Grace Church on-the-Hill is thrilled to announce the commission of a choral mass setting to celebrate our 150th year as a Parish. The mass setting will be premiered on October 6, 2024 and has been commissioned with the generous support of the Flynn family.
The selection committee reviewed over a dozen excellent applications and we are excited to announce Zachary Windus as the composer for this work! Mark October 6th on your calendars to hear this new musical work in person.
Zachary Windus is a composer specializing in choral and vocal music, as well as a professional
countertenor, organist, and choral conductor. He studied music and geology at McMaster University with countertenor Richard Cunningham and earned a Master of Vocal Performance from the University of Ottawa under countertenor Daniel Taylor and bass-baritone Ingemar Korjus. Zachary subsequently spent four years studying with Nancy Argenta at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. He has performed with numerous renowned ensembles including the JUNO award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir, the Men and Boys Choir of Ottawa’s Christ Church Cathedral, the JSBEnsemble of the Bachakademie Stuttgart, and the inaugural Weimar Bach Cantata Academy Ensemble. He has also served as Organist and Director of Music at numerous churches in the dioceses of Hamilton, Niagara, and Victoria. Zachary's compositions have
been performed across Canada as well as in the United Kingdom and Europe. They have won national and international competitions, been included on multiple recordings, and broadcast on Radio-Canada.
Zachary has received commissions from the Grand River Chorus, the Vox Humana Chamber Choir, the Choir of Christ's Church Cathedral in Victoria, and the Hamilton Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists. He was selected as the winning composer of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir's 2019 Debbie Fleming Prize for Choral Composition for his work entitled "In Bethlehem Upon That Morn." This Christmas carol and his setting of “O magnum mysterium” have been published by Cypress Choral Music.