Lena Palermo B.F.A, B.ED, M.ED is the Artistic Director of the Peninsula Singers. Lena Palermo is a strong, creative, and thoughtful leader. She has pursued her studies and career in music in Victoria, in Toronto and New York City, where, in 2002 she studied choral conducting at prestigious Julliard. Lena has earned her B.F.A. and Bachelor of Education degrees and in 2019 completed her Master of Education in Leadership and Technology from UOIT.
In 1995 she created an extensive choral program at Claremont Secondary School and directed award-winning choirs, including her first musical, The Will Rogers Follies, which ran for almost thirty performances. 1995 to 2004 her Claremont choirs received National Festival Gold and Musical Theatre productions were noted for their excellence and polish. In addition to working at Claremont, Lena regularly performed professionally at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel Dinner Theatre and in The Fabulous Fridays Series at the Mary Winspear Centre.
From 2004-2016, Lena worked in Toronto performing in musical theatre, television, and film. Lena and her husband, Steve Ivings, created their own theatre and performing arts training centre, Star Potential Studios and Studio 60 Theatre. In the span of nine years, they produced fifty stage shows. Upon returning to Victoria, she continued performing and directing. In 2018 she was a featured singer in Curtain Up with pianist and arranger Bob LeBlanc and comedian and impressionist Steve Ivings, then as Mrs. Prysselius in Kaleidoscope Theatre’s production of Pippi Longstocking at the McPherson Playhouse.
In the summer of 2019, Lena was a featured member of the original Fringe production Broadway Bash, and in October 2019, as music director and choreographer for the Mary Winspear and Peninsula Players collaborative production Mamma Mia. Most recently Lena has adjudicated the Musical Theatre Voice division of the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, and she will be Concert Choir Clinician in UVIC’s Music Discoveries Series for a second time this January.
Lena is the Director for the Main Stage Musical “School of Rock” at Spectrum Secondary where she also teaches Digital Media and Design. Lena loves sharing her love of music with the Peninsula Singers and our appreciative audiences.