Artistic Direction

Virginie Pacheco

Co-artistic director

Virginie began her musical training in France, where she graduated with Honors from the Université de Nancy with a Bachelor in Musicology. After completing diplomas in Recorder and music theory at the conservatory, Virginie settled in Montreal to pursue her Masters in Choir Conducting at the Université de Sherbrooke, under the instruction of Robert Ingari. Since completing her degree, Virginie has quickly become an acclaimed emerging conductor, winning the Iwan Edwards award in 2015 and several prizes with Adleisia in 2017 and 2019 at the National competition for amateur choirs. She has participated in masterclasses throughout the world, and in 2017 spent a summer residency with the Ontario Youth Choir under the tutelage of Elise Bradley. Currently in New Zealand, she continues to work with the choir in Canada while seizing musical opportunities in the land of the long white cloud : she has been selected as an orchestral conductor by the New Zealand Symphonic Orchestra to be part of the NZSO Conducting Fellowship in 2023.

Megan Batty

Co-artistic director

Megan Batty (she/her) is a conductor, singer, and composer based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She is thrilled to bring Choeur Adleisia’s mandate to life by championing works of living Canadian composers, particularly women and nonbinary composers. During the 2022-2023 season, she wrote and conducted two new works for Choeur Adleisia, in addition to conducting the world premiere of a new work by Adleisia’s composer-in-residence: Marie-Claire Saindon. She served as the Artistic Director for the feminist choir Choeur Maha from 2018 to 2021 (Montreal) and as Associate Conductor for Nipiit Katittut-Voices United 2017 (Ottawa/Iqaluit). Prior to that, she interned with the Cantiamo Choirs of Ottawa, the Cantabile Choirs of Kingstonand The Gryphon Trio’s Listen Up! project.

Passionate about choral music, she completed a Master’s in Choral Conducting at McGill University under Dr. Jean-Sébastien Vallée and studied voice with Maghan McPhee. She also holds an M.A. in musicology and feminist studies from McGill as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Education from Queen’s. She has presented her research internationally, most recently at PODIUM 2022, and she is the recipient of both a SSHRC grant and 2nd place in the McGill “Research Alive” student competition. In addition to her artistic practice, she works with The Drummond Foundation and serves on the board of the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums.

Laura Albrecht

Guest conductor

Laura Albrecht is a versatile and dynamic choral conductor, singer, and teacher. In April 2024, Albrecht launched a new ensemble, the Westmount Community Chorus at Victoria Hall, with a 12-week session each season. WCC is now in its 3rd session this fall. She recently graduated from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University with a Master of Music in Choral Conducting, where she assistant-conducted Concert Choir, University Chorus, and Schulich Singers under the supervision of Dr. Jean-Sebastien Vallée, Dr. Gabrielle Gaudreault, and guest conductors Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, Dr. Edith Copley, Dr. Karen Burke, and others. She served as the Teaching Assistant for the choral area for two years and was a course lecturer for an ensemble singing lab for undergraduate instrumentalists.

She presented her final master’s conducting recital in February 2024, featuring the music of Clearfield, Dyrud, Hagen, Esmail, Ešenvalds, and Dove, with string quartet, organ, and percussion. Her article on the accessibility of diverse choral music was recently published in the Fall 2023 edition of Choral Canada’s journal Anacrusis.

She was the assistant-conductor for Opera NUOVA’s productions of Jonathan Dove’s Flight and Mansfield Park, as well as completing a young artist’s conducting residency with ProCoro Canada and Michael Zaugg in Edmonton, AB in summer 2023.

This fall, Laura is a full-time staff singer at Christ Church Cathedral Montreal, she continues to conduct the Westmount Community Choir, and is thrilled to be guest-conducting Choeur Adleisia. She currently sings with the Montreal Bach Festival Choir, the OSM Choir, the A&P Choir, Les Ruggisants, the Schola of St. Joseph’s Oratory, and other ensembles throughout Montreal. She works full-time in admissions for McGill’s Schulich School of Music as her day job.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from St. Olaf College, where she studied with Anton Armstrong and Dr. Therees Hibbard, and spent part of her time studying at Westminster Choir College, working with Dr. Amanda Quist and Dr. Joe Miller. Laura lives in Montreal, Québec, Canada with her cat and her partner and likes to cook, read, write, and run marathons.