Dr. Charlene Pauls has enjoyed a varied musical career as a choral conductor, soprano soloist, clinician, adjudicator, academic, and pedagogue. Drawing on this extensive background, Dr. Pauls has developed a holistic approach in guiding singers to create a more beautiful, healthy, and well-crafted choral sound, regardless of age.

 

Over the course of her career, she has directed a wide range of adult, university and youth choirs. Under her direction, choirs have won nationally at the CBC Amateur Canadian Choral Competition, World Choir Games gold medal standing (Riga, Latvia), and have appeared at the Canadian national choral conference “Podium”. In 2018, she was thrilled to be awarded the Ontario Arts Council’s Leslie Bell Prize, which "recognizes excellence in emerging conductors".

 

Dr. Pauls is the Artistic Director of the Guelph Chamber Choir, an organization that is celebrating its 45th season in 2025-26. The GCC presents a four-concert main season with creative programming that inspires, challenges and surprises our audiences. Our repertoire spans works from larger orchestral/choral pieces to contemporary works and commissions. The GCC is also intent on fostering Canadian choral music with bi-annual composer competitions (past winning works by Nicholas Kelly, Chris Kovarik), commissioning (Ian Cusson 2023), and with premiers such as the Stephen Chatman recordings of 2022, recently released on the new Chatman CD "Alleluia" (2025).

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Charlene is passionate about community engagement and has developed the GCC “Sing Out” program that runs concurrently with the concert season, aimed at making connections in the community, with a  mandate to develop youth musicians, bring music to seniors, and engage with community partners. GCC "Sing Out" initiatives include youth music workshops, the Neufeld Emerging Artist program, making music at seniors' residences, and collaborating with other arts and community support organizations.

 

Charlene is also the Associate Artistic Director of the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth where young people 'find their voice' through choral music. Choral programs are offered for preschool to high school singers, with a strong emphasis on developing our next generation through leadership opportunities and musical excellence. Dr. Pauls directs the “Chamber Voices” ensemble, an ambassadorial group selected from within the organization’s senior singers, 

 

Charlene has appeared as a Soprano soloist on concert stages across Canada and internationally in Germany, England, France and Spain with notable conductors such as Robert Shaw, Bramwell Tovey, Frieder Bernius, and Helmuth Rilling.

 

Dr. Pauls holds a D.M.A. in Musical Arts (Vocal Performance) from the University of Toronto where she specialized in vocal pedagogy and a doctoral research dissertation on Bach’s Cantata BWV 210. She received a Master’s of Arts from McGill University (Early Music), and completed undergraduate degrees from the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba in theology, piano and voice. She has undertaken additional choral conducting studies that include work with Hilary Apfelstadt, Eugene Rogers, Michael Zaugg, and David Hayes.

 

In addition to her active performing career, Charlene maintains a private voice studio, adjudicates for choral and vocal festivals across Canada, and presents research at conferences, including the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and Chorus America.