Director's Message

Welcome to our school online! You will find at St. Michael’s Choir School a community of student musicians, educators, parents, priests, alumni, benefactors, all lovers of choral music who believe in the mission entrusted to us by our founder Msgr. Ronan.  Simply, it is the education of young Christian gentlemen. At the centre of the community’s academic effort to make the universe intelligible to growing minds is an experience of music for the praise of God in Jesus Christ.

As I begin my tenure as Director, I recall with fondness my days as a young chorister walking the halls of Bond Street.  The moral and spiritual compass given to me through my choir school experience has served me well.  It is that legacy, that covenant I wish to continue, renew and share with the young men of today and those who will join us in the years to come.

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the school’s founding, I am reminded of how important it is to appreciate and understand the past.  The Choir School has come a long, long way in its evolutionary growth and development.  How can we not remember and pay tribute to the inspired leadership of Msgr. Ronan, Msgr. Somerville, Mr. Harry Hodson, Miss Kathleen Mann, and Msgr. Barrett Armstrong among others?   They have passed the torch to all of us.  And so by working together, students, parents, faculty, alumni and friends, we must forge a future that safeguards our traditions, cultivates excellence, and advances the strengths of our community.

I am honored and humbled to sit in the Director’s chair.  Along with Mr. Barry White, our new principal and Father Michael Busch, I Iook forward to getting to know you and become partners in the education of our boys. 

If you are a visitor to this site, please contact or visit us for more information about our school and what we can offer you and your family.

Respectfully,

W. Edward McCall, ‘79
Director, B.A., B.Ed, M.Mus.

Biography

W. Edward McCall, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario is a veteran educator of over 27 years.  He is a specialist in choral music, having served as Director of Choral Activities in high schools and middle schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  He began his teaching career as an associate conductor at the Choir School, where he directed the Tenor-Bass Choir.   He is completing a four year tenure as the Artistic Director of Cantus Novus, an auditioned chamber choir in Bucks County, PA

In the United States, his choirs consistently received Superior ratings at festivals and competitions and have appeared at the 2002, 2004, and 2007 PMEA All-State Convention.   His students annually are selected by professional choral music associations for appearances in Honor Choir festivals across the country.

Choral reviews by Mr. McCall have been published in the Choral Journal and articles relating to choral-orchestral works were published in the Canadian choral journal Anacrusis. Mr. McCall served for eight years on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and was President of the Bucks County Music Educators Association.

Among the many tours under Mr. McCall’s leadership, the ten-day, 2008 festival tour to Shanghai & Beijing in the People’s Republic of China stands as a highlight.  The tour featured the world premiere of a specially commissioned work entitled One World, One Dream in honor of the Olympic Games.
Mr. McCall holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Music Education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where he studied conducting with Frauke Haasemann, Constantina Tsolainou, Alan Crowell, and Joseph Flummerfelt.

He is a member of Who's Who in American Teachers and was elected into Phi Kappa Lambda.  Mr. McCall resides in Oakville.