Iwan Edwards has specialized in choral conducting since he came to Canada from his native Wales in September, 1965. He taught at Lachine High School from 1965-79 and at the Fine Arts Core Education School in Montreal from 1979-90. In 1991, he was appointed associate professor at the McGill Faculty of Music. Mr. Edwards is committed to the ongoing development of his ensembles and to choral music in Quebec and Canada. He has gained an international reputation for his outstanding work and he is much sought-after as a conductor, adjudicator, clinician, workshop coach and teacher. In 1998 and 1999, he was guest conductor of the National Youth Choir of Canada. In May, 2000 he was a clinician on Children’s Choirs and Youth Choirs at the ACCC Convention in Edmonton. In July 1, 2000 he conducted Unisong 2000 in the Civic Centre in Ottawa. In August, 2000 he was an adjudicator at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Mr. Edwards is the founder-director of the 110-voice St. Lawrence Choir, the FACE Treble Choir, Concerto Della Donna, and the Canadian Chamber Choir (a young national semi-professional mixed voice choir). He has worked with several other prominent Canadian choirs, including the Ottawa Choral Society (1992-96) and the Lanaudière International Festival Chorus (1996- 98). In September 2001, Mr. Edwards accepted an invitation to return to the Ottawa Choral Society. His collaborations with these various choral organizations have resulted in performances with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Lanaudière Festival Orchestra, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with such prominent conductors as Charles Dutoit, Franz-Paul Decker, Zubin Mehta, Bramwell Tovey, Trevor Pinnock, Helmut Rilling, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin, and Roger Norrington, amongst others. His choirs and instrumental groups have traveled extensively in Canada, Europe and the USA.

The 2002-2003 season will mark Iwan Edwards’ seventeenth season as director of the Chorus of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. During that time, Àhe has been responsible for the preparation of the Chorus for all the choral/orchestral works which the orchestra has performed and recorded. Recordings which involved the chorus have won a Grammy Award (Berlioz’s Les Troyens) and two Juno Awards (Berlioz’s Les Troyens and La Damnation de Faust). Furthermore, he has prepared the chorus for performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga, and the Mann Centre in Philadelphia. He has conducted several of the annual Montreal Symphony Orchestra performances of Handel’s Messiah at Notre Dame Basilica, as well as numerous other MSO choral/orchestral concerts at the Basilica during the Easter season.

As an associate professor at McGill University, Mr. Edwards conducted the McGill Chamber Singers, the University Chorus and, on occasion, the McGill Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He was also responsible for students who pursued graduate studies in choral conducting. He served as Chairman of the Performance Department of the Faculty of Music from 1992-96. He retired from McGill in June, 2001 in order to devote himself entirely to his many conducting activities. He also relinquished his post as Director of the FACE Treble Choir; however, in September, 2001 he was invited to conduct the recently formed Chœur des Enfants de Montréal. Iwan Edwards has been the recipient of several awards, the most notable being named a Member of the Order of Canada in May, 1995 for his outstanding achievements in the Arts.