PODIUM 2022’s Critical Conversations (formerly known as Keynotes) will give the stage to important panel discussions with leaders in our community as we consider topics including Centering Indigenous Voices moderated by Lori-Anne Dolloff, Making it Work: Insights on Diversity moderated by Floydd Ricketts, and Plenty Good Room: Expanding the Choral Canon moderated by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor.

These conversations will provide a forum for discussing relevant and timely themes in singing and choral practice, including intersections among music, singing, inclusion and community engagement, the choral arts as a vehicle for social change, and indigenous ways of knowing and music-making. 

Critical Conversations will also be live-streamed for our virtual delegates, allowing in-person and online attendees to participate in the discussions and the Q&A. We are examining the possibilities for live translation and closed-captioning.

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Making it Work: Insights on Diversity

“Equity is the precursor to renewed societal relevance in all western classical forms of music.” - panelist, Andrew Adridge, co-founder Opera InReach. Over the past few years, the topic of diversity in choral music has reached a tipping point and has emerged as one of the most important facets to fostering inclusivity, relevance, and positive change in choral music today. As a global shift continues to take place surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion, there are questions that we all should continue to ask ourselves in order to ensure that we don’t fall back into antiquated and exclusionary patterns. Gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexuality, faith, and many other forms of heterogeneity deserve to be acknowledged not just in the repertoire that we choose or the language that we use during rehearsal, but rather on a holistic, all-encompassing scale. This 4-person panel of voice professionals will discuss topics such as what it is like to work as a “diverse” person in the choral field, what challenges we face as leaders in this time surrounding tokenism, how we envision the future of this art form to evolve in North America, ideas of how to create more accessible environments, and what the term “equity” really means in 2022.

​Floydd Ricketts

Moderated by Floydd Ricketts
with panelists Andrew Adridge, Arianne Abela, Haitham Haidar and Dr. Tracy Wong

Andrew Adridge

Arianne Abela

Haitham Haidar

Dr. Tracy Wong

Click to learn more about the moderator and panelists for this Critical Conversation

PANELIST: Andrew Adridge

Andrew Adridge is a Toronto-born, Guyanese Canadian multidisciplinary artist, performer, and arts administrator. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto holding both a Bachelor of Music Performance in Voice and a Master of Music in Opera. He has been featured as an ensemble soloist both at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. Young artist program credits include The Chautauqua Institution Voice Program, and the Banff Opera program. Most recent singing credits include Schaunard in Puccini/Ivany’s La Bohème with Against the Grain Theatre’s Canada-wide touring production, and a return to the baritone role in Soundstreams’ Electric Messiah. Assistant Directing/Directing credits include Mozart’s Requiem, Against the Grain Theatre/Canadian Opera Company; and Edmonton Opera’s Valentine’s Day Gala. With a passion for equity Andrew works is sought after as a panelist and outlet contributor and is the Co-Founder of the national arts collective Opera InReach.

PANELIST: Arianne Abela

Arianne Abela is Director of Choral Activities at Amherst College and is founder and artistic director of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, professional 9-voice ensemble focused on early and new music with dedication to the intersection of racial, ethnic and gender diversity, and the intersection of arts and social justice. 

Abela recently served on conducting faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, is founder of the Detroit Women's Chorus and Detroit Justice Choir,   The House of Clouds, and has worked closely with Musicians Take a Stand to organize over a dozen benefit concerts for charities and various causes across the country. 

In 2012, Abela was featured conducting on NBC's Today Show and was a semi-finalist in Season 8 of America's Got Talent as director of Connecticut-based 3 Penny Chorus and Orchestra. The ensemble later recorded for the soundtrack of Hollywood film Walk of Shame starring Elizabeth Banks. 
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 Abela holds degrees from University of Michigan, Yale University and Smith College. Abela sings professionally in ensembles across the United States and Canada such as Yale Choral Artists, sounding light, Etherea Vocal Ensemble, Arkora, and Audivi. Abela resides in Sunderland, MA with her husband Noah, and daughters Hazel (5), and Tala (1).

PANELIST: Haitham Haidar

Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian Canadian tenor, currently based in Montreal. He is a proud graduate of Yale's Institute of Sacred Music, McGill's Schulich School of Music, and the University of British Columbia. Praised for his 'ductile,' 'bright,' and 'robust' tenor, Haitham enjoys performing oratorio, opera, and chamber music across North America, Europe, and Asia. Haitham is also a proud member of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, whose mission aims to present vocal music with the highest artistic excellence, while celebrating racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. 

Haitham has recently been seen as the tenor soloist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Kathleen Allan. Upcoming performances include ACDA and Byrd Consort in New York. Haitham will also be joining Kathleen Allan in April 2022 in the role of Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion.

​Haitham’s approach to performance has always been humanity first. Being an Arab immigrant in North America comes with its unique set of oppressive challenges and it is because of that and what he sees around him in the field, that he aims to touch people’s hearts with music and compassion and make change in the world the best way he knows how.

PANELIST: Dr. Tracy Wong

Malaysian-Canadian Tracy Wong is a choral conductor, music educator, composer, vocalist, and pianist. She is the Assistant Professor and Choral Director at McMaster University’s School of the Arts, where she conducts the University Choir and Cantemus Ensemble. She also serves as the Conductor of the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir in Kitchener, Ontario. Tracy holds a Doctor in Musical Arts (Choral Conducting) degree from the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. She is also a proud recipient of the 2016 & 2017 Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting, and 2018-19 McMaster University Student Union Teaching Award (Faculty of Humanities).

Tracy has conducted workshops for choirs in North America and internationally. Her choral works are available on her website, Cypress Choral Music (Canada), and Young Choral Academy (Malaysia). They have been performed by choirs at international competitions and festivals. www.tracywongmusic.com

MODERATOR: Floydd Ricketts

Conductor and musical director Dr. Floydd Al-Rénier Ricketts regularly works with ensembles in concert and theatrical settings, and has conducted performances throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. He is the founder of Montreal vocal ensemble Ensemble Noir, co-founder of the Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, is the Head of Music at the National Theatre School of Canada, and is the Director of Choirs at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Floydd regularly leads workshops on African-American Spiritual performance practice, as well as workshops on paths to cultural appreciation in place of appropriation. Dr. Ricketts presently sits on 3 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committees, and is a member of the Choral Canada Board of Directors, with a focus on community building.

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Centering Indigenous Voices

The choral art embodies language, makes words sing and can serve as an important nexus for creating relationships and providing a way to introduce and moderate difficult discussions of erased history, continued cultural oppression, and resurgence.

In this critical conversation we will hear the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous artists and teachers/conductors. I will ask each to describe their perspective of singing together. We will talk about non-Indigenous choirs and conductors creating the necessary space to build robust respect, relationships, reciprocity, and renewal. As part of the discussion each panelist will share their protocols for engaging Indigenous artists, co-creating or curating concert events and, draw on their own life journeys to inform our professional practice as singers and conductors. All are actively involved in creating songs that reclaim language, affirming culture and telling the stories that build relationship with new generations, and will teach a new way of sharing the land—if we but listen.

Lori-Anne Dolloff

Moderated by Lori-Anne Dolloff
with panelists Andrew Balfour (Cree), Russell Wallace (Líl̓wat), Sherryl Sewepagaham (Cree-Dene)​

Andrew Balfour

Russell Wallace

Sherryl Sewepagaham

Jenny Blackbird

Click to learn more about the moderator and panelists for this Critical Conversation

PANELIST: Andrew Balfour

Of Cree descent, Winnipeg based composer Andrew Balfour is an innovative  composer/conductor/singer/sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic and orchestral works, including; Take the Indian (A Vocal reflection on Missing Children), Empire Étrange: The Death of Louis  Riel, Migiis: A Whiteshell Soundscape, Bawajigaywin (Vision Quest), Gregorioʼs Nightmare, Wa Wa Tey Wak (Northern Lights), Fantasia on a Poem  by Rumi, Missa Brevis and Medieval Inuit, Quamaniq, Manitou Sky-An  orchestral tone poem. His new Indigenous Opera, Mishaboozʼs Realm was  recently premiered in Montreal and Halliburton, Ontario, commissioned by  LʼAtelier Lyrique de Opéra de Montréal and Highlands Opera Workshop. He has  also been commissioned by the Winnipeg, Regina and Toronto Symphony  Orchestras, Ensemble Caprice, Groundswell, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra,  Luminous Voices, Roomful of Teeth, Toronto Mendelsshon Choir,, Tafelmusik, the  Winnipeg Singers, the Kingston Chamber Choir and Camerata Nova, among many  others. His works have been performed and/or broadcast locally, nationally and  internationally.  
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Andrew is also the founder and Artistic Director of the innovative, 14-member  vocal group Camerata Nova, now rebranded as Dead of Winter, now in its 26th year of offering a concert series in  Winnipeg. With Dead of winter, Andrew specializes in creating “concept  concerts”, many with indigenous subject matter (Wa Wa Tey Wak (Northern  Lights), Medieval Inuit, Chant! Taken, Quamaniq, Captive). These innovative offerings explore a theme  through an eclectic array of music, including new works, arrangements and  innovative inter-genre and interdisciplinary collaborations.

PANELIST: Russell Wallace

Russell Wallace is an award-winning composer, producer and traditional singer from the Lil’wat Nation. His music can be heard on soundtracks for film, television and theatre/dance productions across Canada and the U.S. Wallace is one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast and is an alumnus of the UBC Creative Writing program. Wallace has written poetry, short fiction, theatre, and music theatre. Wallace was the artist in residence at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in 2019, a guest programmer for Word Vancouver and was the artistic director for the Aboriginal Electronic Music Festival for a number of years.

PANELIST: Sherryl Sewepagaham

Sherryl Sewepagaham is Cree-Dene from the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta. She is a songmaker and traditional Cree hand drum singer. She is also an experienced elementary music educator, choral composer, and music therapist, and her work focuses on Indigenous music. Sherryl is currently a Masters of Education student at the University of Alberta in Elementary Education studying Indigenous languages, the oral tradition, and Cree literacy in relation to music and song. Sherryl is passionate about sharing the Cree language in many facets of her work and is dedicated to sharing the beauty of the language to both children and adults. Her compositions reflect the beauty and natural elements of the northern landscape, such as the wind, water, sunlight, animals, and the land, and what the land can teach us. Sherryl has been commissioned by Pro Coro Canada, the Canadian Chamber Choir, and OrKidstra, and her works have been performed by Juno-nominated, Luminous Voices, the Bach Children's Choir, Kokopelli Choirs, the Vancouver Youth Choir, the Toronto Children's Choir and the Calgary Children's Choir.

PANELIST: Jenny Blackbird

​Jenny Blackbird (Nehiyaw and Finnish-Canadian) is a hand drummer/singer, masters student at York and a multi-disciplinary artist with a background in fashion design. She works at University of Toronto as interim Indigenous Student Life Coordinator at First Nations House Indigenous Student Services.
 
Jenny has been volunteering at Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) since 2008 as a community Auntie for the Giiwedin Anang council, which supports Indigenous families who are navigating through the child welfare system. Jenny also sits on the ALS community council diversion program, as advisory committee and council member.
 
Jenny is producer and co-host of the “Indigenous Waves” Radio show, on CIUT 89.5 FM at 6 PM Mondays.
 
Jenny has facilitated arts workshops in TDSB Schools, and has guest lectured at Ryerson school of social work, OISE, Indigenous studies and Faculty of Music at University of Toronto. She also worked at The Royal Ontario Museum as an Indigenous Knowledge Resource Teacher, conducting tours for student groups, as well as on-site outreach in the First People’s Gallery.
 
Jenny is the recipient of the 2016 “Culture Keeper Award” Minaake Award from Native Women’s Resource Center and a 2019 recipient of an IDERD award for the International Day for the Elimination of Racism at University of Toronto.

MODERATOR: Lori-Anne Dolloff

Lori-Anne Dolloff began conducting choirs in 1976, finding her voice through engaging others in singing together.  Beginning in 1984 as conductor of the Mississauga Festival Choir, Dr. Dolloff oversaw the growth of that community ensemble for 21 years.  A professor at the University of Toronto since 1994, she is currently the conductor of the treble-voiced Chamber Choir. 

Lori Dolloff has published choral arrangements, has been commissioned by the Ottawa Children’s Chorus, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Buffalo Niagara Children’s Chorus and the Portland Symphonic Girl Choir. 

An invitation to Iqaluit, Nunavut in 2009 proved a watershed moment. 17 more visits followed, singing with children and adults in schools and community, conducting and listening to the people and possibilities for change.  This has resulted in following a path of listening to Indigenous voices and a commitment to honour the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation in her ongoing professional and personal practice.

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Plenty Good Room: Expanding the Choral Canon

The reference for the title of this Critical Conversaton is from a Spiritual: “Plenty good room, plenty good room, just choose your seat and sit down.” The idea being that there’s lots of room at the choral table, and much of which to partake.

​The panel of four choral educators, composers and conductors will address issues of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in choral literature. The conversation will query ways in which future educators and conductors are prepared to engage with a diverse repertoire, and explore strategies for the greater inclusion in curricula and concert programming of underrepresented music and composers.

Brainerd Blyden-Taylor

Moderated by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
with panelists Barbara Assiginaak, Jamie Hillman, Kathy Armstrong, Marques L.A. Garrett

Jamie Hillman

Kathy Armstrong

Marques L.A. Garrett

Click to learn more about the moderator and panelists for this Critical Conversation

PANELIST: Jamie Hillman

Dr. Jamie Hillman is a Canadian and American musician, active as a conductor, singer, pianist, music educator, and composer. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral degree programs in Choral Conducting. Prior to this appointment, Hillman served on the faculties of Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Kodály Music Institute, and Longy School of Music of Bard College.
 
Hillman's upcoming engagements include speaking at the World Choral Expo in Lisbon, Portugal; guest conducting the ACSC High School Honor Choir in Taichung, Taiwan; conducting All-State Choirs in New Hampshire and New Jersey and honour choirs in Massachusetts and Vermont; and leading two national festival choirs at Carnegie Hall. He is the curator and editor of the Jamie Hillman Choral Series published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing.
www.jamiehillman.net

PANELIST: Kathy Armstrong

Kathy Armstrong is a percussionist and educator combining her training in classical music and education with her many years of studies in Ghanaian music and dance to offer an integrated and community-based approach in her work. She received her BMus and MMus from the University of Toronto, and an MA in Music and Culture from Carleton University. Kathy travelled to Ghana in 1990 to begin studies with Kwasi Dunyo, and their longtime connection has fostered meaningful cross-cultural relationships and educational projects. Kathy’s extensive work with choirs began with Doreen Rao and led to many creative alliances. Kathy founded Ottawa’s Baobab Drum Dance Community (1995-2020), an early leader in intercultural arts education. Kathy currently teaches at Carleton University in the School for Studies in Art and Culture, where she also directs the West African Rhythm Ensemble.  Kathy received a Community Award from the Ghanaian Association of Ottawa, and is an honorary elder in the village of Dagbamete, Ghana.

PANELIST: Marques L.A. Garrett

Marques L. A. Garrett (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Glenn Korff School of Music. Before completing the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education (Choral Conducting) at Florida State University, he was the Director of Choral Activities at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. He is an accomplished vocalist and composer with his works available through several publishers and performed by festival/honor choirs, all-state choirs, and professional and university choirs such as Seraphic Fire and the Oakwood University Aeolians. Recent commissions and premieres include the University of New Hampshire, Seraphic Fire, Westminster Choir College, and the American Choral Directors Association. He regularly serves as a choral clinician and guest conductor for festival and honour choirs throughout the country. He is an active researcher with published articles and presentations on the choral music of Black composers and rehearsal techniques for state, regional, and national conferences.

MODERATOR: Brainerd Blyden-Taylor

“Fill the cup that clears today of past regrets and future fears.” - Omar Khayyam 
 
D. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor is the Founder, Artistic Director and Conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada's first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation, preservation, and performance of Afrocentric choral music of all genres. 
 
Mr. Blyden-Taylor has worked extensively as an educator at the university, public school and community levels; and was awarded the degree Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from York University, Toronto for his service to education. He is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator and lecturer, both nationally and internationally. 
Mr. Blyden-Taylor has been an active and dedicated church musician for more than 50 years and serves currently as Director of Music at All Saints Kingsway Anglican Church, Toronto.

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