Kathleen Allan receives 2025 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting

Today the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) announced that Kathleen Allan is the recipient of the 2025 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting. Kathleen will receive the award at the Amadeus Choir’s J.S. Bach Christmas Oratorio concert on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at Kingston Road United Church in Toronto. Kathleen will be conducting a rare full performance of the oratorio including all six cantatas, performed by 130 members of the Amadeus Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.
 

About Kathleen Allan

• Kathleen Allan is the artistic director of both the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and Chorus Niagara. In high demand as a guest conductor, commissioned composer, and clinician, she is equally comfortable working in early, contemporary, and symphonic repertoire.
• She has conducted orchestras and choirs across Canada, the U.S., and Japan, and was the 2016 winner of the Sir Ernest MacMillan Prize in Choral Conducting.
• From 2016 to 2023, she served as the artistic director of Canzona, Winnipeg’s professional Baroque choir, with whom she conducted many of the masterworks of the Baroque era.
• Kathleen mentors student conductors as a member of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where she also conducts the university’s Chamber Choir. She served as visiting professor at Western University from 2019 to 2021.
• Her work as a composer is intrinsically tied to her conducting practice. Inspired by her Celtic roots and musical upbringing in St. John’s, NL, her compositions fuse contemporary harmonies with undertones of ancient folk music.
• Her work has been commissioned, performed and recorded by ensembles throughout the Americas and Europe and has been featured at two World Symposiums on Choral Music. She is published by Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press, Cypress Choral Music, and MusicSpoke.
• With the Amadeus Choir, Kathleen founded the Choral Creation Lab, a nationally recognized incubator that pairs emerging composers with poets to co-create relevant new works. She has commissioned over two dozen works for choir.
• In 2026, she will conduct a program by Indigenous composers from Canada at Carnegie Hall in New York.
• Also an accomplished soprano, she has appeared as a soloist with the National Broadcast Orchestra, Berkshire Choral Festival, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Photo: Cris Anzai
 

Quote

The jury that chose Kathleen Allan as the 2025 laureate for the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting noted that “under Kathleen’s direction, ensembles show remarkable growth from first rehearsal to final performance. Her clarity and artistry draw expressive sound and deep engagement from singers and audiences alike.” They praised her commitment to accessibility and her vision for music as a force for good, seen in projects that invite broad audiences into the choral experience. The jury remarked that “she is poised at the threshold of an extraordinary career that is shaping the future of choral music in Canada and beyond.”

About the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting

• The $10,000 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting is awarded every two years to an emerging professional conductor who is a resident of Ontario and works with a professional, semi-professional or community choir.
   
• The prize is made possible by a financial contribution from the Leslie Bell Scholarship Fund and the OAC. The scholarship fund, administered by OAC, was established in 1973 by the Leslie Bell Singers and friends of the late Dr. Leslie Bell.
   
• The winner was chosen through a nominating and adjudication process managed by the OAC. This year’s jury comprised Doreen Rao (Toronto), Vicki St. Pierre (Sackville, New Brunswick), and 2016 Leslie Bell Prize laureate Mark Vuorinen (Kitchener).
   
• Previous winners include Dr. Elaine Choi (2023), Charlene Pauls (2018) and Mark Vuorinen (2016). Complete list of past Leslie Bell Prize recipients.