About Us

The English Montreal School Board Chorale is a special project of the Pedagogical Services Department.

Founded in 1980 as the PSBGM Children’s Chorus by Fine Arts Consultant Georgie Crawford, the EMSB Chorale has a proud history of providing exceptional music and vocal training at a modest cost to students from Grade 4 to Secondary V. Over the years, the choir has performed in all of Montreal’s top concert venues, including Place des Arts, Notre-Dame Basilica, Pollack Hall, Salle Claude-Champagne and Oscar Peterson Hall, as well as on radio and television broadcasts. Its concert tours and exchanges have included trips to Quebec City, Boston, Vancouver, St. John’s, NL, Des Moines, Belgium, The Netherlands and England.

The choir has successfully auditioned and represented Quebec at international festivals in Vancouver, St. John’s, NL and Denver. Among its many awards are first prizes at the Montreal Choral Festival, the Ottawa Kiwanis Festival and being twice named national finalist in the CBC Choral Competition. In April 2014, the Chorale made its Maison symphonique debut performing the Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

The choir performs the best music from a wide range of standard choral repertoire, including works from all major periods of music (from Renaissance to contemporary), Canadian music, folk music from around the world, spirituals, pop standards and music from the lyric theatre (opera and Broadway). Over the years, the choir has commissioned several works which have now become standards in the treble voice repertoire throughout North America.