We are so very thrilled to announce that Kathleen Allan has been selected to be the Canadian Chamber Choir Conducting Fellow on the upcoming British Columbia tour. Please see her bio below to know where she has been and what amazing things she has been up to before becoming the successful candidate for the highly coveted Conducting Fellowship position

A native of St. John’s, NL, Kathleen Allan (b.1989) moved to Vancouver in 2007, where she received a degree in composition from the University of British Columbia, and worked as a composer, conductor and soprano. She was a member of the Vancouver Chamber Choir from 2010-12, was the director of the Chorales of the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus from 2011-12, and was appointed to the voice faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music in 2011. Her compositions have been performed throughout North America, the UK, and in Argentina, where her piece was featured at the World Symposium on Choral Music in 2011. In 2012, she was awarded one of three Emerging Composer Residencies by the Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian League of Composers. She has received two Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards for her compositions, and in 2006 won CBC’s national composition contest in honour of Mozart’s 250th birthday. Her compositions have been commissioned by ensembles across Canada, including the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Elektra Women’s Choir, Redshift New Music Society, Vox Humana, the Eastern Wind Ensemble, Ethos Collective, the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, Newman Sound Men’s Choir, Lady Cove Women’s Choir, Zing! Children’s Choir, the BC Choral Federation, the English Montreal School Board Chorale, the Savridi Singers of Calgary, the Halifax Camerata Singers, Atlantic Voices of Ottawa, and the Philharmonic Choir of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.  

Equally in demand as a soprano soloist and professional choral singer, she has appeared as a soloist with the National Broadcast Orchestra and Berkshire Choral Festival Choir, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Bach Choir, and UBC combined ensembles. Her 2011 recital, featuring premieres of new vocal music as well as performances of her own works, received national media attention and was featured on CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. She performed in the lead role of Ann in the premiere North American tour of Stephen Hatfield’s chamber opera Ann and Seamus, including performances at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and Harbourfront Centre (Toronto).

Since conducting her own composition at the National Arts Centre at the age of 18, Kathleen has developed as a conductor of choral and orchestral music under the instruction of Bruce Pullan, Doug Dunsmore, Graeme Langager, Simon Carrington, Marguerite Brooks, Jeffrey Douma, Masaaki Suzuki, Helmuth Rilling, Erwin Ortner, Nicholas McGegan, David Hill, and Donald Schleicher. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Choral Conducting at Yale University. 
Conducted by Conducting fellow: Kathleen Allen, Vancouver 2013