Isaac Cates has achieved international fame as an artist, composer, arranger, choral director, and educator. He began playing piano at age four and went on to study at the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music, where he began arranging and setting sacred texts to music.
His original compositions have been performed in more than 17 countries and have been translated into several languages.
He records with his own group “Ordained,” and has conducted Gospel workshops and performed to sold-out audiences in Italy, Switzerland, England, Spain, Israel, Kenya, Ireland, Norway and Germany. He also serves as Director of Music Outreach/Worship Leader at the Church of The Resurrection, a large United Methodist church in Leawood, Kansas, and has formed a new Gospel choir there. He is a proud voting member of the Recording Academy and a recent Grammy nominee.
He released a new album, Amazed, in September 2022 and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in November 2023.
On behalf of the Toronto Mass Choir and York University, welcome to PowerUp Gospel: 20th Anniversary! The Toronto Mass Choir (TMC) presents another awesome Gospel music workshop in cooperation with the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University from Wed., Feb. 21- Sun., Feb. 25, 2024. One low registration cost covers the entire conference!
'PowerUp Gospel' is one of the highlights of our season! As the Chair of the York University Music Department and the Artistic Director and Co-founder of the Juno-award winning gospel choir, Toronto Mass Choir, I have the awesome privilege of working with people interested in choirs and gospel music--not only in Canada, but around the world! PowerUp 2024 is a gathering of people from many walks of life, faith traditions, backgrounds, and levels of musical expertise. Welcome to the premiere Gospel music workshop experience in Canada!
Our 20th annual event features another stellar line-up of dynamic clinicians and exciting workshops created with you in mind. Many of our favourite clinicians will be returning along with some new faces. Our workshop choir experiences will also return and this year’s theme is ’The Evolution of Gospel Music’. For those registrants who are returning, welcome back! For those that are new, you are about to embark on an epic journey. Strap in!
PowerUp Gospel offers over 20 different workshops in several areas of musicianship including many opportunities to develop your singing. Our PowerUp Youth Choir and PowerUp Chorale are additional ensemble opportunities alongside the larger PowerUp Workshop Mass Choir to which all participants are invited to join. Come and create singing communities!
There are many ways to come onto the Keele campus; the easiest being the YORK subway station and take the exit to the Accolade East Building where the conference is being held. If you are driving in, remember to download the HONK app and use it every time you park to avoid a parking ticket.
We will kick off the weekend with our first mass choir rehearsal on Wednesday night when we welcome our guest clinician for this year, the incomparable gospel artist, composer and clinician, Isaac Cates who will offer workshops and also be our guest conductor for the mass choir. Please do register and be part of this year’s mass choir experience! Everyone is welcome!
We are looking forward to our finale concert being held on Sunday evening, Feb. 25 featuring all of our ensembles and special guests.
NOTE: The PowerUp Workshop Mass Choir is wearing ALL BLACK that night! Registrants attend for free and tickets for your friends and family can be purchased on-line or at the door.
Welcome!
I was fortunate to attend the Power Up Gospel Choir Workshop in 2021. The on-line experience was phenomenal. The workshops were enlightening, informative and it was great to experience community within a larger body of singers. A highlight for me was the panel discussion with the guest speakers. Experiencing their openness, vulnerability and wisdom reminded me of the wealth we have access to.
Much looking forward to PowerUP 2022.
I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you again for the invitation to present at PowerUp 2021. It was truly an honor to present! I also wanted to share with you how beautifully organized the event was!! As a Clinician, I felt taken care of, and was always welcomed into each space with love, kindness, and warmth. This is a true reflection of the heart and excellence that TMC continuously demonstrates. Presenting online in the virtual realm, we can often feel disconnected, but somehow you all made it feel as if we were in a room together, holding each other up as a family. That was truly heartwarming for me
Thanks again for spearheading this AMAZINGLY ANOINTED EVENT!!!
It was awesome!! Bravo on a very successful online PowerUp!!
That was such a phenomenal experience!! Thank you once again for including me...I learned so much, it was almost overwhelming!!! I absolutely love this event and have gained so much just by being a part of it. Thanks again and congratulations to the entire team on a job very well done!
You agree that by entering the premises of this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By your appearance and participation in this event, you grant Toronto Mass Choir Inc./ PowerUp Gospel to utilize your name, image, likeness, voice, and statements in any live or recorded audio, video, or photographic display or other transmissions, exhibition, publication or reproduction made in connection with, or at, the event for all purposes, in any manner, in any medium, now known or hereafter developed, without further authorization from, or compensation to, you or anyone acting on your behalf.
Except for Toronto Mass Choir's canceling of the event or needing to reduce capacity, all cancellation and refund requests must be made by emailing Jennel Wilmot at jennel@tmc.ca. Refund requests received by January 31, 2024, will be honored in full, minus a $25 cancellation-processing fee per cancellation. No refunds will be granted after Feb 1, however, transfer of registrations will be allowed.
You will receive an email confirmation shortly after your registration has been processed. The name badges will serve as your tickets for the event, so it is important that you bring them with you every day. Please download our conference App and add your workshop selections to your personalized agenda. Here is a guide to our conference app WHOVA.
Please note: There is only PAID PARKING at York University. Please download and use the HONK app! More information is in the logistics tab of the app and here.