The Canadian Centennial Choir

This 80 voice community concert choir from Ottawa, Canada was founded in 1967 to celebrate the centenary of Canadian Confederation. The choir performs secular and sacred music with particular focus on new and commissioned works composed or arranged by Canadians. Its annual three-concert series attract a large and varied audience and features guest artists from the local community who share its commitment to musical excellence. The choir has been under the leadership of James Caswell since 1994.

James Caswell

James Caswell, a Bachelor of Music graduate, is in demand as a conductor, accompanist and music consultant. After recently completing his Bachelor of Education degree he became the vocal performance teacher in the Arts Canterbury programme at Canterbury High School in Ottawa. He marked his conducting debut in 1991 as the Musical Director for Benjamin Britten's opera The Little Sweep and after that directed several musical theatre productions. He was the Assistant Conductor for the Opera Lyra Ottawa Boys' Choir and the Music Director of the Anglican Chorale of Ottawa for their 1996 singing tour of Cathedrals in England. In 1998 he was accepted by the Oregon Bach Festival as one of the fourteen participant conductors from around the world.