{"id":115713,"date":"2025-07-03T10:27:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=115713"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:27:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:27:51","slug":"scoop-toronto-classical-singers-name-john-holland-new-artistic-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/07\/03\/scoop-toronto-classical-singers-name-john-holland-new-artistic-director\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | Toronto Classical Singers Name John Holland As New Artistic Director"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_115715\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115715\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-115715\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618.jpg\" alt=\"L-R: Dr. John Holland, singer\/conductor\/musicologist; Baritone John Holland performs in Toronto City Opera\u2019s Don Giovanni, 2023 (Photos courtesy of the artist)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L-R: Dr. John Holland, singer\/conductor\/musicologist; Baritone John Holland performs in Toronto City Opera\u2019s Don Giovanni, 2023 (Photos courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dr. John Holland has been named as the new Artistic Director of Toronto Classical Singers. He takes over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/02\/12\/scoop-founding-conductor-artistic-director-jurgen-petrenko-announces-retirement-toronto-classical-singers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jurgen Petrenko<\/a>, who announced his departure from the post after three decades earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Holland talks about the new appointment in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=10161161904367021&amp;id=508587020&amp;mibextid=xfxF2i&amp;rdid=3pdE9GlDmcv5AyTl#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so excited to be named as the new Artistic Director and Conductor! It is an honour to succeed Jurgen Petrenko, and his over 30-year legacy with the choir, and I am excited to usher in a new era of choral excellence for the Toronto Classical Singers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holland will be making his first appearance as AD of the choir on July 28 at a workshop reading of JS Bach\u2019s Magnificat. Anyone who loves to sing can join the workshop at Christ Church Deer Park, (1570 Yonge Street in Toronto) by <a href=\"mailto:info@torontoclassicalsingers.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RSVPing here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>John will be leading the Toronto Classical Singers for a 2025\/26 season that includes Magnificats in D by J.S. Bach, C.P.E Bach, and Zelenka on December 7, 2025, and Mozart&#8217;s Vespers K. 339, Dvo\u0159\u00e1k&#8217;s Mass in D, Psalm 149 on Aril 19, 2026.<\/p>\n<h3>Dr. John Holland<\/h3>\n<p>Musicologist, opera singer, conductor and educator Dr. John Holland earned a B.Mus, Art.Dip, and M.Mus, followed by a PhD in Musicology at York University. His PhD work largely centred around Czech opera, and in 2013, he founded The Canadian Institute for Czech Music to promote both performance and research. In 2024, CICM celebrated the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/01\/31\/interview-dr-john-holland-talks-about-the-year-of-czech-music-opera-fest-in-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Year of Czech Music<\/a> with a festival of three operas that were presented throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p>As a vocalist, he\u2019s performed in operas, oratorio and art song, and won a JUNO award as a member of the Ottawa Bach Choir in 2020. He\u2019s sung the role of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, Vodn\u00edk in Rusalka in the Czech Republic, among his wide ranging performance credits.<\/p>\n<p>As a conductor, he\u2019s served as conductor and course director for the York University Chamber Choir and Concert Choir, and as music director at Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Parish in North York, Toronto. Other conducting engagements include assistant conductor of the Ontario Youth Choir, and various choral ensembles at York University, working with Dr. Lisette Canton.<\/p>\n<p>John maintains a private voice studio of university-level and emerging professional singers.<\/p>\n<p>Best of luck to Holland and TCS on launching their new era in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:anya@ludwig-van.com?subject=Let's%20chat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid=S3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid%3DS3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1695737525351000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QTqKRwRJQFGK3KoJYigxX\">HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. John Holland has been named as the new Artistic Director of Toronto Classical Singers, taking over from Jurgen Petrenko, who led the choir for three decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":115715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,11,39,63],"tags":[41019,37394,6141],"yst_prominent_words":[11623,10136,12225,8138,34317,10251,12252,20420,20419,6741,12226,12219,17070],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-07-03T102329.618.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-u6l","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115713"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115717,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115713\/revisions\/115717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115713"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=115713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}