Toronto, December 17, 2020 – Parry Sound born Eleanor Daley is this year’s recipient of the Louis Applebaum Composers Award. This year’s $15,000 award recognizes excellence for a body of work the field of composition for young people.
About Eleanor Daley
A prolific composer, Daley has a remarkable gift for melody. Her works are most notable for their sensitive interweaving of text and music. She has over one hundred and fifty published choral compositions and is commissioned extensively throughout North America. Included in her unpublished choral works are dozens of anthems, twelve Missae Breves, four pageants, and hundreds of descants, introits, and psalm settings. Her compositions have been widely performed, recorded, and aired throughout North America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa and Asia.
Commissioned works for Canadian Choirs include the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Amadeus Choir, the Bach Children’s Chorus, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Amabile Youth Singers, St. Marys Children’s Choir, and the Cantabile Singers of Kingston, as well as numerous other community and church choirs. Eleanor was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association in 2008 to write a choral work for the Regional Conventions – the first Canadian composer to have received this honour. Other US commissions include the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Florida, the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing in Salt Lake City, and the Texas Choral Directors Association. European commissions include the Norbusang Festival in Bodø, Norway, the Touch the Future Festival in Germany and Oxford University Press in Cambridge, England. Eleanor was invited to be the first Composer-in-Residence at the international choral festival, FESTIVAL 500, in July 2005, in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Eleanor is the long-time Director of Music at Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto and conducts three choirs there. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree in organ performance from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and holds diplomas in both organ and piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and Trinity College in England.
“Lake Isle of Innisfree” by Eleanor Daley, directed by Janet Galvan and performed by the High School SSA Choir at the 2013 Alabama All State Choral Festival.
Jury Comments
The jury was unanimous in its choice, stating: “A prolific composer in many realms, Eleanor Daley’s dedication to her work with young people includes music for performance by, education of, and pure enjoyment by young people. Her vast number of published works have national and international reach and are performed around the world. Eleanor’s compositions show a deep respect for the capacity of young people, recognizing their intelligence and potential; leading them to explore and grow musically.”
This year’s jury consisted of Dean Burry, composer, educator, 2011 Applebaum laureate (Elginburg); Elise Bradley, MNZM, Artistic Director, Toronto Children’s Chorus, conductor, educator (Toronto); and Lynda Hill, Artistic Director, Wee Festival, Past Artistic Director, Theatre Direct, programmer, presenter (Toronto).
About the Award
The Louis Applebaum Composers Fund was established at the Ontario Arts Foundation in 1998 by Louis Applebaum to recognize excellence in music composition. The award is made biennially in the following alternating genres: film and television; theatre, music theatre, dance or opera; jazz; and composition for young people. The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the award. The award winner is chosen through a nominating and adjudication process managed by the Ontario Arts Council.
Previous recipients include Hilario Durán (2018), Alice Ping Yee Ho (2016), and Mychael Danna (2014). See the full list of previous recipients.
For more information, please contact:
Alan Walker, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413 awalker@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2019-2020, the OAF paid over $4.25 million in endowment income and $270,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 55 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2019-2020 the Ontario Arts Council invested $51.9 million in 197 communities across Ontario through 1,965 grants to individual artists and 1,152 grants to organizations.
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