About - Andrew Donaldson

Andrew has performed on guitar, lute and voice across Canada in venues strange and wonderful, large and small:

Renaissance dances in library lobbies full of children, strollers, parents, nannies, seniors ... Bach for passersby in a multicultural downtown Toronto food court (complete with mechanical bull) ... Logging chanteys with teachers in Newfoundland ...

He has written songs in French with students in small-town Ontario. He has composed words and music for a French text book series, choral pieces for mixed choirs, men's vocal ensembles and children's choruses - music secular and sacred, poignant and joyful, popular and somewhat off-the-beaten-track.

All along there has been congregational song.

Andrew's passion is writing, learning, teaching and leading people in singing their faith.

Andrew's gift is musical team-building. To his music he brings an infectious joy and a deep sense of music as ministry.

He is the founding director of Hilariter, a vocal / instrumental ensemble specializing in global church music, and a member of the Toronto Continuo Collective, an early music ensemble led by lutenist Lucas Harris and harpsichordist Borys Medicky.

Andrew and business partner Donald Anderson operate Binary Editions, a publishing and copyright permissions partnership.

A longtime pastoral musician and worship enlivener at congregations in Ontario, Canada, Andrew's ministry will continue in Geneva, Switzerland where he has accepted the position of Consultant in Worship and Spirituality for the World Council of Churches.

Recent Workshops and Worship Events

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2009: plenary address at the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Hymnologie (IAH) conference in Poland, August 2009, as a representative of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada.

2008: participates as an ecumenical adviser in a United Church study on its musical life, "Are We Off-Key?"

2008: performs guitar and percussion with Pablo Sosa's ensemble in a conference given by Pablo at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Waterloo, Ontario.

2007 - 2009: congregational song workshops at "Refresh", an annual conference within the Anglican Church of Canada, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.

2007: workshop with Dr. David Buley on Canadian hymnnody at the annual conference of The Hymn Society, Carleton University, Ottawa.

2004 - 2006: President of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada.

2006: records English and French versions of songs with Wendy Donaldson and hymn writer John Thornburg near Austin, Texas, for new Cameroonian hymn book, " Mille voix pour te chanter tes louanges".

2004 - present: founding of "Hilariter", an instrumental and vocal ensemble with a special interest in global worship music. They release "The Whole Bright World Rejoices", a CD of world worship music in 2006.

2003: Sorrento Centre, Sorrento, B.C., music leader at daily worship for a week-long conference with John Spong.

2003 - 2004: presents "Celebrate! Bringing life to worship and worship to life", a series of four workshops on music in worship, at Beaches Presbyterian Church and Trafalgar Presbyterian Church.

2003, 2001: music leader of morning worship, General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, York University (2001), and University of Guelph (2003).

2002: publication of "With Many Voices", a collection of global song (Binary Editions, Toronto).

2000 - 2003: worship leading and global and contemporary music workshops at various interdenominational conferences, including "Renovations 2000" (Toronto, the United Church of Canada), "Worship Odyssey 2001" (Ottawa, Presbyterian Church in Canada), "Breakthrough" (Waterloo, United Church) and Worship and the Arts (Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan).

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Honours and Awards

Honorary Doctor of Divinity, University of Toronto, Knox College, 2007, for his body of work in congregational song.

President of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, 2004-2006

Governor-General's Commemorative Medal for Andrew's community service in Toronto's east end celebrating Canada's 125th anniversary.

Canadian Living Magazine list of 30 Outstanding Canadians for his work in promoting diversity in the church, October 2005.

Associate of Royal Conservatory Teachers (A.R.C.T.), Guitar Performance, Royal Conservatory of Music, 1979. Andrew's undergraduate work was in French and English at Glendon College, York University (Honours B.A.,1974), Toronto.

Teaching Experience

Andrew has given workshops across Canada on both The Book of Praise and The Book of Psalms for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and led workshop sessions on music in worship throughout the U.S. as part of his work with the Hymn Society.