Dr. Lisette Canton is a choral and orchestral conductor, vocal coach and technician, guest conductor, adjudicator, workshop leader and early music specialist. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed professional chamber choir, the Ottawa Bach Choir, and is also Associate Professor and Head of Choral Music at York University in Toronto, where she conducts four ensembles (Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Women’s Chorus and Men’s Chorus) and is in charge of the graduate program in choral music.

            Prior to her appointment at York, Dr. Canton taught and conducted at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and McGill University. She has also conducted in Leipzig, London, Paris, Stuttgart, Bayreuth, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, the Winspear Centre in Edmonton, Montreal and Halifax, and has prepared choirs for Franz-Paul Decker, Johannes Ullrich, Pinchas Zukerman, Helmuth Rilling and John Rutter.

            Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Canton moved to Canada in 1977. She has a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from McGill University, a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has recorded for CBC and Radio-Canada radio and television, and been the guest conductor of numerous ensembles in Canada and the United States.  In 2011, Dr. Canton has been invited to guest conduct in two prestigious concert series at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City.