2 0 1 5 G R AN T PA R K MU S I C F E S T I VA L
Now in his 14th 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, along
with the Apprentice Chorale made up of
young singers from local universities. Bell
prepares the Festival’s choral programs,
conducts the Orchestra’s
Independence
Day Salute
at both the South Shore Cultural
Center (July 1) and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion
(July 4) and takes his chorus for an evening of
a cappella
music to the South
Shore Cultural Center (July 21) and Columbus Park Refectory (July 23).
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 both 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 Chorus Master of
the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior
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. In 2012, Bell was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music
from the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland in recognition of his contribution to
performing arts in Scotland.
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 UK and Ireland, including the
Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish
Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Chamber, City of London Sinfonia, London
Concert, RTENational Symphony, RTEConcert and the Bournemouth Symphony.
In 2009 he was appointed 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
16 | gpmf.org
