Welcome to the Choral Canada Student Chapter!

Kathy Haddadkar is a passionate conductor, pianist, and singer pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Toronto. She is the teaching assistant for MacMillan Singers and freelances as a chorister, music director and soloist. Kathy is the former Conductor and Director of Florivox Choir. She has been featured as guest conductor with the U of T Oratorio ensemble and served as guest lecturer for the U of T Faculty of Engineering Choir. Kathy has also supported institutional governance as Vice President Academic of the Graduate Students’ Association at the University of Alberta. She is grateful to have been selected as a conductor for the 2023 European American Alliance Summer Institute in Paris. Invested in the future of choirs, Kathy’s doctoral research aims to acknowledge the intersections of visual impairment and choral music. She looks forward to supporting the choral arts as Student Chapter co-chair. 

Celeste Thordarson is a Soprano in her fourth year of the Classical Voice, Music Education Specialist program at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Darryl Edwards.

Celeste has a strong sense of her future, which fuels her passions and educational goals, specifically in Choral Studies, Vocal Pedagogy, and Music Health.

Her musical commitment extends to various roles, such as being the Music Director of the Children’s and Adult choir at Annunciation BVM Parish. She is also a Co-Conductor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Engineering Skule Choir and Assistant Conductor with the VIVA Singers’ Junior Chorus. She previously worked with Sistema Toronto and the Toronto Children’s Chorus.

Beyond the classical realm, Celeste has left her mark in traditional pop as a featured artist, opening performer, ghostwriter, and recording artist for national and international talents.

Enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge, Celeste is passionate about choral education and inspiring others on their musical journeys.

William Austin is a Tenor, beginner organist, and third year Bachelor of Science student majoring in Medical Sciences at Dalhousie University and minoring in Music with Cindy Townsend. William is very grateful to have sung with the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, MUN Chamber Choir, National Youth Choir of Canada, Dal Chorus, and presently the Halifax Camerata Singers and the Galileo Baroque Choir!

Aside from his musical interests, William conducts research with Adiblab through Dalhousie’s School of Biomedical Engineering. William is developing a viscosupplement injection for treating early stage osteoarthritis and a bilayered silicone-polyurethane film to give an anti-fouling coating to facial prosthetics for people who have undergone surgery for facial cancers. William was generously awarded an NSERC grant for his research during the summer of 2023.

Karen Hu is a pre-service music educator and vocalist based in Milton/London, Ontario. They are currently completing a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Voice Performance at Western University and hope to pursue choral conducting beyond the undergraduate level. At the university level, Karen serves on the Music Education Students Association, Choir Council, Faculty of Music Student’s Council, and is a co-conductor of the Student Leadership Choral Collective  at the Don Wright Faculty of Music. Karen is also the co-creator of The Choral Collection, a database of choral and music education resources to expand upon programming and advocating for the inclusion of Access, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization (AEDI-D) practices within and beyond choral spaces

Diane Kolin is a singer and a musicologist. She sings jazz and classical music, in choirs and smaller ensembles. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Musicology in York University, Toronto. Her research interests are diverse and include Critical Disability Studies, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Liszt. She is the editor in chief of the Journal of the French Beethoven Society - Association Beethoven France et Francophonie. The study of Beethoven’s deafness and her personal history led to her research in disability and music. She specializes in disability awareness and inclusion in the artistic world, particularly in music. Her collaboration with disabled musicians in the professional musical world allows her to expose new ideas on making music more accessible to a broader audience.

Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Cameron Bennett (he/him) recently moved to Halifax after completing his Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Musicology from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he sang with the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, where he also served as Operations Manager, the MUN Chamber Choir, and the St. John’s Gay Men’s Chorus. Cameron is also a trained clarinetist and pianist, having completed Royal Conservatory of Music examinations in both instruments, and has performed with the Newfoundland Youth Symphony Orchestra, the MUN Wind Ensemble, and as a part of the New York Summer Music Festival at SUNY Oneonta. Currently, Cameron sings with the Halifax Camerata Singers, and is pursuing a Master of Arts in Musicology at Dalhousie, where his thesis research focuses on Dolly Parton.

Each Branch will have its own set of goals and activities.  The overall benefit for each Branch is offering an incentive for students to share their passion. This way, students will become more committed to the art of choral music and group singing during their educational formative years. Benefits can also include learning opportunities beyond the classroom/rehearsal, the development of leadership skills, providing professional development opportunities, and contributing supportive services to the choral area and music department.

You can choose how little or how much organization you want.  A successful Branch will be one in which the students determine how they want to function, seeking out guidance from their Branch Advisor, if applicable. Ideally the Branch would provide encouragement and opportunity to students outside the classroom and choral rehearsal that directly relates to, but is not in competition with, the choral program or other music programs.

It depends on the goals and activities that you choose to do, and how you choose to do them. 

1. Organizing activities and sessions at the local level that engage in the training and experience of student choral musicians.

2. Encouraging student attendance and involvement at Choral Canada’s national biennial conference—Podium—through applying for student oriented programs and opportunities, and through attending the conference.

3. Encouraging and stimulating student membership and involvement in Choral Canada’s programs and projects that are relevant to the students at the local, provincial and national levels.

4. Promoting and recognizing the involvement of Student Chapter Branches on post-secondary campuses.

1. Student workshops and symposia

2. Conducting masterclasses

3. Reading sessions

4. Submitting articles for consideration in Choral Canada’s journal Anacrusis

5. Network/social events with other choral programs/groups in community and/or post secondary schools

6. Community engagement activities (e.g. singing in hospitals, workshops in elementary schools)

7. Organizing activities and sessions at a provincial choral association’s events (e.g. conference) that directly relate to the training and experience of student choral musicians

8. Other professional development and educational opportunities

The Chair/Co-Chairs of each Branch are required to send an annual report to the Choral Canada Student Chapter Executive Committee’s email address ([email protected]) by June 1 each year.

1. Discuss interest in starting a Choral Canada Student Chapter Branch with fellow students and/or a choral conductor/professor at your post-secondary institution. If applicable, identify a faculty member (likely the choral conductor/professor) who will be willing to be the Branch Advisor.

2. Review the goals of the choral program at your post-secondary institution and determine the advantages of forming a Choral Canada Student Chapter Branch, and potential goals and activities of the Branch that would support the program studies.

3. Encourage students to join Choral Canada and your CCSC Branch.  Choral Canada Student Membership annual fees are $35 plus tax (2023-24) and start on the day of purchase. If the membership is a financial barrier, Choral Canada does offer a “Pay-What-You-Can” option. Membership can be done online through the Choral Canada website (choralcanada.org). 

4. Obtain any required approval from your post-secondary institution officials to become a recognized student organization on your campus.

5. Send completed Choral Canada Student Chapter Branch Application Form to the Student Chapter Executive Committee email address ([email protected]).