Jean-Sébastien Vallée is a renowned conductor, scholar, and pedagogue known for his expertise in vocal, choral, and orchestral repertoires. With a career spanning over several decades, Vallée has conducted numerous ensembles across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has prepared choruses for some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Chicago and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. This season, he looks forward to conducting Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Vallée is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the renowned 160-voice Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the 24-voice professional Toronto Mendelssohn Singers. In addition, Jean-Sébastien is Full Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Conducting & Ensembles Area at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.

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Gabrielle Gaudreault is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa Choral Society and the Saint-Lambert Choral Society. She is also an instructor in the Choral Department at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where she directs the choral ensembles and supervises the graduate students in choral conducting. A sought-after conductor, pedagogue and collaborative pianist, Dr. Gaudreault has previously served as Assistant Conductor to Maestro Kent Nagano at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Associate Conductor of the National Children’s Chorus in Washington, D.C., Artistic Director of the South Shore Children’s Chorus in Saint-Lambert, QC, Music Director of the St-Augustine’s Church Choir in St-Bruno, QC, and Apprentice Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Canada.

In 2020, she co-founded CG Music Academy in Arlington, VA with her husband Chris. Gabrielle completed her Doctorate in Choral Conducting at McGill University in spring 2020 and holds an MA in Music Theory and Choral Conducting from Indiana University. Her research focuses on pedagogical approaches to the choral rehearsal and late-20th-century choral works by Québécois composers.

Christopher is currently the Artistic Director of Ottawa’s Hypatia’s Voice; Concert Choir Conductor of the Ottawa Children’s Choir; and  Conductor of Le Petit Choeur de Rosemère, a community north of Montreal.

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Christopher holds a BA in Music from Silver Lake College of the Holy Family in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, where he studied under the mentorship Dr. Jean-Sébastien Vallée, a former artistic director of OCS.

Described as a voice with “great beauty and vocal agility”, local soprano Ania Hejnar has been performing for international platforms since graduating with her Masters in Vocal Performance from the University of Ottawa, including Carnegie Hall, Notre-Dame Cathedral (Ottawa), Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal), Maison symphonique, the NAC, and Varnus Hall (Brooklyn, Nova Scotia). She has performed for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon. Ania is a versatile performer as a classical singer, crossover musician, actor, voiceover artist and can be heard singing national anthems for many sports teams including the Ottawa Senators.  Some notable performances include Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte as the Queen of the Night.  Most recently, she performed for the ceremony at which Hollywood director James Cameron was invested as companion of the Order of Canada.  Ania is the music and drama teacher at Glebe Montessori School and maintains a private studio where she teaches voice and violin.

Soprano Stéphanie Brassard has recently made her Carnegie Hall debut performing Ponchielli’s ‘Gioconda Duet’ (Gioconda) and Puccini’s most iconic aria ‘Vissi d’arte’ from Tosca with the Vincerò Academy in January 2024.

On the operatic stage, her most recent performances include the roles of Dolcina and understudy of Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica – OperOttawa), Carolina (Il matrimonio segreto – OperOttawa) and The Governess (The Turn of the Screw – UOttawa Opera).

Outside of opera, Stéphanie enjoys performing romantic art songs in various languages, premiering new works by living composers, and the occasional musical theatre.

When she isn’t performing, she is teaching voice and beginner piano at two music schools in the Ottawa area (Allegro Music School and Ottawa School of Music), as well as working part-time at a local coffee shop in Gatineau (Café Bouleau).

Canadian-American contralto Sydney Frodsham brings joy, musicality, and compassion everywhere she goes. Recent performances include Erda in Das Rheingold with Edmonton Opera, Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Irene in Theodora, and Bradamante in Alcina. This young contralto has performed with Orchestre Métropolitain, Orchestre de l’Agora, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and completed apprenticeships with Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, Des Moines Metro Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera.

Sydney earned her Master of Music degree from Brigham Young University and her Bachelor of Music degree from Southern Methodist University.

The Ottawa Music Company was established as a collective of some of the city’s finest professionals. It was born in 2007 through its collaborations with various choral ensembles in Ottawa and since that time has appeared frequently with the Ottawa Choral Society and the Ottawa Bach Choir, and in presentations of the choirs of Christ Church Cathedral.