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gpmf.orgNow in his 17th season with the Grant Park
Music Festival,
Christopher Bell
has served as
Chorus Director of the Grant Park Chorus since
2002. Bell oversees a chorus of more than 100
singers, prepares all of the Festival’s choral
programs, and conducts the orchestra and
chorus for several concerts.
During his tenure, he and the chorus have
been recipients of the coveted Margaret Hillis
Award for Choral Excellence given by Chorus
America, as well as glowing reviews from critics
and audiences alike. In 2013, Bell won the Michael Korn Founders Award for
Development of the Professional Choral Art.
In addition to his work with the Festival, Christopher Bell is the Artistic
Director of The Washington Chorus and Chorus Master of the Edinburgh
Festival Chorus. Largely responsible for the formation of the National Youth
Choir of Scotland in 1996, he has been its Artistic Director ever since. The
National Youth Choir of Scotland has toured to Sweden, Ireland, Chicago,
Hungary, Germany and Central Europe, has won a prestigious Royal
Philharmonic Society Award, and performed at the BBC Proms and the
Edinburgh International Festival to great acclaim.
Bell was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in
Music from the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland
in 2012, in recognition of his contribution to
performing arts in Scotland. In 2015, he was
awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music from the
University of Aberdeen.
Born in Belfast, Bell was educated at
Edinburgh University and held his first post
as Associate Conductor of the BBC Scottish
Symphony. Since then, he has worked with many of the major orchestras in
the United Kingdom and Ireland, including the Royal Philharmonic, London
Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony,
Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia,
London Concert Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony, RTÉ Concert Orchestra
and the Bournemouth Symphony. Between 2009 and 2017 he was Associate
Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra.
He is well-known for his work with young musicians. Before his current posts
with the RSNO Junior Chorus and the National Youth Choir of Scotland, he
was the founding conductor of the Ulster Youth Choir and director of the
Total Aberdeen Youth Choir for six years.
The position of
Chorus Director is
partially underwritten
by a generous gift
from Joyce Saxon.
CHRISTOPHER BELL
Chorus Director
2 0 1 8 G R AN T PA R K MU S I C F E S T I VA L