After extensive experience conducting many choirs and orchestras in his homeland, Australian conductor William Kempster came to North America in 1995 to undertake a Doctorate in Choral Conducting at the University of Alberta, a degree which he completed in August, 1999.

In 1996, Mr Kempster returned to Australia briefly for the World Symposium on Choral Music, held in Sydney that year, where he acted as assistant chorusmaster for the performances of the Berlioz Requiem which were the major choral/orchestral event of the festival, as well as once again guest directing arguably Australia?s finest specialist choir, the Sydney Chamber Choir.

Mr Kempster has been selected to conduct at a number of prestigious international Choral Conducting Masterclasses, notably with the Vancouver Chamber Choir under Jon Washburn in 1997, and the Frieder Bernius' (Stuttgart Kammerchor) Bach Masterclass held in Namur, Belgium, in 1998.

In 1997 Mr Kempster formed the chamber choir Ensemble de la Rue, which has given many concerts across Canada, and has been described as "one of Canada's finest Chamber Choirs." As well as presenting little-known Renaissance repertoire, Ensemble de la Rue has given North American premiere performances of important contemporary works for chamber choir by composers such as Luciano Berio, Stephen Adams, Ross Edwards, David Matthews and Claire Maclean. The group has also been invited to perform at the bi-annual International Society for Music Education (ISME) conference to be held in Edmonton in July, 2000.

Prof. Kempster joined the University of New Hampshire faculty in the fall of AY 1999-2000 as Director of the Concert Choir.

Website: http://cola.unh.edu/faculty-member/william-kempster