WELCOME!

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.

A native of Newfoundland and Labrador, Maria Conkey (she/her), is emerging as an inspiring and innovative conductor, clinician, and pedagogue in Canada’s choral scene. She is passionate about choral music as a means to create community and foster leadership in young people. In addition to her new role as Artistic Director of the Oakville Choir for Children & Youth, she is also currently the Junior Choir Conductor at St. Michael’s Choir School.

Maria is a graduate of Memorial University and the University of Alberta, where she studied choral conducting under the direction of Dr. Debra Cairns and Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff. She has worked with internationally acclaimed conductors such as Maria Guinand, Jon Washburn, and Fred Sjoberg. Past engagements include 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. Maria is serving as President-Elect on the Board of Directors of Choirs Ontario.

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!

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.