Carl Sitton
The founding director, Carl Sitton, began teaching at Canada College at its inception in 1968 and was head of the voice and choral departments. He was known widely in the United States as a choral conductor and comooser. A student of the French composer, Darius Milhaud, he published over twenty-five compositions and arrangements, as well as nine commissioned scores for theater and dance and two anthems commissioned by Woodside Village Church for their centennial celebration in 1993. He was president of the Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and appeared as a conductor at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association.
Janice Gunderson
Janice Gunderson became the second artistic director of the Peninsula Master Chorale (renamed Peninsula Cantare) in January 1997 after serving as the accompanist since 1986. In 2003 Canada College discontinued its music departments, so under Janice’s leadership, Peninsula Cantare became an independent nonprofit organization. After 15 very successful years, she retired as artistic director in December 2011.