Brandon Leis

MA in Community Music (2015), Opera Diploma (2006), Honours Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (2004), Wilfrid Laurier University

I am a versatile and passionate educator, performer, conductor, workshop facilitator, and church musician. As a regular tenor soloist with regionally and nationally acclaimed orchestras and choral societies, I specialize in opera and oratorio, musical theatre, and concert arias.

As a passionate voice pedagogue, I am committed to fostering each student’s sense of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their art of singing. My teaching emphasizes the development of healthy and reliable vocal technique, deep engagement with text, poetry, and character to illuminate the complexities of human experience, and the cultivation of a singer’s emotional intelligence alongside mental and physical well-being.

For classical voice students, my approach to repertoire is rooted in the Bel Canto tradition and the pedagogical philosophies of Frederick Husler, while also drawing on the insights and benefits of somatic practices such as the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method, as well as cross-training in CCM.

My ongoing research includes a collaboration with the Kinesiology Department at Laurier, pairing singers with groups of upper-year exercise physiology students to explore the vital role that movement and physical conditioning play in supporting the singer and their voice.

My students go on to have regional and international impact in their selected fields as performers, educators, conductors, music therapists, community musicians and entrepreneurs. Some examples of recent performing graduates include Sarah Dufresne and Wesley Harrison, who have carved out impressive international careers in classical singing, and Karli June, an internationally acclaimed country music artist.

As an educator, I am a sought-after teacher, adjudicator, clinician, workshop facilitator, and guest conductor for young and amateur musicians across Canada and the northern United States. I have taught at Eastwood Collegiate Institute, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Heritage College and Seminary, and Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. Since 2009, I have taught voice and held various classroom teaching roles at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Music, where I have played a key role in designing, teaching in, and coordinating the undergraduate program in Community Music.

Since 2004, I have conducted youth, adult, and university choirs, as well as orchestras and ensembles across southwestern Ontario. I currently serve as Artistic Director of the Menno Singers in Kitchener.

As a multi-instrumentalist (who plays over 40 instruments), vocalist and avid collaborator, I have served as a church musician, choral scholar, and music director since 1997. I am frequently invited to lead congregational workshops in ecumenical church settings throughout the province and am currently Director of Music at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener.

When not making music with others, I can often be found playing sports or volunteering as a coach on the ice, field, or in the gym, supporting my three kids on their various school, rep and house-league sports teams.