The Ontario Arts Council has named Kathleen Allan the recipient of the 2025 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting.

The award will be presented on Dec. 7, 2025, during the Amadeus Choir’s performance of J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” at Kingston Road United Church in Toronto.

The jury 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 highlighted her commitment to accessibility and her vision for “music as a force for good,” adding that “she is poised at the threshold of an extraordinary career that is shaping the future of choral music in Canada and beyond.”

Allan, who serves as artistic director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and Chorus Niagara, will lead a rare full performance of all six cantatas, featuring 130 performers from the Amadeus Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.

From 2016 to 2023, Allan, the 2016 winner of the Sir Ernest MacMillan Prize in Choral Conducting, was artistic director of Canzona, Winnipeg’s professional Baroque choir. She also mentors young conductors through her role on the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and previously served as visiting professor at Western University from 2019 to 2021.

As a composer, her works have been commissioned and performed across the Americas and Europe, featured at two World Symposiums on Choral Music, and published by Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press, Cypress Choral Music, and MusicSpoke.

With the Amadeus Choir, she founded the Choral Creation Lab, which supports emerging composers and poets in the creation of new choral works. In 2026, she will lead a program of Indigenous composers from Canada at Carnegie Hall. She also performs as a soprano with ensembles including the National Broadcast Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

The $10,000 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting is awarded biennially to an emerging professional conductor residing in Ontario who works with a professional, semi-professional, or community choir.

This year’s jury included Doreen Rao (Toronto), Vicki St. Pierre (Sackville, New Brunswick), and 2016 laureate Mark Vuorinen (Kitchener). Recent recipients include Dr. Elaine Choi (2023), Charlene Pauls (2018), and Mark Vuorinen (2016).

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