FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK
By Doug Hammond, Artistic Director
Happy Pride, Tempo family and friends!
If you’re still humming Lady Marmalade, unfocused at work watching the Instagram playbacks, and completely full of joy, then you know exactly how I feel! What a season it has been - for those in the room with us this last week, you already know…and if you weren't, pull up a pew, this is quite the update!
TITANIUM: Strong Together at Hugh's Room Live
This past week we brought TITANIUM: Strong Together to Hugh's Room Live for two nights, June 9 & 10, and you showed up for us in force. There is nothing quite like looking out from the front of that room and seeing the energy come right back at you with a full house both nights. To everyone who bought a ticket, brought a friend, sang along (we know who you are), and stood up when it counted: thank you. You made those two nights the success that we hoped they would be!
June 10 - Tempo Chorus delivers their sold-out concert, TITANIUM: Strong Together, at Hugh’s Room Live, presented by Pop Music.
To the members of this choir: I am so proud of you. The work you put in week after week at rehearsal was on full display, and it showed through every harmony and dynamic we held together. This was a celebration of strength, of resilience, and of what we can build when queer voices come together. You delivered!
Our Choir’s Unison Festival Debut in Vancouver
I can't talk about this season without talking about our national debut at Unison Festival!
In May, Tempo made our national debut at Unison Festival in Vancouver, sharing the stage with 27 queer choirs and close to a thousand singers from across the country. The festival's theme this year was “Music Healing Spirit” and it certainly feels like we walked away from the experience proud of what we’ve built, and over the moon with how we showed up.
Representing Toronto on a stage that size was one of the proudest moments of my time leading this group, and we didn't just hold our own - we showed our peers the sound we have built together, and we came home changed by it. There is something powerful about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the largest representation of Canada's queer choral community and realizing, all at once, how big this family really is. That feeling is going to stay with us for a long time!
You can check out our performances now up on our YouTube channel.
Tempo Chorus performers on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver for the 2026 Unison Festival. Photograph thanks to Unison Festival & @KelliRP.
Looking Ahead to Our Next Season
So where do we go from here? Somewhere over the rainbow, well…maybe just for June.
Holiday shows will be back in December! We're planning a return to the stage this holiday season, and if our last few December concerts are any indication, you'll want to keep those dates open (December 8 & 9). More details to come soon but consider this your first save-the-date.
We'll also be welcoming a small number of opportunities for new voices to join us next season, with a particular ear out for tenors. If you sing, or you know someone who does, we'd love to stay in touch for our end-of-summer vocal assessments. You don't need professional training, and you don't need to read music, however you will need a tenor, baritone or bass range, a love of singing, and a desire to be part of something. We'll help get you the rest of the way.
Have a Happy and Safe Pride!
On a final note…
Pride is a celebration, and it is also a reminder of why choirs like ours exist. When we sing together, we're doing something that generations before us couldn't do openly and we get to take up space, make beautiful noise, while reminding each other and everyone listening that joy through music and art is its own kind of strength.
Music is our vehicle, but connection is our destination, and that has never felt truer than it does right now. There’s lots to both celebrate and remember this Pride month, and I could not be prouder of what we have become as the soundtrack of Toronto’s queer community.
Thank you for being part of Tempo - let's keep singing!
Happy Pride!
Doug Hammond
Artistic Director, Tempo Chorus
Have questions or want to connect? Drop me a line at info@tempochorus.com.
Artistic Director, Doug Hammond, on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver for the 2026 Unison Festival. Photograph thanks to Unison Festival & @KelliRP.
