Choir Profile

Chor Leoni 2009 Photo: Travis Caperton

Chor Leoni has a polish, a sound, a spontaneity and a style that I feel is unequalled by any male voice choir that I have ever heard…
Maestro Bramwell Tovey,Vancouver Symphony

A rich full-bodied sound, innovative programming, technical precision, meticulous intonation, and versatility, coupled with an ever-present musical curiosity and commitment to the creation of new Canadian choral works, are qualities that have catapulted Chor Leoni (“Choir of Lions) to national and international fame since its founding by Diane Loomer, C.M., in 1992. Whether it be a sombre moment of reflection during a Remembrance Day performance or a joyful turn of comedic phrasing at a Summer Solstice show, Chor Leoni is renowned for reaching across the footlights and transforming the performance from ‘concert’ to ‘conversation.’ The lions live up to their name as they fearlessly move between musical genres, always aiming to communicate, engage, and entertain. Engendering tears of emotion, peals of laughter, and gasps of awe from their audiences, Chor Leoni prides itself on its ability to perform in many languages and styles, always sung with fresh energy and poise.

Building on a long history of first place awards in the biennial CBC/Radio-Canada National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, Chor Leoni once again took first in their class of the 2006 competition. In 2002 Chor Leoni won the Male Voice and Contemporary Categories and received a special prize for the Best Performance of a Canadian Work, Chant to Bring Back the Light by R. Murray Schafer. They went on to represent Canada in the Let the Peoples Sing international choral contest. Here they competed against world-renowned choirs representing twenty-one countries and were a finalist, despite being the only male choir and the only North American choir in the entire competition.

The choir is regarded as a leader in the Canadian male choir movement, acting as mentors and inspiration to choirs across the country. Chor Leoni’s Remembrance Day and Summer Solstice concerts are recognized as popular fixtures on the Vancouver choral calendar.

Chor Leoni has performed regularly with Vancouver ensembles and orchestras, toured nationally, and recorded several national broadcasts. In addition to their main concert series, the choir performs frequently at community events throughout the Lower Mainland and is heard “live-to-air” on CBC Radio each December, as part of the CBC Food Bank. In 2005 the choir launched PROMYS (PROgram for Mentoring Young Singers), inviting talented singers from surrounding high schools to join with Chor Leoni in rehearsals and performance.

Chor Leoni performed for the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors’ PODIUM 2000, the International Society of Music Educators’ 2000 convention, and for the 2002 regional conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Tacoma, WA. They were the Canadian choral representative for the 2002 AmericaFest World Festival of Singing for Boys and Men at Collegeville, MN, and were enthusiastically received at the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music, held in Minneapolis, MN in August 2002.

The choir toured Central Canada in summer 2007, giving performances and workshops in Montreal, Lachute, Quebec City, Ottawa, and Kitchener before presenting the closing concert of Stratford Summer Music. In 2008 Chor Leoni was the invited guest of both the Northwest Division Convention (Vancouver, BC) and the Western Divisional Convention (Anaheim, Calif.) of the American Choral Directors Association. The choir toured the Czech Republic in July, 2008 where they were a host choir for the Second International Boys & Men’s Choral Festival in Hradec Králové and Prague. In March 2009 Chor Leoni was the Canadian representative and one of only four international guest choirs at the American Choral Director's 50th National Convention in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Chor Leoni has produced ten CDs on their own record label, Cypress Choral Recordings. Nine of them, Songs of War and Peace, Canadian Safari, Canadian Safari 2, Goin’ Home, Chor Leoni, Yuletide Fires, Carols & Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest, Circle of Compassion, and Meetin’ Here Tonight (available September 2009) are available on line and wherever quality CDs are sold.

Two of these discs, Yuletide Fires and Circle of Compassion, have been recognized by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors with Outstanding Choral Recording awards (2004 and 2008 respectively); Yuletide Fires also won a 2004 Western Canadian Music Award in the category of Outstanding Classical Recording.

The choir's Healing Voices CD is marketed through the Vancouver-based Callanish Society. Undertaken specifically as a non-profit recording project for use in the hospice and palliative care field, Healing Voices is a collection of contemplative works that engenders compassion, understanding, and affirmation of life's purpose. In 2008 this recording was the recipient of the Outstanding Sponsorship Award presented by the ACCC.

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