Kurt Ala-Kantti
Mr. Ala-Kantti has been directing children's choirs for twenty years, including school choirs and the Cross Town Youth Chorus. Having served as director of several community choirs, he is currently also Director of Music for St. Thomas Anglican Church, Artistic Director of Harmonia Choir of Ottawa, Music Director for the Cumberland Community, and conductor of the Viva Choir (Orleans) for the Ottawa Children's Choir.
With a keen interest in choral performance and excellence, he has been a member of several local choirs, including being a founding member of the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir and Director of their Young Men's Chorus. He has also served as Music Director of Atlantic Voices, the Ottawa Brahms Choir, Artistic Director of Tone Cluster, and was Choirmaster at St. Mark's Anglican Church, Cumberland. He served as Artistic Director for the national quadrennial choral festival 'Unison Festival Unisson', which took place in Ottawa in May 2014.
Mr. Ala-Kantti also sings professionally, having performed with Juno award winning Ottawa Bach Choir with which he has performed in Ottawa, Toronto (Roy Thompson Hall), Montreal, Nova Scotia, Mexico City, Austria, Germany, England and France and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2011. Currently performs with the Ottawa Dicken's Carollers. He is in demand as a professional chorister, frequently being hired as a bass for the Ottawa Choral Society and the Ottawa Choral Workshop.
He is a member of Choral Canada and the American Choral Director's Association (ACDA).