Leonard J. Enns

Len Enns

Professor
Undergraduate Officer
Music

Music Director, DaCapo Chamber Choir
Associate Composer, Canadian Music Centre

Education:

BSacMus Canadian Mennonite Bible College, 1969
BMus, Wilfrid Laurier University, 1974
MMus, Northwestern University, 1975
PhD, Northwestern University, 1982

Contact:

(519) 885-0220 ext. 24246
ljenns@uwaterloo.ca
Office: CGUC 2116

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Research Areas:

Composition (choral and instrumental); the relationship between music and the human spirit

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate
MUSIC 222 - Conducting
MUSIC 376 - Composition
Choirs (currently UW Chamber Choir)

Selected Publications:

A number of my compositions are published. Details are on my personal website (see below)
I consider the six CDs I have recorded with the Conrad Grebel Chapel Choir to be important publications, along with the two CDs I have recorded with the DaCapo Chamber Choir. Additionally, I have recorded a first CD of my chamber music, titled Hammer and Wind. Finally, the Canadian Music Centre recording of my choral works, as performed by the Elora Festival Singers, is an important publication of my work; that CD is titled NorthWord
“The Composer as Preacher” in Music in Worship edited by Bernie Neufeld (Herald Press)
Chapel Choir Recordings
DaCapo Recordings
Hammer & Wind Recording
NorthWord Recording

Selected Activities:

Current projects: (1) a new choral work for Christmas commissioned by Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (2) a revision (to include string orchestra) of my choral cantata, Ten Thousand Rivers of Oil, for the University of Western Ontario, and (3) a second CD of my chamber music, to be entitled Vanishing Point.
December 23, 2011: performance of my Missa Brevis in Nanzan, Japan, by the Nanzan University Schola Cantorum, in memory of the victims of the 2011 earthquake in Fukushima
the song cycle, Behind the Seen, commissioned by baritone Mel Braun of the University of Manitoba will be premiered in spring 2012
Second-Storey Sun for choir and countertenor, commissioned by Jeff Joudrey for the Halifax Camerata Singers, will be premiered 24 March 2012
I founded the DaCapo Chamber Choir in 1998, and direct it in three double concerts each year (for 2011/2012 these are on Nov 12/13; February 25/26; May 5/6). Additionally, this choir often collaborates with other groups: we presented a joint concert in July 2011 with the Harvestehude chamber choir from Hamburg, Germany, and we will present a concert with the Canadian Chamber Choir in January 2012.
I direct the UW Chamber Choir. Our next public concert is March 30, 8 pm, at Knox Presbyterian Church, Waterloo. Also, in February we sing an invited concert at the Ontario Vocal Festival in Galt.

Fellowships and Awards:

ShadowLand, the recent CD of my DaCapo Chamber Choir, was awarded “Outstanding Choral Recording 2010” by the Association of Canadian Choral Communities.
The DaCapo Chamber Choir was awarded first place in the 2011 National Competition of the Association of Canadian Choral Communities in the Contemporary Choral Music category, and second place in the Adult Chamber Choirs category.
My composition, Nocturne, was a 2010 JUNO nominee in the Classical Composition of the Year category.