Amabile Choirs of London, Canada

Amabile Choirs of London, Canada

 Amabile Choirs of London, Canada. Family of youth choirs based in London, Ont, comprising four main choirs as well as smaller vocal ensembles. The choir family began as the Amabile Youth Singers, a 60-voice choir for females ages 12-23, founded in 1985 by John Barron and Brenda Zadorsky. In 1989 the Junior Amabile Singers (girls 9-16) were added, followed in 1990 by the Amabile Boys Choirs (boys and men ages 12-23; founded by Carol Beynon and Bevan Keating), and in 1993 by the Amabile Chamber Choir. The original Amabile choir established its solid reputation when the Youth Singers, within months of their formation, won the 1986 CBC Choral Competition youth category. The next year, they took second place at the International Koorfestival in Holland.

Conductors
Barron and Zadorsky have led the Youth Singers from their inception; the Boys Choir was led by Carol Beynon (1990 to present), Bevan Keating (1990-2001), and Ken Fleet (2001 to present). All five have shared conducting duties for the Chamber Choir. A succession of additional conductors has led the additional Amabile units.

Tours and Performances

Individual Amabile choirs have undertaken separate tours, beginning with the Youth Singers' tour of England, France, Belgium and Holland in 1987. They returned to Europe in 1989, and toured Australia and New Zealand in 1992 and the UK in 1996. The Amabile Boys Choirs have toured England and Wales (1993), Holland, Germany, and Austria (1995), and the Caribbean (1997); the Junior Singers toured the UK in 1996. The choirs perform often at festivals in Canada, the US and Europe, eg, in Washington (1995), Greece (1998), BC (2002), Toronto, the Czech Republic, and Salt Lake City (2004). The Youth Singers performed at Carnegie Hall in 1995. The choirs' repertoire spans the Medieval to contemporary periods and includes pop standards. They have recorded music by Stephen Chatman, Stephen Hatfield, Allister MacGillivray, Nancy Telfer, Ruth Watson Henderson, Healey Willan, and other Canadians.

Awards

The Amabile choirs have been much decorated at international choral competitions. In addition to their earliest prizes, the Youth Singers won the Let the Peoples Sing competition twice (1993 and 1997). Amabile choirs won various youth categories in the CBC Choral Competition several times, in addition to the Healey Willan Grand Prize (1994). The CD Amabile Youth Singers with Kevin McMillan won the most outstanding choral recording 1990-2, from the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors. The Junior Singers won gold medals at the 18th International Festival of Sacred Music (1998) and at the Choir Olympics in Germany (2004).

The choirs of the Amabile fold are regarded as among the premiere choral ensembles for children and youth.