Christopher Dawes

Christopher Dawes is a unique musician and thinker whose career routinely takes him across musical and denominational lines few of his colleagues cross, and always into new and stimulating opportunities for both music and ministry. Following twelve years’ service to St. James’ Cathedral, Toronto he resigned as Director of Music in 2003, and has ever since accepted shorter term commitments to churches large and small. He has recently accepted the position of Director of Music to the congregation of Rosedale Presbyterian Church in Toronto, with its famous Karl Wilhelm tracker organ and fine choir. He also recently accepted the Directorship of the Marion Singers of Greater Toronto, a 20-voice a capella chamber choir that gives charity performances in churches across the GTA, and is serving his hometown’s 100-voice Georgetown Choral Society as Acting Artistic Director. One of Toronto’s best-known and most sought-after freelance organists, Chris is also a pianist and accompanist of note, serving currently the orchestral and choral conducting and education programs of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and the Toronto Children’s Chorus, as well as occasionally with such fine groups as the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers and Choir 21 of Soundstreams Canada. Following on graduate work in Music Criticism in the area of musical genre Chris frequently speaks at conferences and concert performances and occasionally blogs and podcasts from www.ideasaboutmusic.ca.

Chris has served as Director of Canada’s Summer Institute of Church Music (Whitby, Ontario) for twelve of its 48 years, and more recently founded and leads popular Hamilton-area Celtic church-and-pub band Chroi. A passionate advocate for the organ, sacred music and his country’s cultural life, Chris is perhaps best known for a musicianship that crosses classical and popular styles and eras; for his imaginative, informed and approachable presentation of both the familiar and the obscure, and for his love of history, places, people, and all that is unusual and inspirational in music. He lives in Georgetown with his wife Marcia and their three children.