March 29 event commemorates neighbourhood group

By Victoria Fisher 

In the winter of 1979, a small group of friends and Annex residents gathered around a piano to sing carols. They couldn’t have imagined that 45 years later the choir would have blossomed into an accomplished 60-voice ensemble, or that it would still be firmly rooted in the Annex.

When it began, The Annex Singers was a neighbourhood group of enthusiastic amateurs. Among them were Rochdale College “graduates” and young idealists keen to sing Broadway and popular tunes together. Initially assembled by member Anita Steiner, the little choir was led by voice teacher and choral conductor Lesia Deacon. As the singers gained confidence, Deacon stretched the choir’s repertoire with madrigals and Mozart. The choir was also an active social group—at one point, poker threatened to overthrow singing as the activity of choice.

In its tenth year, the choir overcame its first hurdle when it found itself without a director. For a year, a small group of singers kept the music alive, meeting in neighbourhood homes. Salvation came when Brad Ratzlaff, who was for many years the music director at Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church, offered to take the reins. Ratzlaff added cabaret concerts featuring popular selections and these became staples of the choir’s programming. In 1999, under director Ron Cheung, The Annex Singers gave a 20th anniversary concert and welcomed back Deacon and Ratzlaff as guest conductors.

In 2006, the choir was once again searching for an artistic director and found Maria Case, an Annex resident, pianist, vocalist, and now an award-winning composer. In 2025, Case is celebrating her 19th year with the choir and is now the longest-serving director of The Annex Singers. Over the years, the choir has performed her compositions regularly, including one program in 2023 which exclusively featured Case’s music. She inventively set captivating texts to challenging harmonies.

Under Case, the choir has developed and matured. Now with an auditioned membership, the choir offers three concerts a year which also feature the choir’s chamber ensembles. Concerts include a diverse range of music from medieval pieces, to new compositions by Canadian composers, to popular pieces. The May 2025 concert will include pieces ranging from the 12th-century composer Hildegard von Bingen to the Spice Girls. 

The Annex Singers collaborate with many local musicians, including pianist Anne Lee, who has been with the choir since 2011, and four inspiring professional section leads—Melanie Conly, Meghan Symon, Joshua Clemenger, and Lutzen Riedstra. Recent guest musicians have included organist Stephen Boda, percussionist Alejandro Céspedes, and fiddler/violinist Anne Lindsay. 

Case’s direction has given the choir a signature style—programs that combine music with powerful words to speak to important themes and community issues, bringing vibrancy and relevance to the choir’s concerts. In 2023 the Voices of Earth concert featured music celebrating nature and the environment, including some of Case’s own compositions. In the Margins explored the theme of marginalization, drawing attention to those struggling with poverty or exclusion during the coldest months of the year. Sometimes, these textual flights expand into drama. In 2017, December Diaries married wintry texts and acted scenes with music to tell stories of challenge and camaraderie at Christmastime. 

This year, the choir collaborated with local scientists for Stargazers featuring University of Toronto cosmologist Renée Hlozek and members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for an inspiring scientific and musical experience. 

Whether bringing in musicians from the community or performing work by Canadian artists and writers, The Annex Singers seek to celebrate the neighbourhood, Toronto, Canada, and the things that bring us together. Itself an unshakeable community, the choir weathered another storm in the form of the pandemic; for almost two years, singers gathered, learned and performed online. Creative concerts were filmed and streamed online, including What Will Remain, a reflective Remembrance Day program with acted portions, and Yes, Virginia, starring the thespian talents of Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath.

This March 29, The Annex Singers celebrate 45 years since a group of Annex-based friends gathered around a piano—by gathering around two pianos. The drama and bombast of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is paired with music celebrating the joy and hope of love and features extraordinary guest pianists and some of Toronto’s top percussionists.

Tickets are available through the choir’s website: annexsingers.com.