Choral Weekend Workshop – Gratitude & Inspiration featuring Paula Roberts

Paula has been an active part of Edmonton’s music scene for over 40 years and has worked with all age groups from Kindergarten students to seniors. For 20 years she offered 2 highly successful week-long music residency programs focusing on Canadian and Multicultural music to elementary schools around Alberta. She has served on the board of the Alberta Choral Federation (now Choir Alberta) and, in addition to the Riverbend United Church choir, for many years conducted Edmonton Vocal Minority and currently conducts the adult community choir, EKOSingers, who perform both traditional choral music as well as pop, and jazz.

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Ms. Roberts, originally from Middletown, Ohio, grew up in the Episcopal Church where she fell in love with choral singing and rarely missed a rehearsal or church service. She graduated with a BME-choral concentration from Indiana University in 1971, after which she taught music at Northside Jr. High School for 2 years in Columbus, Indiana, where they had an extensive choral program. Upon arriving in Edmonton in 1976, she was fortunate to further her choral conducting study as an apprentice conductor for a year under Michel Gervais, founding director of Pro Coro.

Paula has played in rock bands, attended Woodstock (!), has a passion for dance (particularly Cuban Salsa) and loves African drumming, her favourite hobby! She is married to Jamie Kidd, studio and location sound recordist and engineer, and they have 2 sons, Adam and Nathan who are both involved in music and film.