ENSEMBLES 2008
Primus Men's Choir
Primus consists of experienced male singers who are in tertiary education or working. Currently the age of the group ranges from 19 to 35 years of age and while they rehearse and perform as an exceptional men's choir, they also rehearse and perform regularly with YM, mentoring the younger singers in singing and leadership.
Primus has been recognized nationally and internationally with an invitation to represent Canada at the Sixth World Choral Symposium and ensuing broadcasts on US Public Radio and CBC Radio Two, and have served as the Staff and Host Choir for the World Festival of Singing for Men and Boys since 2002. Primus will release its first CD this season. Entitled Primus: Inner Fire, the CD is exceptional and features the men's choir in some of the traditional and newest repertoire for male voicing.
Carol Beynon
Conductor
Dr Carol Beynon is Associate Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor in Music Education at the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. She is the founding co-artistic director of the renowned and award-winning Amabile Boys and Men's' Choirs of London, Canada. Dr Beynon is a specialist in vocal and choral development specializing in unchanged and changed male voices and serves as a clinician and adjudicator for music festivals in Canada and around the world. With Amabile, she has been involved in invited and reviewed performances and recordings for the World Choral Symposium, the American Choral Directors' Association, Association of Canadian Choral Conductors and the International Society for Music Education with ensuing broadcasts on CBC, BBC, Bravo TV and Czech National TV. Dr Beynon is the author of the book Learning to Teach published by Pearson Canada, 2001 and has a second edited publication to be released in 2008 entitled, Music Education in Canada: What is the State of the Art? She also has numerous scholarly articles about music education, choral music, teacher development and teacher identity in several peer reviewed journals. Dr Beynon has received several awards for outstanding teaching from the University Student Council and in 2007 was named the Woman of Excellence in Arts, Culture and Heritage 2007 for London, Ontario and community.
Ken Fleet
Conductor
Ken Fleet is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario and Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. He has taught at Medway Secondary School since 1976. From 1984 to 1995, as part-time faculty at UWO, he taught education, conducting and choirs including Concert Choir, Chorale and the UWO Singers. Since 1988 he has been conductor of Pro Musica. He has been a frequent guest conductor of Orchestra London and has presented numerous clinics, workshops and adjudications across Canada and North America. Since 1982 he has been a teacher/administrator at the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre. He was the 1999 conductor of the Ontario Youth Choir. He also is a choral editor for the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, San Diego, California.
Bonnie Shewan Burroughs
Conductor
For the past 14 years, Bonnie Shewan Burroughs has performed, toured and recorded with the Amabile Boys Choirs, and currently plays for AYME and Primus. After graduating in Piano Performance, her teacher, Dr. Damjana Bratuz, advised further study in Europe where she studied and attended master classes in Salzburg, Vienna, Siena and London, England over a period of three years. She has performed as a chamber musician with leading instrumentalists from such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. With the Ardeleana Trio, she also premiered many newly commissioned works and recorded a CD of contemporary trios. Most recently, she performed in the prestigious Aeolian Concert Series at Wolf performance hall with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Celebration Program
J. Leavitt: "Festival Sanctus"
S. Glick: "Psalm 23"
E. Whitacre: "Lux Aurumque"
S. Sametz: "Ne Sedi Djemo"
M. Sirett: "The Cloths of Heaven"
arr. T. Worthington: "Soldiers Cry"