Welcome to the Bedroom Studios Podcast, the podcast where we talk about what goes on behind the scenes in a musician’s world, and bridge the industry gap by bringing their stories, expertise, and advice to early-career artists. Subscribe to join us for a fun chat about life as a creative person, tips and tricks for pursuing an artistic career, navigating the music industry, and more! I am your host, Emma Della Rossa, and today I will be interviewing Tyrese Walters.
Tyrese Walters is a choral conductor, composer, and singer based in Toronto. He is a graduate of Western University with a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Voice Performance, where he studied Voice with Prof. Torin Chiles and conducting with Prof. Kathleen Allan and Dr. Mark Ramsay. In his final year at Western, he co-lead and co-conducted the Student Choral Initiative, a 20 member choir, within the University’s Faculty of Music. He also sang with Chorale and the Western University Singers. He is the recipient of many awards and scholarships, including the Deral Johnson Legacy Award in Choral Music Conducting (2021), the Richard G. Manuel Music Award (2022), and the Deral Johnson Award (2022) which is awarded to a graduating student who has made an outstanding contribution to the Western University Singers. Tyrese is currently studying at the University of Toronto where he is completing a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting with Dr. Jamie Hillman where he has been awarded the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowships in Choral Conducting (2022, 2024) and the Inclusive Excellence Admissions Scholarships for Black and Indigenous Master’s Students (2022).
Tyrese is an experienced choral singer and conductor. He is the conductor of the low-voice ensemble, “Rocambolesco,” and the associate conductor of the 60-voice youth choir “Frisson” with Modern Sound Collective. Tyrese is also the assistant conductor of the new MSC Choirs ensemble Datsuzoku, an 80-voice youth and young adult choir. He previously served as the assistant conductor of Resonance Youth Choir and as the conductor of Cawthra Park’s low voice ensemble, the Boys in B. Tyrese has sung with a wide range of ensembles, including the University of Toronto’s Macmillan Singers, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Sehnsucht (Modern Sound Collective), Concreamus (Modern Sound Collective) and Babel. Tyrese is also an Associate Conductor with Young Voices Toronto where he works with their mixed-voice youth choir, Encore.
Tyrese is also a dynamic soloist and educator. He has performed roles ranging from musical theatre, opera, and oratorio including Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls (Cawthra Park Secondary School), Mr. Braithwaite (Cawthra Park Secondary School), William Still/Reverend Sam Green in Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line Into Freedom (Nathaniel Dett Chorale), as well as ensemble roles in Elisir D’Amore and Opera Workshop Gala (Western University Opera). Recently, he has been invited back to his alma mater Cawthra Park Secondary School (Regional Arts Program) as an Artist in the Classroom working with senior vocal performance majors, and as an adjudicator for the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) vocal competition.
Tyrese is passionate about social justice, fashion, theatre arts, and exploring new, innovative ways to interact with and perform choral music. Outside of choir, you can find Tyrese at a coffee shop drinking an iced coffee, snapping pics with his film camera, thrift shopping, or hanging out with his friends.
Connect with Tyrese Walters
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tyrese-walters-123092468
Instagram: @tywltrs / @tyresewaltersmusic
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Stream my new song “Someone I Adore”: https://li.sten.to/someoneiadore
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