Brenda Uchimaru finished a successful thirty-seven-year career in music education as an instrumental and vocal teacher. During her time with the Hamilton, Waterloo, and York Region Boards of Education, she fulfilled the roles of department head, consultant and curriculum author. Her choirs have consistently been awarded Gold standards in MusicFest Canada Festivals and Kiwanis Festivals.
For seventeen years, Brenda was the course director of the Secondary School Music Course for the Ontario Educational Leadership Center, in addition to instructional responsibilities at OISE-University of Toronto. As a freelance musical director, Brenda has collaborated with many community music & theatre organizations, including New Faces Theatre, Hamilton Theatre Inc, Burlington Light Opera Society, Theatre Aquarius Summer Program, WEST Studio Theatre, The Oakville Players, The Players’ Guild of Hamilton and Unionville Theatre Company.
Brenda’s influence also extends to her roles as an adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor with numerous groups across Canada. Brenda has enjoyed and learned through her directorship journey with the Rotary Youth Choir of Hamilton Mountain, Harlequin Singers, Vox Nouveau Singers, and Toronto’s Bell’Arte Singers.
In addition to Kokoro, she currently directs the Cambridge Male Chorus. Retirement has now given Brenda additional time for adjudicating festivals, giving workshops and retreats for choirs, guest conducting and returning to music theatre direction. As founding Artistic Director of Kokoro, Brenda continues to enjoy creating, communicating, and sharing music with friends and ultimately, with our audiences.