Welcome to Bur Oak Music

The Bur Oak Music Department is pleased to present our spring music showcase, Spring Rhapsody 2024 at the Flato Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts.  The concert is being held Thursday, May 16th beginning at 7:30 p.m., and will feature all our core performing ensembles, jazz ensembles, and selected solo and small ensembles.  The concert will also feature very special guests, the Fred Varley Public School Concert Band who will be joining the Bur Oak Music Programme onstage to showcase their talent and passion for music.

Tickets are $15.00 and are available for presale on School Cash Online beginning Wednedsay, April 17th through Friday, May 10th.  Ticket Order Forms are due to the drop box Friday, May 10th.  The remaining tickets will be available at the door.

The concert will be an amazing celebration of the Arts, and will also honour the memory of an important music educator in YRDSB and at Bur Oak Music.  Mr. Jim Rueckert passed away in October 2023 following a brave journey with glioblastoma.  This year's Spring Rhapsody will be dedicated to his memory, with the Grade 9 Concert Band performing a tribute to Mr. Rueckert.

Looking forward to welcoming you to a beautiful evening of music and memories.

The Bur Oak Music Choral Programme is proud to welcome Elaine Choi to Bur Oak on Tuesday, April 30.  She will doing an exciting Masterclass for our choral students in preparation for our upcoming Spring Concert series.

Dr. Elaine Choi (D.M.A) immerses herself in the choral community as a conductor, educator, adjudicator, and collaborative pianist. In addition to her role as Director of Music at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, she is also the Artistic Director of Pax Christi Chorale and was previously the conductor of the University of Toronto Soprano/Alto Chorus.

As a music educator, Elaine is active as an adjudicator and a clinician for various community events such as the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, CAMMAC reading sessions, Singsations and Choir Camp. In 2022, Elaine was the guest conductor for the Bangkok International Choral Festival.

Elaine is an advocate for Chinese Orchestral and Choral music. She was the conductor of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra from 2010-2017 and currently continues her connection as Guest Conductor and Educational Outreach Representative. In 2018, Elaine founded Babεl, an SATB choral ensemble with a mission to bridge cultures through choral music. The ensemble worked with more than 200 musicians in Hong kong, Taiwan and Macau in its inaugural tour in 2019.

Elaine holds a D.M.A. in Musical Arts and Master in Music Performance (Choral Conducting) degrees from the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt and Dr. Doreen Rao. Elaine is a four-time recipient of the Elmer Iseler Fellowship in Choral Conducting (2008, 2009, 2014, 2015) and a finalist in the Sir Ernest MacMillan Foundation Fellowship Award in Choral Conducting (2012). She’s the 2018 recipient of the prestigious William and Waters graduating award.

We are looking forward to welcoming Dr. Choi to Bur Oak Music.

Bur Oak Music is pleased to welcome Dennis Beck to Bur Oak in April.  He will be working with our Grade 9 Concert Band on Thursday, April 18th and again with our Senior Wind Ensemble on Tuesday, April 30th.

Mr. Beck is active as an adjudicator, guest conductor, and clinician, both in Canada and the United States, and is a member of the Canadian Festivals of Music Adjudicators’ Association. His articles on music education have appeared in several professional journals. Recognized as an advocate for excellence in conducting, he co-founded the Unionville Wind Conductors’ Symposium 1994. In the fall of 2008, he was one of ten alumni of the Don Wright Faculty of Music, Western University in London, Ontario, named as the inaugural recipients of the university’s Wall of Fame honour. In 2011, the OBA recognized him with an Honourary Lifetime Membership. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Canadian Band Association’s National Band Award, joining a list of 23 other Canadian musicians who have been so honoured since 1976. For twenty years he taught music, coached soloists and chamber ensembles, and conducted bands at Unionville High School’s Arts York program, in Markham, Ontario. Currently, he is conducting and teaching at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University in London, Ontario.

We are looking forward to welcoming Mr. Beck to Bur Oak.