2000 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting Announced

Toronto, June 5, 2000 — Bevan Keating, of London, Ontario, has won the $5,000 Leslie Bell Prize for choral conducting. Mark Vuorinen of Waterloo, Ontario, received an honourable mention and $1,000. 

The Leslie Bell Prize for young choral conductors is administered by the Choirs Ontario, a non-profit service organization dedicated to the promotion of the choral arts in Ontario. Six Ontario choral conductors conducted the test choir, the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, on Saturday June 3 at the University of Ottawa. The winners were selected by a three-member panel consisting of Wayne Riddell, conductor and founder of the Tudor Singers of Montreal; Dr. Victoria Meredith, Professor of Choral Music at the University of Western Ontario and Vice President of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors; and Laurence Ewashko, conductor of the Cantata Singers of Ottawa and a past winner of the Leslie Bell Prize.

Bevan Keating, 31, has amassed broad experience as a professional choral conductor. He is the co-founder and conductor of the Amabile Boys Choir in London, the co-founder and director of the Victoria Academy of Music in London, and the founder and conductor of the London Choral Guild. He is currently enrolled in the Masters Program in Choral Conducting at Ohio State University.

Mark Vuorinen, 25, is the Assistant Conductor of the Wilfrid Laurier University Choir and the Laurier Singers. He also conducts the University of Waterloo Choir and the Interlink Children and Seniors Choir in Toronto.

The prize was established in 1973 as a tribute to the distinguished choral conductor and educator, Leslie Bell, and is presented every two years. The award is financed by income from the Leslie Bell Scholarship Fund, which is administered by the Ontario Arts Council Foundation, and matched by a contribution from the Ontario Arts Council.