Discipline: Singing
Specialties: Building a Culture of Singing, Choir for Band Teachers, Rehearsal Clinics, Vocal Health and Technique
Languages: English
Pronouns: she/her
Heather is Executive Director and former Program Director of the Choral Federation of Nova Scotia. She is the Artistic Director of the Annapolis Valley Honour Choirs (200 singers Grades 2-12) and has maintained an active career as a choral conductor, music educator, clinician, adjudicator and collaborative pianist. Heather has studied conducting and choral pedagogy with mentors across Canada, the USA and the UK. She was honoured to be a Conducting Fellow with the Canadian Chamber Choir (2015), the first conductor in Pro Coro Canada’s emerging artist program (2016), and was Apprentice Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Canada under the guidance of Dr. Victoria Meredith (2010).
As a board member of Choral Canada, Heather sits on the committee for the National Youth Choir of Canada, and has served as Chair of Advocacy since 2020. This role kept her busy during the pandemic, advocating for equitable treatment of singing across the country, arranging educational opportunities, webinars and discussions for choirs of all kinds, and finding ways to keep the national singing community connected. She initiated the National “Singing in Canadian Schools Covid Impact Survey” (2021) – the data from which produced a clear picture of how singing was decimated across Canada, and was influential in the reinstatement of programs. She was also co-chair of the “Benefits of Singing Campaign” to raise awareness of the scientific evidence that exists for the many ways that singing together contributes to our psychological, physical, spiritual, social and emotional health.
