James Fankhauser
| James Fankhauser | |
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| Born |
James Lee Fankhauser August 1939 Lyons, Kansas, United States |
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James Lee Fankhauser (born August 1939 in Lyons, Kansas) is an American conductor, tenor, and educator who is primarily known for his work within the field of choral music in Canada.
Fankhauser began his professional studies at Purdue in 1957 where he studied engineering. He entered the music program at Southwestern College in his native Kansas in the Fall of 1958 and transferred after two years to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he obtained a Bachelor of Music in 1962. He was awarded a Fulbright Grant which enabled him to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance in London at the Royal Academy of Music and choral conducting with Sir David Lumsden at New College, University of Oxford in 1962-1963.
In 1972 he received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study with Maestro John Nelson at the Aspen Choral Institute as a Conducting Fellow. He was then appointed Nelson's Assistant Director of the Institute for the next summer, during which he conducted concerts in a Bach Cantata Series
In 1973 he was appointed the music director of the Vancouver Cantata Singers (VCS), remaining in that position until 2000. Under his leadership the VCS won several notable music competitions, including the BBC International Choral Competition and the CBC National Radio Competition. He has made several recording with VCS, one of which was nominated for a Juno Award in 1994. The choir has also appeared numerous times on Canadian television and radio under his direction. In 1981 the choir won the BBC's International Choral Competition, "Let the people sing," winning the Israeli Silver Cup for best performance. The Cantata Singers made three professional CDs over the years: Venetian Vespers of 1640 (Antonio Rigatti), Skylark Records; A 1640 Venetian Mass (Rigatti), an Analekta fleurs de lys recording; and Abendlied, a Carus-Verlag recording featuring Josef Rheinberger choral music including his Abendlied. The Venetian Vespers of 1640 won the Association of Canadian Choral Conductor's 1994 National Choral Award: Outstanding Choral Recording.
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