Hot Toddy

It's been our pleasure to have been able to perform together over the past few years. Unfortunately, Hot Toddy has now folded. Individually, we'll all still be performing, so look out for us at other events and performances around the city and throughout the year.

Tanya Chang	Soprano 1
Lynnann Anstey	Soprano 2
Ruth Leitner	Alto 1
Allyson Bycraft	Alto 2

Hot Toddy is an Ottawa-based female a cappella quartet specializing in entertainment for the holiday season. Perfect for large events, corporate or private parties, as the "main event", or as a festive welcome to put arriving guests in the holiday mood. Since we don't use instruments, we are very portable and can move from place to place in a large venue, singing a few songs here and a few songs there.

Our Clients

The Bay (Rideau)
Edward Jones Investments
Standards Council of Canada
New Orchard Lodge

Music Samples

Click on a title to listen to a 30 second music sample.

O Come All Ye Faithful

Members

Lynnann Anstey
Lynnann remembers always being surrounded by music. Heavily influenced by her talented father who played accordion and sang native Newfoundland tunes, she grew up loving music. As a result, she was naturally drawn to both her church choir and school choir through the years. She also played violin in the high school orchestra, but singing has remained her true passion.

A number of years ago, she started singing with a group of musical friends who often got together for fun to work out harmonies for their favourite songs.

Upon hearing Lynnann's beautiful sound at a wedding where both women were performers, Allyson asked Lynnann to sing lead in a new women's a cappella quartet she was starting: Solera. After Solera broke up, Lynnann and Allyson went on to form Hot Toddy.

Allyson Bycraft
Allyson has been singing in various vocal groups her whole life, leading up to an eight-year stint with the international award-winning Lions Gate Chorus, a 4-part female a cappella chorus of more than one hundred voices based in Vancouver.

Also while in Vancouver, an experienced performer in musical theatre, Allyson took advantage of her classical piano training and her love of the genre by writing the books (scripts) for two a cappella musicals performed in the late '90s: In the Heat of the Night and Licence to Sing.

In the early '90s, while living in Japan, Allyson pulled together players and singers hailing from Japan, Australia and Canada to form a country band known as The Cheatin' Hearts. She was keyboard player and backup vocalist.

Along with Lynnann, Allyson was a member of the a cappella quartet Solera which entertained Ottawa audiences for 2 years before disbanding in 2003.

Her latest passion is vocal arranging, and several of the songs performed by Solera and Hot Toddy are her creations.

Tanya Chang
Tanya has been studying music in one form or another since the age of two when she first attended Yamaha piano lessons on a six-month trial while her older sister was enrolled in classes.

Over the past ten years, Tanya has been active in the Ottawa musical theatre community, performing on-stage in productions for the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society, GOYA Theatre Productions, the Company of Musical Theatre, and the Ottawa Little Theatre. She was also the choreographer for Orpheus' 1999 production of Fiddler on the Roof and OLT's 2003 summer production of The Fantasticks. Tanya, a classical mezzo-soprano, studies voice with Yoriko Tanno-Kimmons, and enjoys singing a variety of musical styles.

Tanya is also an accomplished flautist who has performed at fundraisers, weddings and in pit orchestras for musical productions in the Ottawa area. She is also a long-time member of the Nepean Concert Band.

Ruth Leitner
Born into a musical family, Ruth started singing at the age of six in a local Youth Choir in Germany. After immigrating to Canada, she joined the St. Patrick's Basilica Youth Choir where she still sings and cantors.

Ruth also fulfilled one of her long-time dreams and started taking vocal lessons in 2002. Since then, she has participated in many competitions and concerts and won several prizes for her singing. Most recently, Ruth joined Hot Toddy as baritone (alto).