Rachel Rensink-Hoff to receive Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting
An assistant professor of Music in the School of the Arts, Rensink-Hoff has conducted the McMaster Choir since her arrival at McMaster in 2009. She founded the McMaster Women’s Choir that year, and added the McMaster Chamber Choir in 2013. Rensink-Hoff will receive the award on Saturday, March 21.
McMaster assistant professor and choral director Rachel Rensink-Hoff has been awarded the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting by the Ontario Arts Council (OAC).
The award recognizes her outstanding contributions to choral music in the community and across Ontario.
“I am truly honoured to have received this award,” said Rensink-Hoff. “It is very special to have been acknowledged in this way and I am so proud of my choral students at McMaster. This is their accomplishment as much as it is mine.”
An assistant professor of Music in the School of the Arts, Rensink-Hoff has conducted the McMaster Choir since her arrival at McMaster in 2009. She founded the McMaster Women’s Choir that year, and added the McMaster Chamber Choir in 2013.
Under Rensink-Hoff’s direction, the three McMaster Choir groups have built multiple partnerships with other community music organizations such as the Toronto Mass Choir, the Hamilton Philharmonic, Opera Hamilton and most recently with the Niagara-based Momentum Choir.
The Leslie Bell Prize is presented every two years to an Ontario-based artist and choral conductor. The Ontario Arts Council and a jury of five music professionals are responsible for selecting the winner. Jurors look at personal artistic goals and efforts to develop public appreciation of the arts.
Rensink-Hoff will receive the award at the next concert performance by the McMaster Choir and the McMaster Chamber Choir on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church, 165 Charlton Ave. W., Hamilton.
