William Kempster
Dr. William Kempster is a conductor, writer, and scholar based in southern Colorado and central France. He has conducted over 2000 performances all over the world, concentrated in Australia (1983-1996), Canada (1996-2009) and the U.S.A. (1999-present). He has produced 44 compact discs/albums/singles covering repertoire from the late 15th century through to very recent works, and among these performances are over 50 world premieres. He was the founding director of the acclaimed Canadian chamber choir Ensemble de la Rue, and after a career of teaching at the University of New Hampshire, remains the director of Cappella Nova Mundi, as well as now also concentrating on various other projects. Dr. Kempster organized and directed eight international tours for his choirs over the years and is the only conductor in the world to have progressed two different choirs from two different countries to the final stage of the world's most prestigious Chamber Choir competition, held in Marktoberdorf, Bavaria, Germany, every other year (Ensemble de la Rue in 2005 and the University of New Hampshire Chamber Singers in 2013).
Dr. Kempster's research interests are concentrated on the works of Renaissance master Pierre de la Rue – concerning whose music he has published and presented articles on the global academic stage – as well as the choral music of Australian composer Ross Edwards.
Dr. Kempster's new book on Edwards: A Singular Voice: The Choral Music of Ross Edwards was published in December 2023 by Wildbird Music, Australia, and is available globally via Amazon:
that deserves multiple readerships beyond that of the amateur
or professional chorister for whom it is clearly intended.
Extract from the review in LIMELIGHT (Australia), by Will Yeoman: April 22, 2024
In September, 2020, Dr. Kempster finalized work on A 'Complete' Performing Edition of the Works of Pierre de la Rue, the website for which can be found here:
Dr. Kempster's latest project is a website dedicated to new editions of public domain choral music from the Renaissance through to now. This website already has over 200 scores available (for free) - each of which also has a complete recording - and is sited here:
Many of Dr. Kempster's audio recordings have now been made available on the various online streaming services. The following will guide you to most of these via your preferred platform: