Betty Ann Bryanton

Betty Ann began singing at a young age in her home province of Prince Edward Island. At Bishop's University she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, but always kept music close-by, also completing a Music Minor in Voice.

Over the years, Betty Ann has sung solos in many churches and at weddings; been a member of top-notch choirs; performed at Centrepointe with Ottawa’s Orpheus Musical Theatre Society and the Savoy Society; sung on the National Arts Centre stage as a soloist and chorister; sung and won awards in Music Festival competitions; presented recitals; and taken years of private classical voice lessons. 

Around 2006, Betty Ann stumbled upon jazz. She was drawn in by the familiar melodies of the Great American Songbook - songs by Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra,... She surprised herself that she already knew many of these songs (many of them from Broadway musicals with which she was already familiar) and loved their story-telling beautiful melodies.

She was hooked! Since 2007 Betty Ann has been concentrating *almost* exclusively on vocal jazz. For many years, she took train trips to Toronto to study jazz voice with Christine Duncan. Now, she takes jazz voice lessons here and there with teachers including Rachel Beausoleil, Amy London, Dylan Pramuk, and Laura Anglade. Betty Ann performs in Ottawa, Ontario and the surrounding areas with many excellent musicians, including Miguel de Armas, Tim Bedner, Pete Woods, and Tom Denison. She is known for her charismatic and engaging stage presence and her clear, warm, emotive voice.

Outside of performance, Betty Ann works in the Information Technology field; she is a member of a classical-based salon music club, The Harmelodic Music Club, and of the Ottawa Festival Chorus where she keeps up the top-end of her voice, singing high soprano with the NAC Orchestra choirs. She is a Friend and volunteer in the JazzWorks organization, and she is a beginner ukulele player (so fun!) Somehow amongst all this, she also manages to spend some quality time with her husband and their miniature dachshund.