Betty Ann began singing as a young girl in the church choir in her hometown in PEI. At Bishop’s University, she studied Business and also did a voice minor. She’s sung with the National Youth Choir, Ottawa Choral Society, the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society and the Savoy Society; she has taken years of private classical voice lessons; sung in Music Festival competitions.
Betty Ann played the surdo drum in Samba Ottawa; has sung solos at weddings, in church and in jazz bands at local restaurants and bars. She loves to sing classical music, but since 2006 she has been concentrating on jazz voice. Currently, Betty Ann takes private jazz vocal lessons with Christine Duncan in Toronto; sings in the NAC Orchestra’s affiliate choir, the Ottawa Festival Chorus; and is preparing for upcoming gigs with jazz pianist Miguel de Armas Laferte. She is married and works full-time as a Senior Systems IT Analyst in the federal government. She is quite busy playing gigs in the region, and recently appeared at Zola’s in Bells Corners, accompanied by Gaia Java alumnus Pierre Monfils.
For this Gaia Java performance she will be accompanied by guitarist Nathan Corr.
Nathan Corr has been playing music since he was 5, starting with piano and continuing with guitar for the past decade. He is a recent Bachelor of Music graduate from Carleton University. Although starting in a high school R&B band, and joining indie rock band Alexy & The Other Side in their Live 88.5 Big Money Shot venture, Nathan has been steadily drawn into jazz. In university, he concentrated in bebop studies under Tim Bedner and Roddy Elias. Despite his specialization, Nathan has an affinity for any music that grooves — if it shakes or shimmies, Nathan is all over it.
Betty Ann Bryanton plays Gaia Java on Stittsville Main Street at 7:00pm on May 15, 2015.