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Steven Bélanger. Photo: Brandon Hart
The Choral Canada Board of Directors is delighted to welcome Steven Bélanger as the organization's new Executive Director, starting full time on June 2, 2025.
For over twenty-five years, Steven has enjoyed close ties to the Canadian choral community as both an administrator and a performer. Since 2011 he has been the senior manager of the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Canada’s longest-running fully professional choir, most recently in the position of Executive Director. Under his leadership, the choir has expanded its educational and community engagement activities, has successfully navigated its first artistic leadership transition since it was founded in 1971, and has grown its fundraising and revenue-generating initiatives to ensure a more stable and sustainable financial position. In that time he has also helped to produce seven recordings and has organized fifteen domestic and international tours for the ensemble in addition to its busy performance schedule at home.
"The Choral Canada Board of Directors is very pleased to have Steven Bélanger join our team as Executive Director" says President Margot Rejskind. "Steven brings a wealth of administrative knowledge and skill, but more importantly he is also a long-time member of our choral community, and has deep connections in choral communities across the country. Steven is a strong voice for group singing, and we are excited to work with him to continue to further our mission of celebrating and championing group singing across Canada."
Prior to his arrival in Vancouver, Steven held administrative positions with the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and La Scena Musicale, as well as contract positions with CBC Radio and Union des Artistes. He holds degrees from Queen’s University and McGill University and has extensive performance experience with groups of all sizes and genres across Canada as a soloist and an ensemble singer.
“For years I have admired the work that Choral Canada has done to advocate for and to champion group singing in all its forms around the country, and I’m incredibly honoured and excited to join the team as Executive Director. I look forward to continuing and building upon the important work that has already been done by Meghan Hila, the staff, the Board of Directors and all of its volunteers in enhancing its programs, engaging with its current members, forming new connections and acting as an important resource in both English and French. I especially respect its commitment to Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Decoloniality, and Anti-Racism (ADEI-DAR) and am eager to listen to and learn from individuals and groups who feel they are underserved and ignored.
The National Choral Census of 2017 provided quantitative evidence of what we’ve known all along – 3.5 million Canadians sing in 28,000 ensembles across the country, proving that group singing is an invaluable cultural experience for a significant percentage of the population. Singing together is an activity that not only provides psychological, physical, emotional and educational benefits, it can offer a safe and welcoming space to anyone who may feel marginalized or stigmatized. I’m delighted to add my voice to Choral Canada’s continued efforts in empowering singers and ensembles across the nation."
