Chorfest 2018 – Meet the Clinicians: Brian Tate

Get to know your BCCF Chorfest 2018 Clinicians!

We’re excited; you’re excited; they’re excited. But do any of us really know each other yet? Not particularly. That’s why the BCCF Communications team came up with five fun questions to break the ice and help you get acquainted with the people at the podium, May 11-13 in Richmond!

Brian Tate

Award-winning composer, educator and conductor of City Soul Choir, and our Chorfest 2018 Adult Choir clinician.

Q: When was the moment you knew you wanted to be a conductor?

A: In high school, when I first played with the Vancouver Youth Orchestra as a trombonist.

Q: What is your favourite post-concert meal?

A: Hmm, usually more of a snack – beer and chips kind of thing. Or wine and cheese if I am feeling sophisticated.

Q: What is your ‘bucket list’ piece to conduct, and with which ensemble?

A: A fully-staged Mozart Requiem, using the entire space – balcony, aisles, front and back, blocking and lighting, etc. Which ensemble for real? So many – oh, let’s say the Tallis Scholars.

Q: If you could sing under any conductor, who would it be?

A: John Eliot Gardner

Q: What is your musical guilty pleasure outside of the choral genre?

A: Classic R&B, Motown: Stevie Wonder, Aretha, Funkadelic, etc.