SOP Podcast #80 - Thomas Leslie About the Canadian International Organ Competition
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #80!\n\nhttp://www.organduo.lt/podcast\n\nToday's guest is an organist and singer from Canada, Thomas Leslie. He is the Executive Director of the Canadian International Organ Competition, a member of the Board of Directors of Casavant Fr\xe8res, and holds a Colleague Diploma from the Royal Canadian College of Organists.\n\n\u200bThomas is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurer and McGill Universities, where he studied both voice and organ. He recently completed an executive MBA program at the Universit\xe9 Paris-Dauphine, one of France\u2019s most prestigious research and higher education institutions.\n\nOriginally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Thomas has a beautiful tenor voice and maintains an active career as a singer performing throughout Canada and the United States.\n\u200b\nRecent performance highlights include Handel\u2019s Messiah and the Magic Flute with the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil, Handel\u2019s Dixit Dominus, Mozart\u2019s Credomesse and Haydn\u2019s Lord Nelson Mass with the St. Lambert Choral Society, Mendelssohn\u2019s Elijah with the Berkshire Choral Festival, music of Nico Muhly at the River-to-River Festival in New York City, J.S. Bach\u2019s Cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott in Kitchener, Ontario and Mozart\u2019s Requiem with the Orchestre symphonique de L\u2019Estuaire.\n\u200b\nOther operatic performances include Benjamin Britten\u2019s A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream, Harry Somers\u2019 Louis Riel, Strauss\u2019 Die Fledermaus and Bernstein\u2019s Candide. Thomas has been heard as a panelist on CBC Radio\u2019s Opera Quiz and was featured on the Bravo Network documentary series The Classical Now.\n\nIn this conversation Thomas and I talk about the Canadian International Organ Competition (CIOC) which is an organization devoted to the promotion of organ music in Quebec and Canada through discovery activities for the general public, concerts, and an annual festival in Montr\xe9al in October.\n\nIts Competition, directed by the eminent Canadian organist John Grew every three years, ranks among the most prestigious competitions in the world, with prizes totaling over $100,000. Past Laureates are David Baskeyfield (UK, 2014), Christian Lane (USA, 2011) and Fr\xe9d\xe9ric Champion (France, 2008).\n\n\u200bEnjoy and share your comments below.\n\u200b\nAnd don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends.\n\nThanks for caring.\n\nRelated link:\nhttp://\u200bwww.ciocm.org\n \n\u200b