Dennis Brown Life Time Achievement Award Recipient: John Barron
The Jack Richardson Music Awards steering committee is proud to announce that London choral leader and
music educator John Barron is our 2009 Dennis Brown lifetime achievement honoree.
Barron has
been a leader in London music for almost 40 years as a conductor, choir member, mentor and teacher. As a
co-founder, with Brenda Zadorsky, of the Amabile organization, he has helped make London famous for its
choral music throughout the world. He was named to the Order of Canada in 2007. His investiture as a
member was in 2008, with Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean presiding over the ceremony. The citation read: “John
Barron has helped to revolutionize music education in elementary schools in his province. He adapted the Kodaly
method - which teaches musical literacy through singing, games, movement and folk songs - and featured Canadian
material as a key learning tool. He has also brought international acclaim to Canada as a co-founder of one of
the world’s premier youth choirs, the award-winning Amabile Youth Singers. He serves as a model for other
conductors and is known for his generosity in helping to develop and promote Canadian composers.”
The Dennis Brown award is named for the late London jazz drummer and honours those whose commitment to music is
total. By coincidence, Barron was a percussionist in high school. Barron arrived in London as a teacher from
Toronto in 1970. He helped form the adult choir London Pro Musica. In 1972, he became the Music Consultant for
the the old Middlesex County board. Barron’s Programme Planning Guides and arrangements, created for
Middlesex board pupils, became the model across Canada.
He led the Ontario Youth Choir in 1975 as it
won the grand prize for both the CBC Biennial Choral competition and the European Broadcasting Union’s
“Let the Peoples Sing” competition. Sir David Willcocks, one of the judges, called the OYC the finest
youth choir he ever heard.
Barron is the only conductor to have won the international competition “Let the Peoples Sing” with two
different choirs.
Under his co-direction, the Amabile Choirs have won the CBC National Choral Competition
more times than any other group.
Barron’s publications include a series of arrangements of
Canadian folk songs, Reflections of Canada. He is also the author of a music textbook called “Ride With Me - A
Journey from Unison to Part-Singing”. Retired from teaching and from Amabile as a conductor, he still sings
with Primus, its acclaimed men’s choir.
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