood House (formerly known as St. Christopher House), a social service agency serving the west end of downtown Toronto. She conducts the Toronto Song Lovers, a non-auditioned community choir at West Neighborhood House, and organizes many fundraising events and public concerts for the school including the annual Scoff ’n Scuff, an event that celebrates her Newfoundland roots. She is also a founding member and music director of Daughters of the Rock, an a cappella trio of women with connections to Newfoundland.
Ivan Estey Jovanovic, accompanist
Ivan’s music education began in Serbia at the Belgrade Faculty of Music, where he completed his B.Mus. and M.Mus. in piano performance. In 2004, he joined the Belgrade Opera Orchestra as a répétiteur and concert pianist. In 2013, he came to Toronto to complete his M.Mus. in collaborative piano from the University of Toronto under Prof. Steven Philcox. The same year, he won the prestigious Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying. Presently, he is a regular vocal coach and harpsichordist in U of T’s Early Music Department. Since 2014, Ivan has been the accompanist for Toronto City Opera, and in 2017 he extended his role to Music Director.
