Leonard Enns

b. 1948

Canadian composer and conductor Leonard Enns holds advanced degrees from Northwestern University, Chicago: a PhD in Music Theory (with a dissertation on the choral music of Harry Somers), and a Master of Music in choral conducting (supervised by the late Margaret Hillis.

Enns is Professor Emeritus at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, and the founding director of the national award-winning DaCapo Chamber Choir . The DaCapo Chamber Choir has recorded three CDs: Still (2004), ShadowLand (2009), and NewWorks (2018). Enns' music is represented on the first two of those recordings.

An Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, Enns’s compositions range from vocal and instrumental solo works to major works for full choral/orchestral forces. Among various recognitions, his This Thirsty Land, commissioned by the University of Guelph (Ontario) received the Choral Canada Outstanding Choral Composition 2020 award; his Nocturne, commissioned by the Guelph Spring Festival in 2005, was nominated JUNO Classical Composition of the Year in 2010. Major recent premieres of commissioned works include Waking for the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus (2019, California), This Thirsty Land for the University of Guelph Choirs (2018, Ontario), I will lift up mine eyes for the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (2016, Ontario), and Aperi, Domine, os meum for Chór Akademicki Politechniki Warszawskiej [ChAPW] (2015, Warsaw, Poland).

In addition to many recordings that include his music, those dedicated solely to Enns's music include the 2006 CD NorthWord, by the Elora Festival Singers on the Canadian Music Centre Centrediscs label, and the 2007 CD Hammer and Wind, featuring his instrumental chamber works, and works for vocal solo. His music is published by E. C. Schirmer, Boosey & Hawkes, Gordon V Thompson/Warner Chappell, Gentry, Cypress Choral Music and other publishers.