Music Staff

Gordon Johnston has been the Organist and Choirmaster of St John's since 1986.  Gordon has many facets to his music-making:  organist, conductor, harpist and composer.  He holds the degree of Doctor of Sacred Music summa cum laude from the Graduate Theological Foundation.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Examiners of the RCCO.

As well as conducting the choir and handbell ensemble at St John's, Gordon conducts our resident orchestra, the Strings of St John's.  He is also Director of Music in the Anglican Studies Program at Saint Paul University, where he teaches music and liturgy to people preparing for ordination in the Anglican Church of Canada.  His settings of traditional psalm texts for the Revised Common Lectionary are published by the Anglican Book Centre, and his four-volume set of NRSV psalms for the Roman Catholic lectionary are published by Novalis.  Each week he composes a new setting of the psalm for our Sunday Eucharist, using the text from Nan C. Merrill's Psalms for Praying; these psalms are now available on Gordon's website, PsalmsForPraying.com.

Barb Hallam-Price is the Associate Organist of St John's Church.  She holds a Master of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Western Ontario, where she studied with Dr. Larry Cortner.  Further studies were pursued in Cambridge, England with internationally-renowned organist, Dr. Peter Hurford.  Ms. Hallam-Price has held numerous church positions across Canada, including Associate Organist and interim Music Director at Grace Church on-the-hill in Toronto.  This position involved working with  men & boys choir, as well as women & girls choirs.  In Ottawa, she has recently served as interim Music Director at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, where she conducted Handel’s Messiah.

Choral scholar Ashley Cross is a second year Voice major studying under the direction of Professor Ingemar Korjus. Originally from Newmarket, Ontario, Ashley has participated in many local and national festivals and competitions since the age of 13. She truly began singing when she was introduced to her original teacher Irene Ilic, who proved to be an amazing role model and the main reason she is so driven today. She is so excited to be a part of the St John’s choir and has felt nothing but warmth and welcoming for everyone in the congregation. Ashley hopes to earn her degree as a performance major.

Our Artist-in-Residence, soprano Cara Gilbertson, is an accomplished performer and teacher.  Cara was a choral scholar at St John’s during her masters degree studies at the University of Ottawa, and when she graduated, she was invited to be an “Artist-in-Residence” at St John’s.  Cara and her students give frequent recitals here, and Cara’s annual Summer Vocal Academy is based at St John’s.  In the 2007-2008 concert season, Cara made her debut with The National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Joshua Zentner-Barrett was the organ scholar at St John's from January-August 2011.  He now studies the organ with Marlin Nagetgal at Wilfrid Laurier University in Kitchener, working toward a bachelor's degree in organ performance.  He is much loved by our choir and we consider him an "emeritus" part of our music family at St John's.