Dr. Mark Sirett

Conductor, composer, pianist and organist, Mark Sirett (b. 1952) is the Founding Artistic Director of the award-winning Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He holds both masters and doctoral degrees in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Dr. Sirett has taught at the University of Alberta, Western University (London ON) and Queen’s University.

Dr. Sirett has won two international awards in conducting: the Jury Prize for Imaginative Programming and Artistry at the 2002 Cork International Choral Festival, and Outstanding Conductor at the 2004 Young Prague Festival. In 2009 he was the recipient of the President’s Leadership Award presented by Choirs Ontario for his contribution to the choral art in the province. His composition, “The Stars Point the Way” was honoured as Outstanding Choral Composition 2010 and again in 2018 for “Words, Stories, Truth” by Choral Canada. He has been awarded Distinguished Alumnus of Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton and The Mayor’s Award for the Arts, City of Kingston, 2019.

He is frequently in demand as a guest conductor and clinician. He has directed the APAC Festival Choir in South Korea, AMIS European High School Women’s Honors Choir, Luxembourg and twice, the Unisong in Ottawa on Canada Day. In addition he has conducted the Ontario Youth Choir, Alberta Honours Children’s Chorus, Manitoba Provincial Honours Children’s Choir, Saskatchewan Treble Choir Project, Waterloo District High School Festival, Meet the Composer Festival (Des Moines IA), the Peel School Board Honours Chamber Choir and the adult and children’s camps for the Nova Scotia Choral Federation. As a clinician, he has presented for Choral Canada, Choirs Ontario, Nova Scotia Music Educators, Nova Scotia Choral Federation, Manitoba Choral Association, Ontario Vocals Festival, the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the Royal School of Church Music.

As an adjudicator Dr. Sirett served on the Jury of the Cork International Choral Festival in 2009; he has frequently adjudicated choral festivals in Canada including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. He has been clinician adjudicator for SingOntario, SaskSings, ChorFest Alberta and ChorFest Manitoba.

Cantabile’s concert season consists of five themed concerts, which often include invited guests of national and international acclaim. Our concerts attract sell-out audiences in our performance home, The Spire, at 82 Sydenham St.