Speechie - Chorister - Choir Girl Blogger

A native of St. John’s, NL, conductor, composer and soprano Kathleen Allan is rapidly becoming internationally respected for her compelling performances and engaging compositions. She is the Director of Choral Studies and Associate Conductor of Orchestras at the Vancouver Academy of Music and was recently appointed Artistic Director of Canzona, Winnipeg’s professional baroque choral ensemble. In 2015, she made her Asian debut conducting Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. She is the recipient of the 2016 Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Prize in Choral Conducting which accompanies her appointment as Conducting Apprentice of the National Youth Choir of Canada. She is the assistant conductor of the Vancouver Bach Choir, and has held conducting positions with St. Michael’s Choir School, the Yale Glee Club, the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorus, and in 2013, was the Conducting Fellow of the Canadian Chamber Choir. She is the founding co-artistic director of Arkora, a chamber music collective dedicated to interdisciplinary performance. 

Her compositions have been commissioned, performed and recorded by ensembles throughout North America, Europe, and in Argentina where her work was featured at the World Symposium on Choral Music in 2011. Her “In Paradisum” is the closing track on the Canadian Chamber Choir’s JUNO-nominated recording, “Sacred Reflections of Canada.”
 
Also in high demand as a soprano soloist and professional choral singer, she has appeared as a soloist with the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada and Berkshire Choral Festival Choir, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Bach Choir. In addition to freelancing regularly in Canada and the United States, she is a member of the Vancouver Chamber Choir and has sung with the Vienna-based Arnold Schoenberg Chor under conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Skylark Vocal Ensemble in Atlanta, and the Yale Schola Cantorum. A passionate interpreter of new music, she has premiered over two dozen works for the voice. She holds a degree in composition from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in conducting from Yale University.

Wonderful Choral Music from Canada for all types of choirs

All sample recordings and practice tracks for the James Fowler High School Concert Choir/Vocal Jazz Ensemble will be posted here. 

Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education and performance. Authentic interpersonal connection and relationship-building are core principals of her teaching and performance methods. Born, raised, and educated in Southern California, she is in demand as a vocalist, conductor, clinician and adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and conferences related to choral and solo vocal music. She serves on the national board of the National Association of Negro Musicians and is chair of the board of directors of Tonality, a non-profit organization that promotes peace, unity, and social justice through choral music performance in Los Angeles. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music, a Master of Music degree from CSU Northridge, a Bachelor of Music degree from CSU Long Beach, and she is a graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. 

As a performing arts instructor at Harvard-Westlake Upper School in Studio City, CA, Dr. Robles conducts the Chamber Singers, Jazz Singers, Bel Canto Treble Choir, and Wolverine Chorus for tenors and basses. She is also the director of music at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, CA where she oversees the Neighborhood Chorus, Neighborhood Bells, and the new Neighborhood Youth Choir. Dr. Robles has served for 5 years as music director for “Project Messiah” with Street Symphony – an organization that engages communities directly affected by homelessness and incarceration in LA County through performances, workshops and teaching artistry. While studying at the University of Southern California (USC), she conducted the USC Thornton University Chorus for two years. Prior to this, she worked at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) for 7 years where she was the director of classical choirs and taught vocal fundamentals, sight singing, and music theory. Under her direction, the LACHSA Classical Choirs performed for numerous festivals, concerts, and special events at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and in other venues throughout Southern California.
As a concert soprano soloist, studio vocalist for film and television, and professional ensemble singer, Dr. Robles has sung throughout the United States, and in parts of Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, performing professionally under the batons of such conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Adams, John Mauceri, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Jeffrey Kahane, Grant Gershon, and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has performed background vocals for various artists including Josh Groban, the Rolling Stones, Andrea Bocelli, and Juanes. Her film and television credits include “Glee,” “Tinkerbell: Pirate Fairy,” “Godzilla,” “Minions,” “Creed,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Venom,” “Smallfoot,” “Frozen 2,” and "Underwater."

Locally cherished and internationally renowned, Vancouver’s Chor Leoni Men’s Choir is led by Artistic Director Erick Lichte and was founded in 1992 by Diane Loomer, C.M. The choir is regarded as a leader in the Canadian male choir movement, and acts as mentor and inspiration to choirs worldwide.

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