Leonard Turnevicius: Melanie Tellez appointed artistic director of Hamilton Children’s Choir

Melanie Tellez has big shoes to fill.

Appointed as the Hamilton Children's Choir's new artistic director on July 1, succeeding Zimfira Poloz, who, over almost 20 years led them from one artistic success to another, Tellez is confident she's up to the task having already been on the artistic team since 2010 and assistant director since 2015.

To learn that Zimfira would be departing from the HCC was difficult news for everyone," said Tellez, a Nova Scotia native who holds a bachelor's degree in voice from Dalhousie University's and a master's degree in choral conducting from the University of Alberta. It also set the board in action to pursue a (six-month long) international search for her replacement. This was daunting, of course, for me to experience, but I recognized and supported the need to cast a wide net and determine the best fit for the organization. The lengthiness and rigor of the process required a lot of patience and resilience from everyone over the past season.

For my part, I trusted that the skills I've developed, and the contribution I have made to the organization over the past decade would allow me to demonstrate how well-suited I am to the role. I am thrilled to have been chosen."

In addition to her HCC duties, Tellez also leads the choral ensembles at McMaster University's School of the Arts where she is on the sessional faculty, succeeding Tracy Wong who was appointed assistant professor of choral studies at Western University this past January 1.

Needless to say, Tellez's summer has been busy.

My summer has been unofficially sponsored by Google Workspace," joked Tellez. There is a lot of planning, rebuilding, and it's a delicate balance of preserving sacred traditions and inching into new exploration."

The HCC's season begins on Aug. 22 with a weeklong choir intensive at which they'll be preparing for their first performances, Supercrawl on Sept. 10 and Telling Tales" on Sept. 24.

We are thrilled to be back at Supercrawl," said Tellez. The timing is always tricky given that we'll have had just a week of rehearsing. We think of the performance as a workshop, allowing us to build our chops, and this year, to engage the audience in some singing along with us."

The HCC's 2022-2023 season, says Tellez, will be one of collaboration. In December, they'll be guests at the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra's Holidays with Gemma New" concert alongside the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Next May, they'll be in concert with Coast Tsm'syen First Nations elder and musician, Shannon Thunderbird. Plus, the HCC plans to host Sing As You Can" workshop-performances in various neighbourhoods across the city.

I have been a Hamiltonian for a decade now, and I'm still surprised each time I venture into the community by the frequency and quality of new endeavours, artists, and potential collaborators," said Tellez. I love the aliveness of our city, and I know that the HCC can deepen our relationships here while at the same time rebuild the artistic foundation in our singers that will allow us to return to our international achievements, too."

Speaking of which, plans are afoot to take Ilumini, the HCC's top choir in their choral family, on a national or international tour next July.

That said, the HCC is in rebuilding mode regarding quantity.

We're still aiming to return to our pre-COVID roster of singers," admitted Tellez. We're currently lower in numbers at our intermediate and senior groups."

And the pandemic didn't do the choir any favours regarding quality.

The abrupt loss of singing in-person during the 2019-2020 season, singing virtually in the 2020-2021 season, and singing in masks and distanced, with very few guest appearances and no tour in our 2021-2022 season, means that there is much technique and musicianship to rebuild in our singers," added Tellez.

In that, Tellez will be assisted by the HCC team, which now includes Caitlyn Breukelman taking over the Esplori choir and Kate Boose leading the Esprimas choir. Collaborative percussionist Jamie Drake, Kolibro conductor Leslie Kent, Profunda conductor and collaborative pianist Brent Fifield, and Ilumini collaborative pianist Laura Pin all continue their artistic roles.

Prospective new members can check hamiltonchildrenschoir.com for info on the HCC's open rehearsal week in September, and to sign up for a brief vocal assessment.

Leonard Turnevicius writes about classical music for The Hamilton Spectator.leonardturnevicius@gmail.com