After completing a career as a secondary school music teacher, Bonnie Penfound began a pursuit of composition with a special interest in choral music. Since 2010 she has studied composition with Dr. Roger Bergs (University of Toronto) and continues to relish the challenges and rewards always present in creating music. Bonnie has written numerous pieces for solo voice, mixed, women’s, men’s and children’s choir, solo instrument and instrumental ensembles. She was winner of the 2018 Lloyd Carr-Harris Composers Competition which was premiered by the Canadian Men’s Chorus, also a finalist in 2017 for C/4 – The Canadian Choral Composition Competition presented by Chor Leoni. Her work has been performed by the Canadian Men’s Chorus (Toronto), Chor Leoni (Vancouver), Hogtown Brass (Toronto), Musicata, formerly John Laing Singers (Hamilton), the Toronto Choral Society, the Toronto Choral Society Children’s Choir and Voca Chorus (Toronto). Bonnie is drawn to the hunting, parsing, analyzing and deciphering of poetry. In order to express the poet’s message, she then utilizes all that goes into a work of poetry: from the words, message, meaning, metre and rhyme to emotions, literary structure, syntax, even possible double entendres. These elements are then applied musically to create a new work while still honouring the poet’s art. She is particularly inspired by old Canadian, British and American poets and their themes of love. Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Music (University of Western Ontario) and a Bachelor of Education (University of Toronto).
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