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Conductors:
A performance by Primus, the Amabile Men’s Choir, is never easily forgotten. These talented men showcase tremendous abilities that come together under the direction of renowned Canadian Conductors, Carol Beynon and Ken Fleet. Formed in the Fall of 2000, Primus has grown to more than 40 undergraduate students, graduate students and professionals in all walks of life who enjoy the pursuit of the choral art and the camaraderie that develops so naturally in male ensembles. The members act as active mentors to the boys in the treble choirs as well as male high school singers, and provide leadership development workshops on a regular basis for music educators, university music education classes, and students in schools, promoting the healthy benefits of being a male singer. They perform regularly in the Amabile concert series as well as in concert series provincially and nationally. Their repertoire is eclectic and features much of the traditional and newest repertoire for male voicing. The choir annually commissions new works for male chorus.
Composed of advanced level singers, Primus is known for its deeply sonorous and rich sound that rewards listeners with a strong identity without sacrificing the sound of one uniform voice. Awarded first prize in the Men’s Choral Category of the most recent CBC Radio National Competition for Amateur Choirs (2008), Primus, the Amabile Men’s Choir of London, Canada is known for its choral excellence as well as its charismatic stage presence in relating to its audiences. In its short history, the choir has achieved an international reputation that places it in a leading position in the world of male choral singing. Its repertoire is vast and ranges from the Middle Ages to contemporary; from the ethereal to the earthy.
Most recently, Primus has worked with several respected composers and conductors, including Chilcott, Sund, Papoulis and Hatfield. The vision and expertise of these talented individuals has challenged the choir to reach new levels of excellence. This growth has led to the recording of their first solo CD, Inner Fire which honours the music of Primus during its first decade of musical achievement.
The growing international recognition has provided Primus with exciting opportunities to perform across the globe. The choir travels regularly to festivals and showcases and recent visits to Prague, Vienna and California have allowed the choir to share their memorable voices with entirely new audiences. Primus was honoured to act as choir-in-residence for the 1st World Festival of Singing for Men and Boys in Prague during 2004 and was again invited to co-host the event in the 2008 season. This role provided Primus with an opportunity to showcase a strong Canadian voice on the world stage with some of the most respected male choirs. Those live concerts were broadcasted live on Czech national classical radio and in the audience was the First Lady of the Czech Republic.
In 2002, Primus was thrilled to be invited to perform at the Sixth World Choral Symposium in Minneapolis as a last minute replacement for another choir that was unable to attend. The choir sang to an enthusiastic, full house of delegates with a standing ovation in the middle and again at the end of its concert.
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Ken Fleet, conductor
For thirty years, Ken taught choral and instrumental music at Medway High School and developed one of the largest and most successful choral programs in the province. For twelve of those thirty years Ken also taught choral conducting and music education courses and conducted four of the choirs that are part of the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. Currently he is teaching intermediate/senior music at Western’s Faculty of Education and choral conducting at the Don Wright Faculty of Music. He is also the President of Choirs Ontario.
Ken is a former conductor of the UWO Singers, Chorale, and Concert Choir at the UWO Faculty of Music and of the Ontario Youth Choir (1999). He is a co-editor of a series of choral octavos published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company of San Diego, California and is currently in his 21st year as conductor of London Pro Musica and his 10th year as co-conductor of the Amabile Boys Choirs with Dr. Carol Beynon. Ken has given numerous workshops and concerts across Canada and the United States and in Europe.
Ken is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (B. of Mus. 1975) and Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey (Masters of Music, 1987).
In October 2008, Ken was chosen as one of the ten inaugural inductees into the Western’s Don Wright Faculty of Music “Wall of Fame.”
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Carol Beynon, conductor
Dr. Carol Beynon is the founding co-artistic director of the renowned and award-winning Amabile Boys and Men's' Choirs of London, Canada. Formed in 1990 as a treble choir for unchanged voices, the Choirs have grown into five choirs of trebles, young men’s choirs and men’s choirs. With the Amabile Boys & Men’s Choirs, she has been involved in invited and reviewed performances for the ICFM World Choral Symposium VI (Minneapolis), the American Choral Directors’ Association (Los Angeles), the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors (Toronto and Victoria, BC), the International Society for Music Education and the Le Mondial Choral Loto-Quebec Gala 2008 CBC Winners Concert with ensuing broadcasts on CBC Radio 2 and Radio L’espace, ARTV, BC, Minnesota Public Radio, Bravo TV and Czech National TV. The Choirs have been consistent winners in the CBC bi-annual national choral competition, and in 2008, both the Amabile Young Men’s Ensemble and Primus, the Amabile Men’s Choir took 1st place in two of the nine categories in the competition. Carol has been privileged to conduct performances in Orchestra Hall (Minneapolis), Dvorak Hall (Prague), Musik Vereinhalle (Vienna), United Nations (Vienna), Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles), Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, and St Martin’s in the Fields, England.
Carol is a specialist in vocal and choral development specializing in unchanged and changed male voices and serves as a clinician, guest lecturer and adjudicator for music festivals in Canada and around the world.
Carol is Associate Vice Provost of the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies and Associate Professor in Music Education at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. She is the first author of the book Learning to Teach published by Pearson Canada, 2001 and has a second edited publication under review entitled, Critical Perspectives in Canadian Music Education. She has published numerous scholarly articles about music education, choral music, teacher development and teacher identity in several peer reviewed journals. Currently she is a collaborative researcher on two projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The first is a 3-year investigation of youth participation in music education and the other is a 7-year project involving about 60 researchers around the world in singing and is entitled Advanced Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS).
Carol 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.
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