Eleanor Daley
Born and raised in Parry Sound, Ontario, Eleanor Daley received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and holds diplomas in piano and organ from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto and Trinity College, England. She has been the Director of Music at Fairlawn Avenue United Church (formerly Fairlawn Heights) in Toronto, Ontario since 1982. During this time, she has established a thriving choral program for which much of her music has been composed, thanks to the continuing support and talent of her choirs.
A prolific composer, Eleanor has a remarkable gift for melody. Her works are most notable for their sensitive interweaving of text and music. She has over one hundred published choral compositions and is commissioned extensively throughout North America. Included in her unpublished choral works are dozens of anthems, twelve Missae Breves, three pageants, and hundreds of descants, introits, and psalm settings. Her compositions have been widely performed, recorded, and aired throughout North America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East. Her works are published by multiple publishing houses in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain.
Commissioned works for Canadian Choirs include the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Amadeus Choir, the Bach Children's Chorus, the Toronto Children's Chorus, the Amabile Youth Singers, St. Marys Children's Choir, the Cantabile Singers of Kingston, the Savridi Singers, the Vancouver Men's Chorus and the Victoria Scholars, as well as numerous other community and church choirs. Eleanor was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) to write a choral work for the 2008 Regional Conventions- the first Canadian composer to have received this honor. Eleanor was invited to be the first Composer-in-Residence at the international choral festival, FESTIVAL 500, in July 2005, in St. John's, Newfoundland.
As well as being a highly respected choral clinician in Canada and the US, Eleanor is a busy freelance accompanist. She has worked with numerous choirs, including the Toronto Children's Chorus, the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Guelph Youth Singers and St. Marys Children's Choir. She has been the accompanist for The Bach Children's Chorus under Linda Beaupre's direction since 1995 and was the accompanist for the Amadeus Choir under Lydia Adams' direction from 1991-2005.
