In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Jon Washburn

Living in: Canada

Jon Washburn is the Conductor and Artistic Director of Canada's outstanding professional vocal ensemble, the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Well known internationally for his mastery of choral technique and interpretation, Washburn travels widely as guest conductor, lecturer, clinician, and master teacher. In addition to Canada and the United States, he has performed in Russia, Finland, Estonia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil.

Washburn's early musical experience was wide-ranging and eclectic. As a teenager, he was a jazz bass player and band leader. At university, he became heavily involved in musical theatre, specifically acting, singing, conducting, and stage directing. He earned a choral conducting degree at the University of Illinois and proceeded to pursue musicological studies at Northwestern and the University of British Columbia.

Arrangements | Recordings

Sheet Music Series
Jon Washburn Collection

Recordings and DVDs

Phoenix Bach Choir : A Southwest Christmas

The Phoenix Bach Choir four years ago premiered Milagros de Navidad, a Christmas cycle for choir as a way of marking the holiday season in a Southwestern accent. In this recording, the choir has made Milagros the lead item in a superbly produced and packaged yuletide CD from an emerging Arizona label, Soundset. Jon Washburn conducts the ensemble of Frank Koonce, guitar; Mark Sunkett, percussion; and the choir with select soloists. In this sonically clean and vibrant recording, Milagros is a compendium of yuletide songs lovingly sung in Spanish and English, with running commentary from guitarist Koonce. Robert Tree Cody, on Native American Flute (the instrument of choice this season, it seems), is also heard here, in Washburn's own Noel Sing We, a kind of American Indian-haunted holiday landscape.

Songlist: Milagros de Navidad, Los Reyes de Oriente, Angels we have heard on high, A la nanita nana (Lullaby), Alla en el portal (Away in a manger), Noche de paz (Silent night), Fum fum fum, Noel Sing We, Magnificat secundi toni, Lo, how a rose e're blooming, The Star, I wonder as I wander, How brightly shines the morning star, Rise up, shepherd, an' follow, Weihnachtslieder