About Our Festival

SING! The Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival is Canada’s premier a cappella festival (singing without instruments). Held every year in May, SING! presents a week of outstanding concerts featuring the human voice. We bring together thousands of professional singers (Canadian and international), students, teachers, divas and in-the-shower belters.  We aim to:

  • Create a safe space for learning.

  • Illustrate that the voice has no limits – knows no constraints of genre, language or cultural background.

  • Ask participants to step outside their comfort zones and try something new

  • Educate and inspire today’s youth

  • Foster a new and revitalized patronage for the vocal arts.

Started in 2011 on a shoestring budget with 7 enthusiasts, we now are the best in Canada.  We lend our expertise to festivals in other cities to expand the enjoyment of a cappella music.

Click here to see our team

Why we are unique

The voice is the most portable musical instrument

From the cave to the campfire, from the field to the family gathering, people around the world have always sung together.  Every culture has its own form of creative vocal expression.  The human voice is so versatile that even those who cannot carry a tune can still participate in a shared musical experience through vocal percussion.

Canada’s premier a cappella festival

We’ve been thrilling audiences since 2012.  Our curated concerts reach beyond traditional formats to include film, dance and visual arts.  Some of our concerts feature themes such as jazz and world music.

Awarded top 100 festivals

Judges from Festivals and Events Ontario pick the top 100 of the 3000 festivals that exist in Ontario.  We have been awarded the top ranking for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. We were also awarded festival Achievement Awards in 2021 and 2022.

We know what we are doing

  • After 12 years, we have the contacts in artist communities around Canada and the world.

  • Last year’s exit surveys show a satisfaction rating of 99%.

  • We are franchising our advice and brand in places like Texas, Edinburgh, Scotland, Vancouver, and Edmonton, with more franchises to come.

Workshops in schools

Because our festival is during the school year, we offer a workshop specifically for middle and high school students from around Southern Ontario.

We are an incubator for new talent

We provide opportunities for emerging artists to showcase and collaborate with internationally acclaimed performers.

Our performers go on to do bigger things

As a result of our festival, our performers get noticed and invited to other festivals including SING! Texas, Vocalmente in Italy, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the London A Cappella festival.

We provide affordable and accessible music to all interest groups and ages

We intentionally keep our prices low and we offer free concerts.

Jackie Richardson

J-M Erlendson