Mississauga Festival Choir

Artistic Director David Ambrose is an award-winning conductor, singer and director who is equally accomplished in choral music, musical theatre and opera. David is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where he specialized in Voice and Conducting, studying under such distinguished teachers as Raffi Armenian, Errol Gay and Lori-Anne Dolloff.

A three-time winner of the Arthur Redsell Scholarship in Conducting, David was also the inaugural winner of the Elmer Iseler National Fellowship in Choral Conducting. That prize gave him the opportunity to study privately with the renowned British conductor and composer, Sir David Willcocks. Raised in Mississauga, David served as the Director of Music at Eden United Church for 12 years, leading its award-winning choir and conducting an annual  massed choir festival.

David is currently the Co-Director of Music at Runnymede United Church in Toronto with MFC’s accompanist, Andrea Grant. He has led numerous workshops and reading sessions in choral music, including several with his parents, who were founding members of the Mississauga Festival Choir.

Andrea Grant received her Honours Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University and went on the complete a Masters of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Western Ontario. At the University of Toronto, Andrea completed the Operatic Repetiteur Program and is currently a member of the music staff with their Opera Division. She is also the Co-Director of Music at Runnymede United Church in Toronto with David Ambrose. Andrea’s talents have recently taken her to Banff, Alberta where she served as a coach for the Opera as Theatre Program.

Glynis Ratcliffe earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Toronto. During that time, her focus on concert and recital repertoire brought her frequently to the Britten Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies, in Aldeburgh, England, as well as to SongFest, in Southern California and the MountainView Festival in Calgary. In addition to being awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant to study the songs of Schubert with Graham Johnson, Ms. Ratcliffe has had the opportunity to work with Rudolph Jansen, Martin Katz, Elisabeth Söderström and Edith Wiens. She has performed on both the concert and opera stage in Europe, England and Canada, most notably originating the title role of a new chamber opera based on the French Canadian novel, Maria Chapdelaine, to great critical acclaim. Recent concert engagements include a recital at McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, and a recital of all Mendelssohn music with the MountainView Connection in Calgary.

Sabrina Santelli is thrilled to be singing with the Mississauga Festival Choir this season.  She has spent the last ten years performing onstage in musicals from Toronto (“Suds”, “Into the Woods”, “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”) to Japan (“Encore”, “Christmas in New York”).   Sabrina graduated from the University of Toronto’s Vocal Performance program, as well as the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts.  She is happy to finally be back in Canada, and is looking forward to continuing her career in her hometown. 

Charles Sy is very excited to be a part of the Mississauga Festival Choir this year. He is a graduate of the Regional Arts Vocal Program at Cawthra Park Secondary School and is now in his first year of the Vocal Performance Program at the University of Toronto under the vocal direction of Dr. Darryl Edwards. Charles has been involved with many choirs including the 2008 CBC National Choral Competition winning Cawthra Park Chamber Choir, the Peel Honour Choir, the Ontario Youth Choir of 2007 and 2008 and is currently with the University of Toronto “MacMillan Singers”.  He has been hired as a tenor soloist by various churches in the greater Toronto area to perform in sacred works such as Bach’s “Gottes Zeit Ist Die Allerbeste” and Handel’s “Messiah”. Last year, Charles was the recipient of the annual “Robert H. Heise Scholarship" granted by the MFC to a dedicated choral student of Cawthra Park Secondary School.

David Anderson is excited to be joining the Mississauga Festival Choir for their 25th season. Having recently completed his Honors Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance at the University of Western Ontario, David attributes much of his passion for music to the choir’s director, David Ambrose, who directed David in his very first stage experience when he sang the title role in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996). In 1997 at age 10, David performed in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre. Much of his early training came as a treble in the Toronto Children’s Chorus under the direction of Jean Ashworth Bartle (1997 - 1999). In 1998 David sang the role of the youth in Mendelssohn’s Elijah at The Centre in the Square (Kitchener) with the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic under Howard Dyck. Throughout high school, David performed with Meadowvale Music Theatre, and numerous ensembles at Cawthra Park Secondary School. Credits at UWO include Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte (Chorus), Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow (Pritchitch) and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (Betto). David spent last summer in Austria where he studied the poetry and performance of the German Lied at the Franz-Schubert-Insitut (Baden Bei Wien). Currently, David works full time as a Mac Specialist at the Apple Store (Sherway Gardens), and has a small studio of voice students.

A lifelong lover of the arts, Susan Ritchie became Choir Administrator in 2011. Susan’s participation in the arts has included school choirs, the high school band, enrollment in York University’s Theatre Performance program, and, most recently, membership in the Mississauga Festival Choir. In addition to being MFC’s administrator, Susan is a communications consultant who helps her clients succeed through strategic communications planning, writing, editing and coaching. In 2011, Susan received the International Association of Business Communicator’s prestigious ABC—Accredited Business Communicator—designation.  IABC’s professional credential program recognizes communicators who have reached a globally accepted standard of knowledge and proficiency.