Lidia Khaner
Ms. Lidia Khaner is a new Artistic Director of Polonia Choir as of September 1, 2024.
She is an accomplished oboe player as well as a conductor. She has performed with various orchestras and ensembles in Canada as well as abroad with musical grace and confidence. She has collaborated with an array of world-class orchestras and musicians. Ms. Kahner’s wealth of experience in both performance and conducting exemplify her growth and success as an artist. Her numerous recordings personify not only her outstanding achievements but her artistic legacy as well.
In 2019, after 23 remarkable seasons as Principal Oboe of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO), Lidia Khaner retired from that position, eager to take on new musical challenges.
She completed a master’s degree in conducting from the University of Alberta in 2017 and has begun to gain additional experience and training in ensemble leadership. She has participated in workshops with Neil Varon (Eastman School of Music), Dirk Brossé and John Farrer (New York Chamber Orchestra Workshop), as well as with Robert Taylor, Mallory Thompson, Dale Lonis, and Craig Kirchoff.
In the summer of 2019, she participated in a workshop with the National Presidential Orchestra of Ukraine in Kyiv, led by Christopher Lyndon-Gee. She has also been chosen for the Emerging Conductor Program with Pro Coro Canada, Edmonton’s professional choir.
Ms. Khaner studied oboe in her native Poland at the Warsaw Academy of Music and graduated with distinction in 1987. As a member of the Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Chamber Orchestra, she toured around the world playing both orchestral parts and solo concerts.
During a sabbatical, she studied in Germany at the Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik with Ingo Goritzki, and played with the Deutsche Kammerakademie. Ms. Khaner played Principal Oboe with Sinfonia Helvetica from 1992 to 1997. She came to Canada to join the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 1996.
Her ESO tenure was marked with countless achievements, including dozens of performances and recordings as oboe soloist, not only with the ESO, but also with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Red Deer Symphony, and the Edmonton Chamber Orchestra.
Now that she has turned her wealth of experience and superb musicianship to a new arena, Lidia is particularly interested in using her skills to provide opportunities for emerging musicians to play alongside experienced professional musicians in a performance setting.
She is a founder, Artistic Director, and Conductor of Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, a professional ensemble only one of its kind in Edmonton. Additionally, she serves as the conductor for the River City Chamber Orchestra, a pre-professional ensemble dedicated to preparing young musicians for careers in the professional orchestral world.
Ms. Khaner displays excellent leadership qualities. This has been depicted through her past work with the
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and most recently with the Polonia Choir Society of Edmonton as its
new conductor, and Artistic Director.
Her creative vision, passion for music, dedication, aspirations, knowledge, insight, and resourcefulness will catapult the Choir to new heights. The Polonia Choir Society of Edmonton is fortunate to have Ms. Lidia Khaner as its guiding light.