Faculty

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.
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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.

​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.

STEVEN BELANGER
​Steven Bélanger has spent over twenty-five years closely tied to the Canadian choral community, both as an administrator and a performer. In 2025 he was appointed Executive Director of Choral Canada, the country's National Arts Service Organization for the choral and group singing community. This bilingual, member-based organization provides professional development, advocacy, and educational resources, and builds connections across the sector through programs such as the biennial Podium Conference & Festival, the National Youth Choir of Canada, the Anacrusis choral journal, and the National Competition for Choral Writing, among others.

Before joining Choral Canada, Steven spent 14 years at the administrative helm of the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Canada's longest-running fully professional choir. Under his leadership, the choir expanded its educational and community engagement work, navigated its first artistic leadership transition since its founding in 1971, and grew its fundraising and revenue-generating initiatives toward a more stable financial footing. During his tenure he also helped produce seven recordings and organized fifteen domestic and international tours, alongside the ensemble's busy home performance schedule.

Earlier in his career, Steven worked with several arts organizations in Montréal. He holds degrees from Queen's University and McGill University, and has extensive performance experience as both soloist and ensemble singer with groups of all sizes and genres across Canada.

Presenters

JENNIFER DEDOMINICIS
Jennifer DeDominicis, M.Ed., PCC, COC, is a systemic leadership and organizational coach committed to developing empowered, engaged leaders and teams. As founder of Distill Coaching + Consulting, as well as the Rozsa Foundation’s Organizational Strategy Advisor, Jennifer integrates her expertise as an educator, entrepreneur, facilitator, coach and consultant to collaborate with leaders and organizations to develop practices to clarify and align goals to purpose and transform ways of working.
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She is a Professional Certified Coach (International Coaching Federation), Certified Organizational Coach (University of British Columbia), and International Systemic Team Coaching Practitioner (Renewal Associates and AoEC) who has engaged in her own learning to build inclusive practices and approaches for facilitation, advocacy and collaboration. She also holds a Master of Education in Educational Studies from the University of Alberta.

WILLI ZWOZDESKY
​A life-long love of choral music continues to fuel Willi Zwozdesky’s career as a choral conductor, arranger, publisher, and administrator.  Now completing his 45th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Vancouver Men’s Chorus (VMC), Willi’s record tenure as conductor of the VMC is unmatched in the global movement of 2SLGBTQI+ choruses.  His long-term dedication to choral music has been recognized with both a Legacy Award from GALA Choruses and a Willan Award from the British Columbia Choral Federation for outstanding service. 
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Willi Zwozdesky’s undergraduate work at the University of Alberta (BMus, music theory) led to graduate studies (MA in music theory, MMus in choral conducting) at the University of Washington in Seattle. Following his move to Vancouver in 1981, he undertook the development of the voice of the Vancouver Men’s Chorus. Under his direction, the VMC has distinguished itself internationally through concert performances, recordings, broadcasts, and choral commissions. In 1990 he established Rhythmic Trident Music Publishing, which focuses on his own and others’ new Canadian work. An active choral clinician and adjudicator, Willi has also volunteered on a number of national and regional organizations, including the Canadian Music Centre and GALA Choruses, Inc. In addition to his freelance work, he has served as the Executive Director of the British Columbia Choral Federation since 2005 and on the national Board of Directors of the Association of Canadian Choral Communities now Choral Canada from 2008 to 2024.

MICHELE STANNERS
Michèle Stanners is recognized for her leadership and strong strategic skills, Michèle offers over 30 years of experience holding various roles in non-profit, government, membership driven, and for-profit organizations. 
Michèle demonstrates a natural affinity for helping organizations improve their governance, build internal capacity, effectively engage stakeholders, and ensure financial stability. Michèle’s superpowers include embracing and leveraging the power of the community to respond to complex cultural challenges and ensure broad-based commitment and inclusive decision making. Extensive experience in business development, communications, turn-arounds and public speaking. Culturally and linguistically bilingual (English & French) with a working knowledge of Spanish. A graduate of Harvard University, a passionate pianist and she provides strategic advice to leaders throughout Canada. 
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