Bytown Voices Aa community choir in Ottawa

Joan’s love for choral singing and music leadership began in her teens, at her local church, in school productions, and with community organisations. Over the decades she pursued private music studies, both in senior levels of vocal performance and advanced theoretical subjects. Her career and pursuits are eclectic. She began her professional life with a Master’s in Applied Economics (1994), which lead to a decade as a senior research analyst in the health care field. Concurrently, Joan became increasingly involved in the growing music life at Notre Dame Cathedral (Ottawa). Next, what started out as a career break during her children’s early years led to the beginning of her professional music career: as a guest soloist for many local choirs, a versatile recitalist and collaborator, a choral conductor, and a teacher.

In 2015 Joan began her tenure as Bytown Voices’ Music Director, in addition to her established duties at Notre Dame Cathedral where she was the founding conductor of the Women’s choir (2006), conductor of the Children’s choir (2008), and regular soloist. As the pandemic lockdowns upended many lives and livelihoods, Joan stepped away from her work at the Cathedral. She remained with Bytown Voices navigating Zoom-based choir activities and the gradual return to in-person singing. Joan broadened the choir's repertoire through her creative programming and nurturing a positive learning philosophy. She championed the expansion of the choir’s music team and its shift to a multigenerational choir model.  These efforts culminated in Bytown Voices’ first concert with orchestra in May 2025, the highlight of its 25th anniversary celebratory season.

For Joan the pandemic was a turning point where necessity became the mother of invention and a catalyst for change. Faced with the possibility of singing in uncertain conditions, she created a pattern for a singer’s mask in 2020 and shared it freely online along with YouTube tutorials. She created and administered an international online community of sewists and musicians supporting their efforts to create masks for singers and instruments, while navigating evolving science. She partnered with Canadian and US researchers writing evidence-based educational blogs, conducting research, and contributing to Choral Canada’s educational webinars. In 2021 Joan joined the federal public service, reviving her career as a research and policy analyst. She can still be found on YouTube as the French and Latin Diction Coach for Choirs where she combines her choral experience and bilingual fluency with her love of research, teaching, and history.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       2025-07-16