Joel Tranquilla

Joel relocated to Nova Scotia in 2023 after spending nine years as the Director of Choral Activities at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, where he oversaw a program of six choirs and taught various other courses within the School of the Arts, Media + Culture. Joel led the TWU Chamber Choir on tours to Ottawa, New York City, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. In addition to his work at TWU, Joel served as the Artistic Director of the Valley Festival Singers in Abbotsford and was the conductor of the award-winning Coastal Sound Youth Choir in Coquitlam. A singing member of the Canadian Chamber Choir since 2007, he was named the ensemble’s Associate Conductor in 2013. As such, he contributes to the programming and long-term artistic visioning of that organization. Prior to his time on the West Coast, Joel lived and worked in Windsor, Ontario, serving as the conductor of several local ensembles including the Windsor Symphony Orchestra Chorus. In high demand as an adjudicator and clinician across the country, Joel is a past Guest Conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Choir and the Manitoba Provincial Honour Choir and was the Assistant Conductor of the 2012 National Youth Choir.

Major works conducted include Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, Ramirez’s Navidad nuestra (TWU’s Christmas at the Chan Centre), Mendelssohn’s St. Paul (Sea to Sky Symphony and TWU Choirs), Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Requiems by Fauré and Duruflé (Windsor Symphony Orchestra and Chorus), Bach’s St. John Passion, and Allan Bevan’s oratorio Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode (TWU Choirs and Orchestra). In spring 2023, Joel conducted the premiere of a new oratorio by David Squires and made his Carnegie Hall debut in a program featuring Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs. Choirs prepared by Joel have appeared under the batons of Robert Franz, Kevin Mallon, John Morris Russell, Ivars Taurins, and Jon Washburn.