Frances recently graduated with her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Toronto. Her doctoral dissertation—Improvisation in Choral Settings—was subsequently awarded the Outstanding Dissertations Award by Choral Canada in 2018.

Currently, Fran works as a choral educator with the Halifax Regional Arts program. As a choral composer, Fran’s works can be found on the Cypress Choral Music website including Winter Proverbs TTBB, which was awarded first prize in Chor Leoni’s inaugural C4 competition. Other published works include several contributions to Volume Five of the Teaching Music through Performance in Choir series (2019), an article for the book The Choral Conductor’s Companion (2020), and an article in Anacrusis (2024), Choral Canada’s national publication, which reflects Fran’s new path of inquiry as a certified Alexander Technique teacher.

As a choral clinician, Fran has been invited to work with choirs from across Canada, serving most recently as the guest conductor of the Saskatchewan Youth Choir in March 2024.

Fran is thrilled to be working with the Aeolian Singers, and looks forward to upholding the organization’s high standards of choral artistry and innovative story‑telling.

A member of the Aeolians since 1989, her fellow choristers were instrumental in her decision to study piano and voice at Dalhousie University where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in 1997. There she studied choral conducting and sang with the Dalhousie Chamber Choir under the tutelage of Dr. Walter Kemp and enjoyed performing and singing in the Opera Group with Professor Gregory Servant. She also studied composition with composer Professor Laura Hoffman.

Joanne taught voice and piano privately from 1998 through 2004 in the Halifax area, and in 2005 was appointed the Assistant Conductor of the Aeolian Singers under previous director Jackie Chambers. She has enjoyed being a part of the artistic team playing such a supportive role for various conductors as well as opportunities to arrange music for the choir.

Now blissfully retired, Joanne wishes to continue supporting the Aeolians in any way she can and also spend lots of quality time with her partner Denise and their little 12-year-old Frenchy.

Ria’s main interest has expanded from classical performances towards pedagogy, performing multi-genre and cross-genre music and incorporates such freedom in her teaching and collaborative performances. At her attendance at Domaine Forget, Shandelee Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival she had the opportunity to study with Yonghee Moon, Philip Chiu, John Forconi, Chiharu Iinuma.

Her passion for collaborative piano playing continues this year.

A passionate marketing professional hailing from Ontario, Laurie was lucky to start her career with Postmedia, the largest newspaper group in Canada, focusing her efforts mostly on digital marketing.

After a move to New Brunswick in 2018, she started working at Kent Building Supplies in Saint John as the Digital Marketing Manager and Communications Lead for the Retail Division of JDI.

Traveling for work allowed Laurie the opportunity to explore more of the Halifax area and she knew it was where she was meant to be. Now Laurie is a proud member of the team over at Propeller Brewing Co, the oldest operating craft brewery in Nova Scotia. As the Marketing Manager, she focuses on brand development, communications, marketing, and product development.

For the choir, Laurie works behind the scenes, promoting the Aeolian Singers through social media, print and digital media, capturing photos and videos of the talented singers, and coordinating the concert programs.