David Fallis

2021 TMA149 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Recipient of the Toronto Musicians’ Association Lifetime Achievement Award, David Fallis is an acclaimed Toronto conductor and music director who has led a multitude of ensembles nationally and internationally, in repertoire that ranges from early to contemporary new music. David brings energy and excellence to all of his projects.

As Music Director at Opera Atelier, David has conducted OA and Tafelmusik at major opera houses in Japan, Singapore, Korea, Canada, United States, and Europe, including the historic Royal Opera House in Versailles.

Since 1979 David has been affiliated with the Toronto Consort, one of Canada’s finest early music ensembles that presents music from the medieval, renaissance, and early baroque periods. During his tenure as its Artistic Director for nearly 30 years (1990-2018) they recorded a number of albums for Marquis Classics, SRI, and Dorian. As an expert in early music, David has served as the Historical Music Producer for the historical dramas The Tudors and The Borgias. David is Director of Soundstreams Choir 21 and leads the vocal ensemble in contemporary choral music. They have performed for TIFF Lightbox, Continuum Contemporary Music, Art of Time Ensemble, and worked with Melissa Hui and playwright Tomson Highway to present the first opera in Cree. Other highlights from David’s career include leading the Luminato Festival’s Toronto productions of R. Murray Schafer’s monumental work Apocalypsis featuring 1000 performers and conducting the world premiere of Cris Derksen’s Maada’ookii Songlines with 200 singers and an Indigenous ensemble.

David’s previous positions include Interim Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir where his activities included leading the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He recently retired from the University of Toronto where he taught and directed ensembles as an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream.