Biography
Gerald Fagan was born in London, Ontario on 19 September 1939 to Cyril and Nora Fagan. He attended both elementary(Ealing Public School/Trafalgar Public School) and high school (Sir Adam Beck Secondary School) in London. He received his earliest music training from the Sisters of St. Joseph at Sacred Heart Convent. He attended the University of Western Ontario and was graduated with a B.A. in music in 1961. He studied conducting with Robert Shaw, score analysis with Julius Herford (Indiana), vocal pedagogy with William Vennard (University of California), and diction with Madeline Marshall (Juilliard).
In his distinguished career, he has conducted choirs from Russia, South Africa, the United States, Poland, Taiwan and Argentina. Mr. Fagan has often been a judge for the Juno Awards, the CBC Choral Competition and was conductor of the 2001 Canada Summer Games Choir and Orchestra.
Fagan is the Conductor of the Fanshawe Chorus London which consists of 110 musicians with its fully professional symphony (Concert Players Orchestra). Each season they perform the major works of the choir/orchestral repertoire.
The Gerald Fagan Singers, a semi professional chamber choir of 26 musicians, explore music of all eras suitable for a chamber ensemble. The two choirs have twice won the Lieutenant Governor's Award for the Arts based on their artistic performances, fiscal responsibility and dedication to Canadian composers.The Gerald Fagan Singers have travelled to ten countries since 1998, including England, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Monaco, Spain, Czech Republic and Germany performing Canadian repertoire to new audiences.
Twice Artistic Director of the Ontario Youth Choir, Mr. Fagan was also the founding conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir and his talents have led him to conduct all -province choirs in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. Presented with the `Citizen's Medal' by President Adamkus of Lithuania, he has also been honoured by Conservatory Canada with an Honourary Licentiate and chosen to conduct the Fagan Singers at the Monserrat Monastery Pilgrimage in Spain where they performed Pablo Casals choral repertoire. Gerald Fagan has performed as conductor with Maureen Forrester, Lois Marshall, Victor Borge, Ben Heppner, Thomas Paul, Roberta Peters, Janis Taylor, Gary Relyea, Leslie Fagan, Mark Du Bois, Mark Pedrotti, Darryl Edwards, Brian McIntosh and Mary Lou Fallis.
In past seasons, he was Guest Conductor at Festival 500 in Newfoundland and Labrador, a jurist for the CBC Choral Competition, a clinician in Halifax at Podium '98 and returned to Newfoundland's Festival 500 in 1999 to conduct choirs from around the world. Mr. Fagan is the Artistic Director of the Bach Music Festival of Canada, which will bring an international music celebration in honor of Johann Sebastian Bach to the heart of Southern Ontario in the summer of 2011.
In 2011, Mr. Fagan was awarded Ontario's highest civilian honor, the Order of Ontario.
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