OUR MISSION

A native of Newfoundland and Labrador, MARIA CONKEY (she/her), is an inspiring and innovative conductor, clinician, and pedagogue. She is passionate about using choral music to build community and nurture leadership skills in young people. In addition to beginning her Doctorate of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) at the University of Toronto, she is the Artistic Director of the Oakville Choir for Children & Youth and the Outreach Co-ordinator at St. Michael’s Choir School. 

Maria is also the 2023-24 recipient of the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting, and a nominee for the 2023 Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting. She has also received the Beryl Barnes Memorial Graduate Award and the Andreas Barban Memorial Scholarship.

Past engagements include the Junior Choir Conductor at St. Michael’s Choir School (ON), the Artistic Director of Young Voices Toronto, the Conductor of the award-winning senior choirs at St. Bonaventure’s College (NL), and the Choral Director at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist (NL). She has also worked with Shallaway – Newfoundland Youth in Chorus and several children’s, youth, and adult choirs, including the Alberta Youth Choir and the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers. 

Dr. Charlene Pauls has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a Soprano Soloist, Choral Conductor, Pedagogue and Voice Clinician across Canada and on international stages. She has appeared as soloist with conductors such as Robert Shaw and Helmuth Rilling, and has directed choirs on stages that include the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia, and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Her background as a professional singer has greatly informed her approach to choral directing, and has provided a strong foundation in building healthy choral sound. Dr. Pauls has been affiliated with the Oakville Choir for Children & Youth since 2005, and serves as the “Raise Her Voice – Chamber” conductor, and Associate Music Director. Highlights from recent years include collaborating with Dr. Sarah Morrison on producing the OCCY 2016 recording, “Shine On”, appearances at Podium 2018, and being part of the Canada Council project “…float…” in St. John’s Newfoundland in July 2018. In addition to her involvement with OC, Dr. Pauls is also Music Director at the Anglican Church of the Incarnation in Oakville, and Artistic Director of the Guelph Chamber Choir, a dynamic organization in neighbouring Guelph with an active concert season of oratorio and concert programs. Dr. Pauls has a home voice studio in Oakville, is in demand as an Adjudicator across the county, and frequently presents research at academic conferences across North America. In 2018, Charlene received the Ontario Arts Council “Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting,” a biennial award to acknowledge excellence in the field.

Walter Mahabir is a Toronto-born choral conductor, singer and music pedagogue who works with various choral ensembles in the Greater Toronto Area. He received his Master of Music degree in choral conducting at McGill University and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in classical voice from York University.

As a tenor, Walter has sung with the Ontario Male Chorus, the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, the Cantabile Chamber Singers, Voces Boréales, the Voca Chorus of Toronto, and the Canadian Men’s Chorus. He is also the former apprentice conductor and Sidgwick Scholar with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, which led to the position of Assistant Conductor for the 2016 Ontario Youth Choir. Throughout his life, he has taken part in choral concerts and choral conducting workshops in Canada, the United States, Austria, France, Czech Republic, Italy, and Germany. After living in Berlin from 2020-2021, Walter returned to Toronto in January 2022 and worked as the Intern conductor for St. Michael’s Choir School – his alma mater, where he graduated in 2008.

Aside from his new appointment as Artistic Director of A Few Good Men, Walter is also the newly appointed Choral Conductor for Community Music Schools of Toronto, offering music programs to children in the Regent Park and Jane & Finch areas. In addition, Mahabir serves as the Assistant Conductor of the Resound Choir (Durham), and currently sings with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Pro Core).

Susan is thrilled to be a part of the OC for the 2024/25 season.  Throughout her extensive career as a Music teacher (TDSB), she was dedicated to providing a rich choral/arts experience for every student.  She is a Vocal Specialist (OISE) and an Orff Specialist (RCM), and a participant of choral conducting and Orff courses and workshops, across Canada. Recently, Susan returned from teaching at the Canadian International School in Vietnam, where she was a Conductor of the school’s choirs, as well as a presenter at an inaugural Orff workshop at the Vietnam Institute for Arts Education (VIAE). 

Susan is a founding board member, and former board chair of the VIVA! Choir in Toronto.  She currently enjoys singing in the VIVA! Chamber Choir, and playing ukulele with the Ukes of York, in Toronto.  She believes that all children should have the opportunity to make Music and experience the Arts. She can’t wait to meet the Growing Voices Choir and looks forward to our exciting new season! 

Daniel Webb maintains a busy and diverse professional schedule as a choral conductor, teacher and instrumentalist, serving St Clement’s, Eglinton as Director of Music and Upper Canada College as Organist and Choirmaster, as well as being an Examiner for Royal Conservatory of Music. He is passionate about music’s power to inspire and uplift, and he cares deeply that children have the opportunity and every encouragement to sing together.

Educated at Cambridge University, where he was Organ Scholar of Magdalene College and the John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in Sacred Music, Daniel enjoyed a successful career in education, teaching in four of the United Kingdom’s leading schools, before relocating to Toronto in 2013 to begin a new life with his family. An accomplished choral singer, he was for five years a member of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir having previously held the role of Tenor Gentleman at the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace.

Daniel is a keen runner and lives in Greektown with his wife Trilby, his children Clea and Tristan, and his cat Doris.

Christine Rabey (she/her) is a mezzo-soprano, and graduate of the University of Western Ontario with an Honours Bachelor of Music Education. Having completed her Masters of Teaching at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, she has begun her career as a music educator in the Peel District School Board, where she is currently teaching vocal music in the Regional Arts Program at Cawthra Park Secondary School. A lifelong lover and advocate for choral music, Christine was a section lead at Metropolitan United Church in London during her undergrad, and during her masters sung as a section lead for the Mississauga Summer Chorale, while also serving as the Conducting Intern with Young Voices Toronto. Currently, she is the alto section lead in the choir at Royal York Road United Church, and she conducts both the Senior Concert Choir and Junior Concert Choir at Cawthra Park, where she will also be starting work on the vocals in their upcoming production of Something Rotten in the fall. Christine is thrilled to be joining the team at the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth, and can’t wait to work with all of its’ young musicians.

Toronto-based pianist Cheryl Duvall has established herself as one of Canada’s foremost contemporary music interpreters. A dynamic soloist and in-demand collaborator, Duvall has immersed herself in a wide variety of compositional aesthetics and collaborative endeavours. Her lucid sense of contour, evocative sonic and emotional presence, and boundless versatility make her both a dynamic soloist and in-demand collaborator.

In 2012, she co-founded the “adventurous and smartly programmed” (Musicworks Magazine) chamber group Thin Edge New Music Collective, commissioning over 70 works, mounting multidisciplinary productions, touring worldwide, and collaborating with leading artists including Sarah Hennies, Linda Catlin Smith, and Ensemble Paramirabo. TENMC was awarded the 2020 Friends of Canadian Music Award by the CLC and CMC.

She has worked with the likes of choreographer Peggy Baker, film composer Darren Fung, and has been the collaborative pianist for the Oakville Children’s Choir for 15 seasons. She was appointed Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga in Feb 2022. Her debut solo recording, Harbour featuring the music of composer Anna Höstman, has been featured on the CBC radio, was chosen as the #1 Modern Composition Recording of 2020 by UK’s ‘The Wire’ Magazine and was nominated for a Juno for Classical Composition of the Year.

An accomplished solo and collaborative pianist, Yvonne Choi has had tremendous success working with both singers and instrumentalists in the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener/Waterloo. Winner of the WLU Concerto Competition, the Ken Murray Concerto Competition, and the Penderecki String Quartet Prize, her aptitude for solo and collaborative performance is evident.

Yvonne has had the privilege of playing twice as the featured soloist with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Wilfrid Laurier Symphony Orchestra, and Wilfrid Laurier Reading Orchestra. She has also had the honour of sharing the stage with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Chinese Orchestra, and Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed in Masterclasses for world class musicians such as Barbara Hannigan, Lawerence Lesser, Michael McMahon, the Penderecki String Quartet, and the Chiara String Quartet to name a few.

Yvonne is passionate in community outreach as she is a firm advocate for inclusivity and unity. Using music as a communicative tool, Yvonne works with all ages to build accessibility around music. Yvonne is currently the Director of Music for Glen Abbey United Church in Oakville. She was the Co-Music Director, Keyboardist and Vocal Coach for York University’s production of 9 to 5 the Musical. She was also the Music Director, Keyboardist and Conductor for Spirit Express’ Leap of Faith at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. Yvonne is the collaborative pianist with various choral ensembles in the GTA, such as A Few Good Men (Oakville Children’s Choir), Resonance (Mississauga Festival Choir), and Windago. She also maintains an active teaching studio, with students achieving awards of distinction, and she is a sought-after private studio accompanist for all instruments.

Building on her Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University under the guidance of Leslie De’Ath, Yvonne completed her Masters in Collaborative Piano Performance under Lydia Wong from the University of Toronto. Throughout her continuing musical career, she has received coachings by renowned pedagogues such as Marietta Orlov, Steven Philcox, Jamie Parker, and Joseph Johnson. Yvonne has been the recipient of multiple scholarships, notably the Richard Kehn Scholarship in recognition of being an outstanding student in the area of music performance, Ken Murray Scholarship, Lydia Wong Scholarship and the Penderecki String Quartet Prize.

As a youth, Lianne Tan sang in the Georgian Bay Youth Chorus and the Hamilton Children’s Choir, and she continues to greatly value children’s and youth choir organizations. As an adult chorister, Lianne has sung with such esteemed choral directors as Brenda Uchimaru, John Tuttle, Ian Sadler, Stephanie Martin, Lee Willingham, and John Laing, in choirs including the University of Toronto Trinity College Choir and the Cathedral Singers of Ontario. During the global pandemic of 2020/2021, Lianne enjoyed singing with the UK’s Stay At Home Choir, under conductor-composers Karl Jenkins, Gareth Malone, and Christopher Tin.

Lianne holds the ARCT diploma in piano performance, and the CRCCO diploma in organ. She is active as a church musician in the Hamilton and Halton regions. She also enjoys playing the cello in the Dundas Valley Orchestra. Since 1997, Lianne has served as Music Director and Organist at West Plains United Church in Burlington, where she leads the 16-voice choir and curates the Live!@West Plains concert series. Lianne also serves as cantor on the Taizé music team at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, Oakville. In 2012, Lianne was awarded the Order of Niagara from the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, for her services to church music.

From 1998-2018, Lianne was chapel organist and science teacher at Appleby College in Oakville, where she collaborated with Dr. Sarah Morrison to provide the chapel choir programme. Lianne also holds degrees in biomedical engineering (M.Eng., McMaster), education (B.Ed., Toronto), and lay ministry (DipLM, Wycliffe).

Lianne finds great joy in accompanying, leading, and supporting singing, and is thrilled to be part of the OCCY team!

Janet Correia is delighted to return to the OC artistic team as she was a Collaborative Pianist and Conductor with the OC for many years. She is currently a private piano and theory instructor in Oakville and is the Music Director at her church.

Janet is a graduate of the University of Toronto with both a Bachelor of Music (Music Education; minoring in choral conducting and composition) and a Bachelor of Education. She holds a Licentiate Diploma in Piano Performance from Trinity College in England, she earned both Performance and Teachers’ A.R.C.T. diplomas, as well as the Artist-Teacher Diploma from the Glenn Gould Professional School at the RCM in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. Janet taught music in the Peel District School Board for several years she is active in the Hamilton/Halton ORMTA branch.

Janet is active as a teacher, composer, arranger, singer and accompanist, and in her spare time loves to do pottery, painting and gardening.

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Anjanette Bailey (she/her) has a Bachelor of Music degree (Education & Piano Performance) from McMaster University. She comes to us with 10 years of experience as an administrator in the non-profit sector with eight of those years in the choral arts as Choir Manager with the Hamilton Children’s Choir.

Throughout her career, Anjanette has had experience in Choral Music as an administrator, accompanist, chorister and conductor and brings that knowledge to the role of General Manager at Oakville Choir. She also teaches piano part time out of her studio in Hamilton, Ontario. She is passionate about music and music education for children and youth and looks forward to learning and growing along with the staff, choristers and families of the Oakville Choir community.

Robin is an avid lifelong musician, pursuing her interest by participating in and leading choirs and bands. She is also a pianist and enjoys playing for the occasional community or school event as well as teaching. Over the past 20 years Robin has brought her passion for music to elementary schools, through choirs, music classes and opportunities to expand students’ understanding and enjoyment in other classroom subjects.  Robin is very excited to be joining the OCC team and is looking forward to leading and having fun singing with the Growing Voices choir over the coming season.

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Miryam Mendoza is an educator with more than 25 years of experience teaching music and choral singing to children and youth, having had the opportunity to work at every level, from baby classes to high school.
Raised in a very musical family, Miryam grew up singing in choirs and studying music, so it seemed very natural that immediately after graduating as a teacher, she began a Music Pedagogy Course, where she learned how to use the Orff, Dalcroze, and Kodály methods as tools to teach music. Upon her arrival in Canada, she earned an Advanced Certificate in Early Childhood Music Education from the Royal Conservatory and Ryerson University. She continues to enhance her education by taking music courses and workshops whenever she has the opportunity.
Miryam has worked as a music teacher and choir conductor at Cristo Rey School, Holy Name of Mary, Addison Learning Center, and Rotherglen School, where she currently teaches K-3 and grades 7 and 8 at the Meadowvale and Oakville Primary Campuses. Her curriculum includes music fundamentals, choir, guitar, and recorder, and she leads
Handbells and Orff ensembles. Recently, she also started co-directing the school’s annual musical theatre show.
For the past three years, Miryam has also worked at the summer camp offered by the Oakville Suzuki Association, where she conducted the senior choir, led the junior and  senior musical theatre groups, and taught semi-private guitar and singing lessons.
Although Miryam has been part of the Oakville Choir as a mom for many years (three of her children are in the choir!), this is her first year as a choir conductor. She is truly excited to have this opportunity and looks forward to bringing all her passion for music to the Little Voices ensemble.

Markus Howard, Brave & Noble Voices Conductor

As a conductor, director and choreographer, Markus Howard has worked in the arts throughout Canada and abroad. He has appeared in 27 countries working with musicians of varying ages, cultures, and experiences, conducting choirs and opera, and as a private vocal coach. His talents have been recognized by Yamaha Music, the Swedish Ministry of Culture, the Ontario Arts Council, and the International Association of Jazz Educators. He has been nominated four times as a candidate finalist for the Leslie Bell Prize for Conducting. Markus led the award-winning Guelph Youth Singers for ten seasons, and the La Jeunesse Choirs for 18 years. He returns to La Jeunesse this season in his new role as choreographer for their Musical Theatre Division. Other ensembles previously under his direction include the University of Toronto Massey College Choirs, the Hart House Jazz Choir, the Oriana Singers of Northumberland, his professional ensemble LA MOVIDA, and St. James Cathedral Choir. As well as a busy season of adjudicating, Mr. Howard leads the Durham Philharmonic Choir into their 30th Anniversary Season.

Recent engagements include concerts with Guelph Symphony Orchestra, Halifax Summer Opera, and positions with Mirvish Productions The Lion King, the Canadian Opera Company Education Division, Randolph Academy, and as a classroom instructor for the Royal Conservatory of Music, Glenn Gould School and Young Artists Performance Academy. Mr. Howard is a proud recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International for his work with youth in the arts.