Faculty

DR. ELROY FRIESEN​
Elroy Friesen is Director of Choral Studies at the University of Manitoba, where he conducts multiple choirs, and teaches graduate conducting. His award-winning ensembles have toured extensively, garnered national and international acclaim, and been featured on CBC Radio.

Friesen enjoys fostering artistic collaborations, partnering with organizations such as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. He is the former Artistic Director of Canzona and the former Artistic Director and Founder of Prairie Voices, a renowned Winnipeg-based youth choir.

A dedicated educator, Friesen has served as a clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor across North America and Northern Europe. He holds degrees from the University of Manitoba and the University of Illinois, and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and grants.​

DR. TRACY WONG
Dr. Tracy Wong is a Malaysian-Canadian choral conductor, music educator, composer, vocalist, and pianist. Dr. Wong is passionate about helping choral leaders and educators to provide unique experiences for their singers and students through collaborative commissions, customized workshops, festivals, and artist residencies. She does this through focusing on the balance of performance practice considerations, vocal and acoustic explorations, and choral artistry and heart.
Dr. Wong has been appointed to the Eileen Mercier Professorship in Choral Music at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Music where she is an assistant professor, leads choral ensembles (Laurier Singers and Concert Choir) and mentors choral conducting students. She holds a Doctor in Musical Arts and Master in Music Performance (Choral Conducting) from the University of Toronto and a BMus from the University of Newcastle, Australia.

​As a composer-arranger, she advocates for repertoire-based music education, and her choral works support the development of vocal technique, musicianship skills, and artistry. Her music reflects the blend of different lived experiences, languages, and musical elements that continue to influence her compositional writing. Her leadership in the global choral community is extensive. Recent highlights include:
 
Conductor: 2026 ACDA Hawai'i All-State High School Choir, 2025 ACDA National Southeast Asian Immersion Choir, 2024 OAKE Concert Treble Choir.

International Clinician: Atelier leader for *Choralies 2025* (France) and *Europa Cantat Junior 2023* (Belgium).

- Keynote Speaker: 2024 Kodály Australia National Conference.
 
Recognized for excellence, she is a two-time recipient of the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship and has earned prestigious teaching awards from McMaster and Western Universities. Dr. Wong continues to collaborate globally as an adjudicator, clinician, and residency artist, championing repertoire-based music education and intercultural artistry.