An independent, Canadian choral music publisher of contemporary composers.
Beverly Lewis
Born in New Brunswick, Canada, Beverly Lewis obtained Bachelor degrees in both Music and Education from Mount Allison University, majoring in piano. She composes choral, vocal, piano and woodwind music. Bev’s compositions have been performed in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States and her music has been broadcast on CBC Radio and on CFTA FM Radio. She has won awards through the Amadeus Choir Carol competition and Toronto Arts Council.
Bev’s compositions are currently being published by Cypress Choral Music, BC, Renforth Music, NB (choral), and Forton Music, UK (woodwind). Her choral piece, Offering at the Manger (or The Pie Carol) has been recorded by both the Amadeus Choir of Toronto on its CD: Ring-A the News! and by the Mount Allison Chamber Choir on its CD: Christmas at Mount Allison Chapel. Her woodwind piece, Fundy Temperaments (for English horn and piano), was recorded by Michele Fiala and released on the MSR Classics CD: Overheard. Her choral piece, A Soldier’s Prayer (or Prayer to St. Peter) was performed by the Saskatoon Chamber Singers (conducted by James Hawn) at Podium 2010 and has been recorded by the same choir on its CD: Remember.
Recent choral performances of Bev's works include her setting of The Coventry Carol (for SSA choir and oboe) with the Canterbury Voices (Dr. Kerry Boyle, director) and Ian Crowther, oboist in Canterbury, UK, December 2022: Five Shakespeare Songs (for SSA a cappella choir by Cantala Choir (Nancy Singla, artistic director) at Roy Thomson Hall, May 2023, Toronto. In December 2024, Cantala Choir will be releasing these songs on their newest recording, Songbird, on most music streaming platforms. Five Shakespeare Songs will also be performed in the intimate Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, New York City, by Cantala Choir in April 2025.
Bev currently resides in Toronto, where she teaches piano at the University Settlement Music and Arts School, is Director of Music at Bathurst United Church and is a freelance composer/arranger, accompanist and chamber musician. Bev's most recent choral works are settings of poems by Lucy Maud Montgomery - The Christmas Night (available in two versions: SATB a cappella and SATB with piano) and Three Songs of Regret: Night Watches; If I Had Known; Irrevocable (scored for SSAA a cappella).