London Pro Musica enters its 42nd season as a vibrant mixed-voice choir organized and run by its members. LPM performs an extensive range of classical music–from the medieval to the contemporary–both for accompanied and unaccompanied voices. From its inception, LPM has actively supported Canadian composers/musicians and has sought to foster an interest in Canadian choral music. The choir also has a repertoire of popular music, including jazz and folk renditions, and selections from musical theatre. LPM remains the oldest unaffiliated concert choir in London with a current membership of approximately fifty singers.
LPM offers an annual subscription series of three concerts, and it typically accepts 3-4 contracted engagements per year. In addition, the choir performs regularly with Orchestra London Canada, a collaborative relationship that dates back more than twenty-five years. LPM actively pursues a cultural service role through benefit and outreach performances for local community organizations. LPM has also appeared as guest artists with other ensembles throughout southwest and central Ontario and has participated in several world premiere performances.
Since the 2000-2001 season, one of LPM’s priorities has been to showcase the exciting range of artistic possibilities available locally through collaboration with other music organizations. In our recent 2005-2006 season alone, LPM performed with Orchestra London, the A.B. Luca Secondary School choir, Stephen Holowitz, Fiona Wilkinson, Jennifer WHite and Robert McMaster and jazz group AFTER FOUR & MORE.
Our Conductor
Ken Fleet, LPM’s conductor since 1988, holds a B.Mus. from University of Western Ontario and an M.Mus. from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Ken taught vocal and instrumental music for thirty years at Medway High School in Arva; he also taught in the Faculties of Music and Education at Western for eleven years. He is a former conductor at the UWO Singers and the Ontario Youth Choir, and a current co-conductor of the award-winning Amabile Boys Choirs and the Amabile Chamber Choir. Ken is also co-editor of a series of choral octavos published by Neil A. Kjos Music (San Diego, California) for worldwide distribution. This year Ken is returning to the Faculty of Education and he has been invited to join the Ontario Choral Federation Board of Directors.
In 1996 Ken conducted LPM, the Medway Senior Concert Choir, and the Medway Girls Choir in recording seventy-two songs for Nancy Telfer’s Choral Audio Library. The five CDs have been played on national radio in Italy, Israel, Australia, and Argentina, and they have been used extensively at major national and international music conferences.
Ken works extensively as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor throughout North America and, occasionally, in Europe. Ken’s enthusiasm, dedication, and extensive knowledge of choral music are significant motivating factors in LPM’s recent artistic development.
Our Accompanist
Andrew Petrasiunas is an active director, composer, performer, and teacher. Besides accompanying London Pro Musica, Andrew is active as a music director for productions at the Grand Theatre. He is also the musical director at Rowntree United Church and a teacher of music at John Paul II Secondary School (London).
Andrew’s improvised accompaniment of dance classes at Dorothy Scruton’s Academy of Dance stimulated his interest in composition. He studied composition with Margaret Henry at The University of Western Ontario, where he also completed courses in theory and counterpoint. Andrew gained further experience as a church musician, composing and arranging music for his various choirs. While he has written music for television, radio, dancers, skaters, and even the 2001 Canada Summer Games, most of his recent writing has been for theatrical productions. For his work on the Toronto production of Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Lorraine Kimsa Theater for Young People), Andrew was nominated for a 2004 Dora Mavor Moore Award (Excellence in Music Direction, General Theatre). Andrew’s commissioned work for choir and brass, Shingebiss, was given its inaugural performance by London Pro Musica and Brassroots in November 2002 and is included in LPM’s new CD, Canadian Voices.
