Fine Arts professor U of C’s newest Royal fellow

By Gail Fredrickson

Professor Alan Bell from the University of Calgary’s Department of Music has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada, the first Faculty of Fine Arts scholar to receive this honour.

“What a tremendous sense of honour and privilege to be elected by peers for the highest recognition a scholar can receive in this country,” says Bell, one of 78 newly elected scholars and artists.

Selected on the basis of exceptional contributions to the intellectual life of Canada and in recognition of his work, Bell is a fellow of the arts division of the society’s Academy of the Arts and Humanities.

“Allan Bell is the most deserving scholar and his work has been a real source of pride to the University of Calgary,” says U of C President Dr. Harvey Weingarten. “It is wonderful to see him getting this kind of recognition.”

Bell is nationally and internationally recognized for his compositions, research, teaching and service across the realm of Canadian music and education. He is among the most performed of all Canadian composers with dozens of performances across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. He has been heard on BBC, CBC, Radio France and NPR and has been profiled in North American television documentaries.

“Allan Bell has been an exceptional leader and artistic force in our faculty and in contemporary music creation in the Canadian and international music arenas,” says Dr. Ann Calvert, dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. “He is a superb colleague, teacher and mentor, and thus his influence has not been contained in performance of his own work, but in the work and reach of the many professors, students, musicians and artists, in Calgary and elsewhere, who have had the privilege to enjoy his support and inspiration.”

Students from around the world have come to the U of C to study with Bell, a dedicated teacher with an extensive graduate teaching record. Successful protégés include Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy, BMus'87, MMus'89, Allan Bevan and Heather Schmidt, whose orchestral compositions have set their names securely in the annals of serious Canadian music.

“I’m delighted by the election of Alan Bell to the RSC, a powerful indication of the stature and importance of the artists who carry out creative research and who teach the creative arts at the University of Calgary,” says U of C English professor Aritha van Herk, who heads the Arts Division of the Royal Society of Canada. ”This recognition by the RSC speaks to his outstanding accomplishments: his resonant gifts as a composer, his international reputation, and his many distinguished contributions to contemporary music. It’s an appropriate celebration of his outstanding talent.”