Meet The Choral Team

Anita Perlau developed her love for music as a child singing in a church choir. Following her passion, she studied at the University of Alberta and graduated with a B.Ed. in Music Education and a M.Ed. in Elementary Education. Anita also has two graduate diplomas in Orff and Kodály philosophies and completed a summer program at the Kodály Institute in Kesckemet, Hungary. 

Over the past 30 years, Anita has worked as a choral conductor, elementary music specialist, workshop clinician and sessional instructor at the University of Alberta. In 2023, Anita was honoured to receive Choir Alberta’s Con Spirito Award for her passion and dedication to choral music. She currently directs St James Anglican Church choir and One Accord community choir.

Rachel Baljeu has been playing piano since the age of five. In 2008 her love for piano led her to Grand Valley State University where she received her BA in Music.

After completing her Bachelor’s degree, she graduated from Michigan State University with Master of Music Degrees in Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy. While completing her Masters’, Rachel studied collaborative piano from notable opera conductor Alan Nathan and solo piano from Deborah Moriarty and Derek Polischuk.  

Upon finishing her studies, Rachel moved to Calgary in 2014. She is currently an accompanist for students in the Amici String Program, for singers from AvidDiva music studio and for One Accord. She also teaches private piano lessons.