Jorge Sanabria’s Musical Journey to Canada
Jorge became a familiar, cheerful face in the Upper Canada Choristers within a few months of his arrival in Canada in July 2024. Fortunately for us, after he was introduced to the choir by longtime chorister Otto Pierre, Jorge agreed to stage manage our Christmas concert! And by January he was officially singing as a baritone with both Cantemos and UCC.
How this all came to pass spans more than 4,000 kilometres and a wide-ranging career for a 28-year-old. It began with a happy childhood, growing up in the Colombian town of Barrancabermeja – beautifully situated in the foothills (known as the precordillera ) of the Andes, on the banks of the Magdalena River.
“Barrancabermeja had everything that a child could wish for,” said Jorge. This included plenty of opportunities, from educational to cultural and athletic, as well as exploring the wonders of the countryside on its doorstep.
Medicine vs. Music
After graduating in medicine in 2020 from one of three medical schools in the large city of Bucaramanga, Jorge spent a year on a government-sponsored mandatory social service program, working as a general practitioner at one of Colombia’s air force training bases. Reflecting on this experience, he adds: “As this was at the beginning of the pandemic, I saw many patients with covid. Luckily, as they were mostly young and fit, few of them became seriously ill.”
“After that, I started to get more on-the-job hospital experience, beginning in the psychiatric department, before moving to oncology and finally focusing on hematology. What I learned in each of these specialties was invaluable.”
Besides his dedication to becoming a doctor, throughout his student days and beyond, Jorge was passionate about art, music, dancing and languages: “From a language perspective alone, I studied English, Portuguese, Swedish and French. I would also like to study Chinese, but I’ve not had the time yet! ”
On the musical side, he learnt to play the guitar, and spent two years as a tenor with an excellent local choir that toured to both Asia and Europe. His one regret was because he was so busy with his medical studies, he was finally asked to drop out just before a tour to Spain, as he hadn’t attended enough rehearsals.
“To be honest, I was so upset about this that I decided not to play the guitar or sing with a choir ever again and just to focus on my medical career.”
Jorge’s life adventure then took an unexpected turn, one that brought him to Canada… and back to music. He and his French-born partner, Julien, had been considering moving to Spain or France until Julien was offered a Toronto-based job with Mirvish Productions – at which point their plans changed, and Jorge found himself moving to Toronto in July 2024.
“Since I arrived, I’ve been immersed in studying to acquire the necessary credentials to work here as a doctor, including processing my Permanent Resident application. It’s a lot of paperwork. In April I’ll be taking the exams set by the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC). These are important to pass because they will confirm that my international medical degree is comparable with a Canadian medical degree.”
Reconnecting with music
All work and no play is a recipe for disaster… and so fortunately, after meeting Otto, Jorge decided he wanted music back in his life. As his choir back in Colombia sang in many languages, Jorge was thrilled to learn about the range of music and languages in the repertoire of UCC and Cantemos.
In no time, Jorge was helping backstage at our Christmas concert and even joined us at several community concerts. Now, as a fully-fledged member of UCC, Jorge can only say this:
“I really love the beautiful sound of this choir, and I’m looking forward to singing with you all on an ongoing basis.”
Welcome to Canada, Jorge!