The Nathaniel Dett Chorale (NDC) will end their season with a concert on May 29 that features the students of Sistema Toronto, and a work by composer Aaron Manswell. Sistema students learned elements of composition as well as professional performance standards through a project that took place over the whole term.
Sistema created the opportunity in keeping with their mandate of empowering youth through music education that is culturally responsive.
Sistema Toronto — Scarborough Senior Orchestra performs Aaron Manswell’s Race Car in 2024:
The Composition Project
Aaron Manswell, an acclaimed producer and conductor as well as an award-winning composer, began working with Sistema Toronto — Scarborough student back in January 2026. He got together with the students for a two-part workshop that was designed to spark their creativity and guide them through composing a song.
Student voices and input were integral to the piece.
Manswell asked the students to put together a list of themes that were important to them. That list included ideas like Peace, Bullying, Parents, Safety, Denial, and Pressure, among others.
Based on a vote, the students came up with their final choice: Trying. They wrote lyrics, and came up with a melody that would be the hook of the finished version. Aaron explained to the students that the hook would be the focus of the composition — it’s that catchy part of a song that, once you hear it, you can’t get out of your head.
With that input, Manswell developed a five to six minute piece for choir, titled Try.
The students then spent the rest of the term rehearsing the piece in preparation for the May 29 concert.
“The students’ voices were central to this initiative and they have really embraced the idea that they have ownership of this work” says Shawn Earle, CEO of Sistema Toronto in a statement. “You can tell that they feel a sense of artistic achievement every time they rehearse the piece, and more importantly, that they can see themselves in the music.”
A large part of the students at Sistema’s Scarborough centre identify as Black. Working with mentors like Aaron Manswell, NDC Artistic Director Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, and the NDC vocalists gives them a real life embodiment of what their own potential could be as artists. They experience their own heritage as something something that can take a celebrated place on stage. With 93% of the students identifying as people of colour, it’s an important opportunity to explore music beyond the Western canon, and to expand their musical education.
“As a Black composer, I’m honoured to collaborate with Black children to compose music that
feels natural to us, using composition techniques that honour the oral traditions of our heritage”
says Manswell. “Projects like this validate these cultural music creation avenues and have the
power to inspire the next generation of Black composers.”
Sistema Toronto
At Sistema Toronto, more than 650 children and youth from underserved communities participate each week in barrier-free and cost-free musical and other opportunities. Ensemble-based music education encourages a number of skills, including creativity, teamwork, and resilience, along with learning instrumental performance. Students receive 10 hours each week of free instruction on strings (violin, viola, cello, or double bass), percussion, choir, winds (clarinet or trumpet), and music theory, and for the youngest students, Music & Movement.
It’s based on the principal that music education is empowerment, fostering community and connection, and important life skills.
Aaron Manswell
Composer, producer, and conductor Aaron Manswell’s work crosses boundaries and genres. His compositions bring together elements of classical, R&B, hip-hop, and gospel. Aaron is a native of Toronto.
His compositions have been performed and recorded by ensembles such as the San Francisco Symphony, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and Choral Arts Initiative. He was featured in the Canadian Opera Company’s Showcase Series in 2023, and served as the Composer-in-Residence of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for the 2024/2025 season.
Alongside his work as a composer, Manswell is a busy music producer and keyboard player. He’s collaborated with multi-platinum selling Canadian artists DVSN, and JUNO award-winning singer/songwriters Nemahsis, Dylan Sinclair, Savannah Ré, and Ryan Ofei, among others. He has also scored music for films.
He orchestrated and conducted the strings for multi-platinum American Alternative R&B artist Mariah the Scientist during her performance of Burning Blue on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show. He also created the orchestration and produced the outro of her album Hearts Sold Separately (“No More Entertainers”).
Manswell is Assistant Professor, Music Industry & Technology, School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph.
Previous work with Sistema Toronto has included his commissioned piece titled Race Car that is now part of Sistema Toronto’s benchmark repertoire for students across the program.
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is the first professional choral group in Canada to dedicate its mission to Afrocentric music in any genre. That includes classical, spiritual, gospel, blues, jazz, and folk music.
The choir consists of 21 classically grained vocalists, led by Founder, Artistic Director and conductor Brainerd Blyden-Taylor. Along with his work with NDC, Blyden-Taylor has conducted many concert, university and youth choirs, and served as artistic director of The Orpheus Choir of Toronto for 25 years.
They have taken the stage with artists such as singers Molly Johnson and Jackie Richardson, and opera star Kathleen Battle and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, among many others. NDC was the only Canadian ensemble invited to perform as part of the celebrations surrounding the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama in January of 2009.
The Concert
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s concert And Still We Sing… Pathways takes place May 29 at Toronto’s Grace Church-on-the-Hill (300 Lonsdale Road).
Along with youth from Sistema Toronto and composer Aaron Manswell, the concert features guest artist Julian Taylor.
- Find tickets and show details [HERE].
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