Guest Musicians
Janna Sailor
Conductor
Hailed by critics as “charismatic, crisp, precise, and elegant”, Janna Sailor has firmly established herself as a conductor, violinist, and groundbreaking visionary on the Canadian music scene. Originally from rural Saskatchewan, Janna is the newly appointed Director of Canadian Music Centre, Prairie Region.
Listed in 2023 on the Women in Music Canada’s “Honour Roll – 10 Female Artists to Watch”, and Winner of the Betty Webster Award for Orchestral Innovation from Orchestras Canada, Janna combines diverse experiences on the international stage with a deep sense of community, equality, and social justice.
Janna is the founder and Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Allegra Chamber Orchestra, a vibrant ensemble of professional female-identifying musicians with a social action mandate to champion the works of female minority artists and to enact change through music.
Recent engagements for Janna include Sojourn with Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducting works by Lizée, Reich, Braid and Torch Songs with Julie Nesrallah and Saskatoon Symphony. A champion of contemporary music, she also conducted YXE Divas with Saskatoon Symphony, showcasing the best female pops, rock blues and jazz singers in Saskatoon.
In 2025, Janna debuts with Vancouver Island Symphony in “Whoever said Opera was Boring?” with comedienne Natalie Choquette, and in Montréal with Ensemble Obiora in Sororité celebrating the diversity of women’s voices and impact on classical music.
Janna recently presented at the International Conductor Guild Conference in New York as well as at the Global Leaders Institute Innovation Summit in Arequipa, Peru.
In Canada, Janna has conducted major orchestras and ensembles including Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Symphony Nova Scotia, Edmonton Symphony, Regina Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Symphony New Brunswick, Vancouver InterCultural Orchestra and SMCQ (Sociète de musique contemporaine du Québec).