Another of Vancouver's longest-serving arts leaders has announced he'll be stepping down.

After 46 years of helming the Vancouver Chamber Choir, its founder and conductor Jon Washburn says he will step down as artistic and executive director to become conductor emeritus.

He intends to continue to lead the choir through its 47th and 48th concert seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) while the organization searches for his successor. 

"I'm sorry to be leaving the choir so soon," he said in the press announcement today, "but I should be giving some younger conductors a chance, before they, too, start reaching retirement age!"

Washburn, a Member of the Order of Canada since 2001, travels around the country and world as a guest conductor, lecturer, clinician, and master teacher, also actively composing and arranging choral music. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors in 1996 and the Louis Botto Award from Chorus America in June 2000.

He founded the chamber choir in 1971, and it is now Canada's longest-existing professional choir. Under his leadership, the organization has made over 55 recordings and received numerous awards.

Amid other recently announced local retirements and departures on the cultural scene, Bill Millerd is retiring from the Arts Club at the end of the 2017-18 season after overseeing the theatre company for more than four decades, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra maestro Bramwell Tovey is set to step down in August 2018, making him that organization's longest-serving music director.