Chamber Music and Opera: Interplay

Joel is known for pushing the boundaries of opera, and has been called “Canadian opera’s enfant not-so-terrible.” In 2010, he founded Against the Grain Theatre in Toronto and served as its Artistic Director until 2023. Joel has adapted and translated over ten operas presented in unexpected venues, and was named an Arts Hero by The Globe and Mail in 2020 for his work directing the critically-acclaimed digital Messiah/Complex. He has also directed over 50 productions for opera companies across North America and Europe including The Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, and Minnesota Opera.  He is currently Artistic Director for Edmonton Opera.

Megumi Masaki is a pianist, multimedia performing artist, educator and curator. She is recognized as an innovator that reimagines the piano, pianist and performance space. Her work pushes boundaries of interactivity between sound, image, text and movement in multimedia works through new technologies, including hand-gesture-motion tracking to generate and control live-electronics and live-video, AI, 3D visuals, keyboard-controlled computer game, e-textile sensors and active infra-red tracking. As a Japanese-Canadian artist, her work also explores how human rights and environmental issues can intersect and be communicated through music. Over 70 compositions have been created with/for Megumi and she has premiered 150 works worldwide. Megumi was appointed to the Order of Manitoba and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
www.megumimasaki.com

Amiel Gladstone is a West Coast based writer and director.

Recent opera includes Rattenbury and Tosca for Pacific Opera Victoria, Dark Sisters and Lucia di Lammermoor for Vancouver Opera, as well as several operas for young folks for Vancouver Opera In Schools.

As a director, his productions have been both site specific in unusual venues and in traditional theatres, with companies such as the Alberta Theatre Projects, Arts Club, Belfry, Caravan Farm Theatre, Factory Theatre, Firehall, the Guild in Whitehorse, Musical Stage Co, Theatre Replacement, Theatre Conspiracy, Theatre SKAM, Vancouver Playhouse, and the PuSh Festival.

As a playwright, his plays have been produced by Alberta Theatre Projects, Belfry Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, the National Arts Centre, Solo Collective, Western Edge Theatre, Theatre SKAM, as well as internationally in the United States, France, and Romania.

Soprano Christina Bell hails from Goderich, Ontario.  Christina is frequently featured in Concert, Opera, and Oratorio across North America.  Recent performances include Paquette in Candide with North York Concert Orchestra in June 2023 as well as a recital tour across Southwestern Ontario in August of 2023.  A graduate from University of Toronto with a Diploma in Operatic Performance Christina sang the roles of Mrs. Baggett in Footsteps in Campbell House, Lady with a Cake Box in Dominick Argentos’ Postcard from Morocco, Lady Billows in Brittens’ Albert Herring, Donatella in Encouters, as well as being a part of Last Days. a new production with Tim Albery and David Fallis.  Over the recent years Christina has attended the Mainstage/Ensemble Programs at Opera on the Avalon (2015, 2014), The Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (2013, 2015), Halifax Summer Opera Festival (2014), St.Andrews Summer Opera Workshop (2016).  Other recent operatic performances include Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Liliana in Miracle Flight 571 with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Portia in Le marchand de Venise, Cousin Hebe from Gilbert & Sullivans’ HMS Pinafore, Mrs.Grose in The Turn of the Screw, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helena in Brittens’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  
 
In 2015 Christina had the privilege of representing Canada with the Toronto Korean-Canadian Choir as a soloist for Vivaldis’ Gloria and sang Arirang as the soprano soloist during the performance of the Korean Folk Songs with Symphonia Toronto.  Christina has been a member of the Canadian Opera Company Chorus since 2015 and when she is not on a stage, she can be found exploring her passion for arts administration and management.

Holly is an operatic vocal coach, collaborative pianist and répétiteur based in Montreal, QC. A graduate of Opera de Montreal’s Atelier Lyrique Young Artist Training Program (2018-2021), she currently works as Artistic and Administrative associate for the program. Most recently, Holly worked as principal repetiteur on Don Giovanni (NAC, Ottawa/Banff Arts Centre), Cosi Fan Tutte (Opéra Kelowna) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Opéra de Montréal).

This year, Holly was also seen on projects such as Bluebeard’s Castle (Against the Grain Theatre), Madama Butterfly (Opera de Montreal), as well as a new music workshops of Cusson/Vavrek’s Indians on Vacation, as well Ricketts/Vavrek’s Cremation of Sam McGee. 

Other production credits include Riders to the Sea/Le Flambeau de la nuit by Vaughn Williams/Tanguay-Labrosse (Opera de Montreal), Bizet’s Les pecheurs de perles (Jeunesse Musicales du Canada) , Cosi Fan Tutte (Edmonton Opera) and Die Zauberflote (Opera de Montreal), and Prestini/Vavrek’s Silent Light (Banff Centre). 

Amanda Testini (she/her) is a performer, choreographer and director based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She has worked at the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, the Cultch, Theatre Replacement, the Firehall, the Belfry, Opera Kelowna, the Gateway, Savage Society, Theatre Under the Stars, VACT, Carousel Theatre, shameless hussy productions, Neworld Theatre, Speakeasy Theatre, the Electric Company, Vancouver Opera,  and Axis Theatre. Some of her career highlights include assistant choreographing Onegin (Arts Club/Belfry), touring Canda playing lead character ‘Justine Chambers’ in Love Bomb (Shameless Hussy Productions), choreographing 4 East Van Pantos with Theatre Replacement, playing ‘Lydia Wickham’ in Miss Benett: Christmas at Pemberly, and assistant directing La Cenerentola (Vancouver Opera). Most recently, she was the 21/22 Yulanda M Faris Young Artist Stage Director at Vancouver Opera where she directed Cavalleria Rusticana: in Concert, Blond Eckbert, and choreographed and assistant directed HMS Pinafore.  Currently, she is part of developing a contemporary dance show to Laura Reznek’s new record, Agrimony, led by Sophie Dow. Amanda is so grateful to be here at the Banff Centre to continue to develop her craft and dive into the rich world of opera. She also acknowledges the support of the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Bill Millerd Artist Fund. Amanda is a Jessie Award Nominee and a graduate of Studio 58.

Brooklyn-based composer, pianist, and conductor Daniel Schlosberg’s music has been performed by the Dover Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Nashville and Albany Symphonies, at Carnegie Hall, (le) poisson rouge, Royal Albert Hall, Beijing Modern Music Festival, and David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, and has also been featured in the New York Times and WNYC’s Soundcheck. Daniel has received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. He has composed for and music directed at the Soho Repertory Theater, Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Playwrights Horizons. Current projects include composition and music direction for Jeremy O. Harris’s A Boy’s Company Presents (premiering Summer ‘23), music direction for Anthony Roth Costanzo and Justin Vivian Bond’s Only an Octave Apart at Wilton’s Music Hall in London (October ‘22) and at the Spoleto Festival (June ‘23), and The Extinctionist, a new opera for Heartbeat Opera (premiering Spring ‘24). Daniel is the Music Director of Heartbeat Opera, for which his radical re-orchestrations of classic operas have been praised by the Wall Street Journal as “ingenious.” In addition to collaborations with Angel Blue, Ariana DeBose, Ben Stiller, Tony Kushner, Anthony McGill, and the Imani Winds, Schlosberg was a pianist on the Grammy-winning soundtrack of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and a featured soloist in Only an Octave Apart with the New York Philharmonic.

Lesley (she/her) is excited to be spending time in the mountains again this summer! Working primarily in opera, she has been on the stage management team at the Canadian Opera Company for over 25 years, and has been the stage manager for opera productions at the Glenn Gould School for the past 10 years.  Favourite credits include: Don Pasquale, Fidelio, Tosca, Pomegranate, Die Walkure, Salome, Traviata (COC); Flight, Rinaldo, The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus, Svadba, Cendrillon (CGS).

Some of her other favourite credits include: Figaro’s Wedding, Kopernikus, A Little Too Cozy (Against the Grain Theatre); Orphée (AGT/Opera Columbus/Banff Centre); Gould’s Wall, Shanawdithit (Tapestry Opera); The Queen In Me (Amplified Opera/Nightwood Theatre).

She has also enjoyed stage managing for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, Soundstreams, Tafelmusik, the University of Toronto Opera School, and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

If you’re from the North, Leela Gilday’s music is home. If you’ve never been, it will take you there. Born and raised in the Northwest Territories, she writes about the people and the land that created her. The power in her voice conveys the depth of her feelings of love and life in a rugged environment and vibrant culture, as if it comes straight from that earth. Leela’s family is from Délįne on the shore of Great Bear Lake and her rich vocals dance across the rhythmic beats of traditional Dene drumming as smoothly as a bass line onstage the largest venues in the country. And she has played them all. 

Leela has toured festivals and concert halls with her four-piece band through every province and territory in Canada. She has played in the United States, Greenland, Denmark, and New Zealand, and recently embarked on an ambitious European tour. Her live shows are where she connects with fans who have followed her on a 20-year career and where new fans are born. She reaches into their hearts and feels the energy of every person in front of her as she guides them on a journey through song and experience. She believes music has an inexplicable effect on people. It is a place where she can share light and dark and the most vulnerable moments, with a clarity and genuine purpose that reassures her listeners through every word. She is a storyteller, and through this, reflects the world onto itself. 

Leela’s fifth album “North Star Calling” won the 2021 Juno Award for Indigenous Artist/Group of the Year, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year, and Roots Album of the Year at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards. It is more raw, more intimate and more Leela than anything you’ve heard from her before. 

Elizabeth Bowman was appointed as Editor-In-Chief of Opera Canada magazine in May 2022. Before moving to the editorial side, she founded and ran Bowman Media, a boutique communications firm with a special focus on the arts for over a decade with clients that included the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conductor James Gaffigan, soprano Joyce El-Khoury, mezzo soprano Wallis Giunta, and more. The firm focused on public relations, design, branding, marketing, and social media strategy. She was the Executive Assistant to the General Director (Alexander Neef) and Board Administrator of the Canadian Opera Company from 2008-2010. She holds a post-graduate diploma in Arts Administration and Cultural Management and a Bachelor of Music.

A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, celebrated American soprano Karen Slack has garnered international renown for her artistic ver-satility, charisma and entrepreneurial endeavors. She has received critical acclaim for her dynamic and passionate performances in both lead operatic roles and on the concert stage, and as a sought-after collaborator who is known as a leader and advocate, as a curator and artistic advisor, and for her ground-breaking approach to engagement. 

Lisette Oropesa, a leading lyric coloratura, graces prestigious opera houses globally, including The Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, and more. Renowned for her liquid legato and diverse repertoire spanning Bel Canto, Mozart, Händel, French and Spanish composers, Lisette most performed roles include Violetta, Lucia, Gilda, and Konstanze.

In the 2022/2023 season, she triumphed in Händel’s Alcina, portrayed Gilda at the MET, Amalia in I Masnadieri, Ophélie in Hamlet, and debuted as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette. Career highlights include Covent Garden's La Traviata, Teatro Real’s Lucia di Lammermoor, and I Capuleti e I Montecchi at Teatro alla Scala. Notable debuts include Elvira in I Puritani and Queen Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots.

Beyond opera, Lisette captivates audiences worldwide with solo concerts and recitals in cities like Vienna, Tokyo, New York City, and Rio de Janeiro, solidifying her status as a cherished interpreter of art song. Besides her two recordings of recital repertoire, Lisette has award winning orchestral recordings of La Traviata, Mozart Concert Arias, and French Bel Canto arias. 

Ian Cusson is a composer of art song, opera and orchestral work. Of Métis (Georgian Bay Métis Community) and French Canadian descent, his work explores Canadian Indigenous experience including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures. He studied composition with Jake Heggie (San Francisco) and Samuel Dolin, and piano with James Anagnoson at the Glenn Gould School. He is the recipient of the Chalmers Professional Development Grant, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Award, and grants through the Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. Ian was an inaugural Carrefour Composer-in-Residence with the National Arts Centre Orchestra for 2017-2019 and was Composer-in-Residence for the Canadian Opera Company for 2019-2021. He was a Co-artistic Director of Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre and the recipient of the 2021 Jan V. Matejcek Classical Music Award from SOCAN. Ian is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers. He lives in Oakville with his wife and four children.

Royce Vavrek (Librettist) is a librettist and lyricist whose opera Angel’s Bone with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music. He is known for his diverse collaborations with composers including David T. Little (Dog Days, Am I Born, JFK), Missy Mazzoli (Song from the Uproar, Breaking the Waves, Proving Up), Ricky Ian Gordon (27, The House Without a Christmas Tree), Joshua Schmidt (Midwestern Gothic), Paola Prestini (Yoani, The Hubble Cantata) and Gregory Spears (O Columbia). Recent projects include Film Stills, a series of operatic monologues for mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti, directed by R.B. Schlather and composed by Du Yun, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Paola Prestini; Jacqueline with composer Luna Pearl Woolf; Song of America: Beyond Liberty created for Thomas Hampson with director Francesca Zambello; and a new opera with David T. Little through the Met/LCT commissioning program. Royce is co-Artistic Director of The Coterie, an opera-theater.

Kamna Gupta is an American Prize-winning conductor experienced in operatic, orchestral, and choral repertoires. Several premieres mark her 2023-24 season: Ms. Gupta leads the Trinity Church Wall Street Choirs and NOVUS in Luna Pearl Woolf’s new oratorio Number Our Days, and returns to Spoleto Festival USA to conduct the world premiere of Ruinous Gods. In addition to these, Ms. Gupta makes her Washington National Opera debut as the cover conductor for Songbird, joins the faculty of Banff Center for Arts and Creativity for their chamber opera program, and returns to Tapestry Opera to conduct Rocking Horse Winner which she recorded to much acclaim during the pandemic and was featured on CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Recent credits include Les pêcheurs de perles with Vancouver Opera, In Our Daughter’s Eyes with LA Opera and The Prototype Festival, and the world premiere of The Rip Van Winkles at The Glimmerglass Festival.

Sandra Horst is a conductor and educator based in Toronto. In addition to making her conducting debut with the Canadian Opera Company in Il viaggio a Reims, she is also the Price Family Chorus Master, with repertoire spanning more than 70 operas.

As Director of Musical Studies for Opera at the University of Toronto she has conducted repertoire on the main stage ranging from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, to Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing. Last fall, with the first live audience in three years, she conducted a triple bill of Hin und Zurück (Hindemith), Monsieur Choufleuri (Offenbach) and Gallantry (Moore) and in spring, Arthur Benjamin’s A Tale of Two Cities. 

Sandra was a guest faculty member of Open Space: Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity and she is also a frequent Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition judge. Ms Horst served as Chorus Master and audition consultant for Opera Theatre of St Louis, Chorus Master for Edmonton Opera, and has been on the music staff of the Canadian Opera Company, Juilliard Opera Centre, Chautauqua Institute School of Singing, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Ontario. She currently serves as an industry mentor for Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program. 
Recognized as one of the 100 Alumni of Achievement, in 2019 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a Masters degree in Accompaniment from New England Conservatory, Boston. An active collaborator, she has been heard in recital with Brandon Cedel, Michael Schade and Marie Berard, Erin Wall, Myles Mykkanen and Elena Tsaligova. Recent conducting performances include Orphée+ with Edmonton Opera and Florence, the Lady with the Lamp with Voicebox: Opera in Concert. 

Michael is a Nigerian-Canadian writer and editor published in The Globe and Mail, Opera Canada, The Journal of Physiology, and more. He is the Chief Editor of Cannopy Magazine and Managing Editor of the Toronto Symphony. His interests in music include the operas of Britten, symphonies of Sibelius, and piano works of Chopin and Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. He is also a University of Toronto graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Master of Health Science in Medical Physiology with subspecialty in cardiovascular science. He continues his work in health science as Editorial Consultant at Qanatpharma and contributing writer at the Cardiac Catheterization lab at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. As a formerly homeless youth, his mission in the arts is to increase the accessibility of Toronto’s performing arts across all economic and demographic barriers. Elsewhere, he's an avid runner, connoisseur of basketball-related gossip, and a bicycle enthusiast with permanent helmet-hair.

American tenor and voice teacher Jason Ferrante has been praised by Opera News for "singing up a stylish storm" and by the Sarasota Herald Tribune as "one of the best voices I have heard"  In the past two seasons, he has been heard as Beadle Bamford in a new production of Sweeney Todd with Opera Omaha, Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro in his debut with Virginia Opera and Knoxville Opera, the Fourth Jew in Salome in his debut with Tulsa Opera and a debut with the Palm Beach Symphony as tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem conducted by Gerard Schwarz. He has performed over 80 roles on the operatic stage and has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras including the Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Juilliard and National Symphony Orchestras. In addition to his two-decade stage career, Ferrante has become one of the most in-demand voice teachers in the opera world, teaching professionals who appear on the stages of the world and teaching singers in training programs at the opera companies of Minnesota, Pensacola, Nashville, Portland, Wolf Trap, Arizona and Brevard. He is a regular judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and leads the classical voice discipline for YoungArts.   

Frances Thielmann, of Vancouver, British Columbia, completed her master’s degree in collaborative piano in 2019 at the University of Toronto where she studied with esteemed pianist, Steven Philcox. She also holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction in piano performance from the University of Victoria, where she was the recipient of multiple scholarships for her high level of performance both on stage and academically.

Throughout her university years, Frances studied a broad range of repertoire from art song to opera at summer intensive programs such as the Franz Schubert Institute, Opera NUOVA, and Toronto Summer Music. Her professional opera experience includes one year as an apprentice coach with the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, and two years with the Canadian Opera Company’s ensemble studio from 2020-2022. One significant highlight from her time at the COC ensemble studio was music directing and playing orchestral piano for the premiere of Ian Cusson’s opera, Fantasma in March 2022. After graduating from the COC ensemble studio in May 2022, Frances was one of five pianists selected internationally to participate in the prestigious Music Academy of the West summer festival in Santa Barbara, California.

In August 2022, Frances moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where she is the head coach and repetiteur for all productions at Edmonton Opera. She is thrilled to be joining the faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts’ Opera in the 21st century program, where she will be lead pianist on the workshop of Mary Kouyoumdijan and Royce Vavrek’s opera Adoration.

The artistic journey I have been on as a performer of both well-established favourites and truthful new works dealing specifically with cultural stories and Indigenous realities has made me into a more out-spoken, listening and inclusive human. The realization that increased understanding and support is absolutely necessary while living in these truths and while recovering from telling these stories, after the curtain has dropped, has led me to the various roles that I play now. As a mezzo soprano I choose the projects I engage in carefully for who is writing, leading, performing and producing the work. As a co-founder of Amplified Opera I aim to set an example of how companies can produce stories that raise up those not traditionally represented in opera in a manner that fits the artistic and cultural needs of the artists and stories. As a Kwagiulth, Coast Salish, English, Irish, Scottish person (she/her) I come from long lines of artists and story-tellers. Navigating life balancing the perspectives that I hold is a responsibility and a privilege. As an artistic advisor I share my views with arts organizations to help create a healthier climate for all. As a teacher I always want to create an environment in which there is an understanding that we all learn from each other. Gilakas’la. 

PATRICIA SHIH, Violinist, became a pupil of the legendary Josef Gingold at Indiana University at age 14. He described her as "one of the greatest talents that I have ever taught. Her great technique, inborn musicality, sense of style and virtuosity are unequalled." Patricia has appeared worldwide as soloist and recitalist in major halls including Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York performing the Wieniawski Concerto No. 1 at age 15. The same year, she won the Special prize at the Wieniawski International Competition in Poland. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Sylva Gelber Award for the most outstanding young Canadian musician and the Mozarteum prize in Salzburg. Patricia has performed as guest soloist with major orchestras such as Royal Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, Toronto, Singapore and Seattle Symphonies, National Orchestra of Mexico, Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Polish National Radio Orchestra. Her DVD of Vitali's Chaconne was featured on the Classic FM Channel across Europe. Recently, a half-hour documentary on Patricia's career was televised on the Biography Channel across North America. Patricia is a member of the Borealis Quartet.

Violin: Lorenzo Storioni (Cremona, c 1780)

YUEL YAWNEY, Violinist, has performed extensively in Canada, the United States and the Czech Republic, where he completed his advanced training at the Prague Academy with Joseph Suk. He also studied at the Harid Conservatory in Florida and at Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Texas. Frequently appearing as soloist and chamber musician, he has been heard at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Summer Festival, Domaine Forget and the Scotia Festival. Yuel is a member of the Borealis Quartet.

Violin: Giovanni Battista Rogeri (Cremona, 1698)
 

Violinist Cordelia Paw is a versatile musician currently serving as Concertmaster of Sinfonia Rotterdam in The Netherlands, where she currently resides. Regularly invited as a guest concertmaster, her recent invitations include engagements in Belgium, Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands. Much sought after as chamber musician and soloist, recent performances include the Brahms Double Concerto with cellist, Harriet Krijgh (Sinfonia Rotterdam, conductor Conrad van Alphen) and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Sara Kuijken (l’Orchestra des Pays de Savoie, conductor Sigiswald Kuijken) on a tour of France. As a member of the former Tessera and Sospiro Quartets, they have given concerts at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, The Royal Concertgebouw, and recorded for Albany Records. Ms. Paw has been a guest artist at Distinguished Concerts International New York, Bari International Music Festival, Lake Canandaigua Music Festival in New York, and Musicalis Daunia in southern Italy. Her Sinfonia Rotterdam season began with performances by Maxim Vengerov at The Royal Concertgebouw hall followed by a concert tour in China with concerts in Hangzhou, the Lian Hua Shan Music Festival in Shenzhen, and the Qintai Music Festival in  uhan. Upcoming Sinfonia season highlights include tours to Turkey and Brazil and Cordelia will also serve as concertmaster at the prestigious Rachmaninov Mikhail Pletnev Festival 2024. Later in the 2024 season, she will serve as guest concertmaster with  Noord Nederlands Orkest and as associate concertmaster of Het Nationale Balletorkest.

Cordelia holds degrees from the Boston Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and received the coveted Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music, where she was also twice-awarded the Broadus Erle Prize and taught chamber music at Yale College. She has  been honoured to serve as artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre and received The Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency. Her teachers include Hyo Kang, Naoko Tanaka, Lynn Chang, Edmond Agopian, Paul Kantor, and Vera Beths, with whom she studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Cordelia grew up one hour from Banff spending summers at the Banff Masterclasses, chamber music, and orchestra festivals, and watching the BISQ competition with her family. She currently plays on a Eugéne Sartory bow and a Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin generously loaned to her by the Banff Centre in Canada.

NIKITA POGREBNOY, Violist, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia where he graduated from the world-famous St. Petersburg Conservatory with highest honors. He then came to the United States by the invitation of Victor Rosenbaum, the Director of the Longy School of Music who after hearing his performance, awarded him a full scholarship to study in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nikita is the winner of the Valentino Bucchi International Competition in Rome, Italy. Since then he has appeared as both soloist and with various chamber ensembles across Russia, Spain, Central America and the United States. He has also performed at numerous festivals including the International Musical Arts Institute in Fryeburg, Maine, and the Colorado Music Festival among others. He has been broadcast on both television and radio in the United States, including the National Public Radio which aired nationwide. Nikita is a member of the Borealis Quartet.

Viola: Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza (Milano, 1791)

Cellist, Sungyong Lim, graduated with honors from the renowned Yewon School and the Seoul School of the Arts before entering the Korea National University of Arts. During his university studies, he decided to advance his musical education in Europe. Accepted by the Detmold Musik Hochschule in Germany, he earned a bachelor's degree, master's degree, a konzertexamen's degree in cello performance. Sungyong graduated at the top of his class, with a comprehensive performance repertoire and with considerable teaching experience.

Among his many musical achievements, Sungyong has received accolades from the DAAD (Deutdcher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) and from his performance at the German Chamber Music Competition. He continues to receive invitations for solo engagements from organizations such as the German Johannes-Brahms-Saal, and Detmold Konzert Hause, as well as from musical groups in Switzerland , France, Luxembourg, Germany and Korea. Sung Yong has also concertized as an outstanding artist in the French Flaine International Masterclass, the Courchevel Music Festival, the Swiss Lugano Music Festival and the Swiss Sion Music Festival. In addition, he performed, by invitation at music concerts with the Navara Music Festival, and had concerts under Kurt Masur. He also attended the Master classes of famous music professors, such as Lauren Lesser, Christoph Henkel, Xenia Jankovich, Yong Chang Cho and Praha Trio.

His musical talents have been influenced by many recognized artists with whom he studied, including Marcio Carneiro, Johnes Goritzki, Alexander Gebert, Aurin Qurtet, and Sung Won Yang. Sungyong has played as the principal cellist of both the German Detmold Orchestra and the Mosy Chamber Orchestra. Also, he regularly performed in many chamber music concerts, with duos, trios and quartets in Korea and Germany. Sungyong currently teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and since 2015, he has been a member of the Borealis String Quartet.

Flutist Dr. Paolo Bortolussi is a soloist, chamber artist, and new music pioneer. Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada, the US and abroad. A specialist in contemporary music, Paolo is the flutist and co-director of the Nu:BC Collective, a new music and multimedia arts ensemble in residence at the University of British Columbia. To date he has premiered over one hundred and fifty solo and chamber works, including concerti written for him by Jian-Ping Tang, Dorothy Chang, Aaron Gervais, and Jocelyn Morlock, whose concerto “Ornithomancy”, commissioned with funds from the Canada Council, was premiered by Paolo and the Vancouver Island Symphony in April 2013. In 2016, Paolo released his first solo album, Israfel – music for flute and electronics, on the Redshift label, which includes works by Keith Hamel, Larry Lake, John Oliver, and Kaija Saariaho. The album received two nominations at the 2016 Western Canadian Music Awards, including Artist of the Year.

Currently principal flutist with the Vancouver Island Symphony, Paolo has appeared as soloist multiple times with the VIS as well as the Albany (NY) Symphony and the Turning Point Ensemble, and has performed with the Aventa Ensemble, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, The Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, as well as the Vancouver and Victoria Symphony Orchestras. He is a featured soloist on Vancouver Visions, a Centredisc release of Stephen Chatman’s music as well as Mirages, a CD of chamber works by Dorothy Chang. In 2014, Beyond Shadows, The Nu:BC Collective’s first CD was released on the Redshift label, featuring music by Dorothy Chang, Marc Mellits, and specially commissioned works by Brian Cherney and Chris Paul Harman.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa (B.Mus) and the Indiana University School of Music (M.Mus, D.M.A), Paolo serves on the music faculties of the University of British Columbia, where he co-directs the Contemporary Players Ensemble, as well as Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trinity Western University.

Flutist Jeffrey Stonehouse performs on stage across Canada and abroad with several Quebec ensembles and orchestras, including the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, of which he is a permanent musician. Very active in the Montreal new music scene, he is the co-founder and artistic director of Paramirabo and the artistic director of the specialized presenter, Le Vivier.

The multi-award-winning Spanish clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester (FrAHnk Bai-yess-TAIR) is considered one of the finest classical soloists and chamber music artists of his generation. He has been hailed for his “technical wizardry and tireless enthusiasm” (The New York Times), his “rich, resonant tone” (Birmingham News), and his “subtle and consummate artistry” (Santa Barbara Independent). The recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008, and winner of both the Young Concert Artists and Astral Artists auditions, he is a solo artist and chamber musician in great demand.

As a concerto soloist Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York debut in 2006 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center. He has also performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and various orchestras in his native Spain.

Mr. Franch-Ballester made his New York recital debut at the 92nd Street Y, and has appeared in recital at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Iowa State University, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. He performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York City and on tour, and also acts as principal clarinet of the Santa Barbara-based chamber music collective Camerata Pacifica.

U.S. festival appearances include the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Mainly Mozart, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, and Skaneateles Festival. Abroad, Mr. Franch-Ballester has appeared at the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Cartagena Festival Internacional de Música in Colombia, the Kon-Tiki Festival in Norway, and the Young Concert Artists Festival in Tokyo.

Dr. Joel Brennan enjoys a diverse career as a performer and teacher. He has performed with orchestras around the globe, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), Rotterdam Philharmonic (Netherlands), Winnipeg Symphony (Canada), Malaysian Philharmonic, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (Turkey), and has served as principal trumpet of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Japan) and Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra (Netherlands).

A proponent of contemporary music and chamber music, Joel has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works, with a particular emphasis on working with emerging composers and those from underrepresented demographics. He is a member of Ensemble Three, a unique trio of trumpet, trombone, and guitar which has been praised as “an inspiring example of forward-thinking classical music culture” and won the 2017 Melbourne Recital Centre Contemporary Masters Award. He is also a member of Lyrebird Brass, a collective of players dedicated to performing the finest brass chamber music.

Joel received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music before pursuing graduate studies at the Yale School of Music from which he is a recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Awarded a Fulbright Grant 2007, Joel spent a year performing, teaching, and studying in the Netherlands.

Deeply devoted to education, Joel is Associate Professor of Music Performance at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (University of Melbourne, Australia). He has also served on the faculty of Brandon University (Canada) and the Juilliard School's campus in Tianjin (China) where he worked with students in the pre-college program and graduate school in addition to performing with the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble. He has been a guest teaching artist at the Australasian Trumpet Academy, Danish/German Brass Academy, and Oberlin Trumpet Workshop. He is the creator of "Poper's Game," a unique practice app for trumpet players.

Joel is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Beverley Johnston is one of Canada’s leading percussionists. Over the years, she has commissioned and performed many works by leading Canadian composers some of which have become a staple of the standard percussion repertory around the world. In honour of her exemplary commitment to the performance of the music of Canadian composers, she has been awarded the distinction of “Canadian Music Centre Ambassador” and has also been nominated for the 2023 ‘Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance’.

She has established her reputation beyond the border of her native Canada where she tours and performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. She has been invited to numerous internationally renowned marimba and percussion festivals over the years and has recorded seven solo albums. She can be heard as soloist and chamber musician on many other recordings. 

Beverley teaches at the University of Toronto and is a Marimba One and Paiste Artist. 

Rod Thomas Squance is recognized as one of Canada’s most exciting musicians, very active as a soloist and collaborative percussion artist in chamber, orchestral, jazz and world music. He has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, Paquito de Rivera, Dong-Won Kim, Prafulla Athalye and Sandeep Das. He performs as a soloist regularly with past recitals broadcast nationally by the CBC.

Rod holds a doctoral degree from the University of Miami. Formally trained as a classical percussionist, he also plays jazz vibraphone and is an accomplished improviser in diverse styles. He is experienced in the field of ethnomusicology, with expertise in Balinese gender wayang shadow theatre music, having completed field research with I Ketut Sukayana in Sukawati village, Bali. He is an experienced performer of North Indian classical raga music and has studied Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Rod currently teaches ethnomusicology and performance at the University of Calgary.

Eric Le Sage is established as a famous representative of the French piano school, regularly boasted for his very subtle sound, his real sense of structure and poetic phrasing. Already when he was 20 years old, the Financial Times had described him as “an extremely cultivated disciple of the great French tradition of Schumann piano”. In 2010, die Zeit, praised his “ideal French piano aesthetics and clarity”.

Eric is invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras at the highest level such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Saint-Louis Symphony Orchestra, Berlin’s Konzerthaus Orchester, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Bremer Philharmoniker, Dresden Philharmonie, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Münchner Kammer Orchester, Dresdner Philharmonie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with conductors like Edo de Waart, Stéphane Denève, Pablo Gonzalez, Fabien Gabel, Sir Jeffrey Tate, François Leleux, Alexander Liebreich, Kazuki Yamada, Alondra de la Parra, Lionel Bringuier, François Leleux, Michael Stern, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Sir Simon Rattle and Yannick Nézet-Seguin.

Eric has performed recitals and chamber music concerts in major venues across the world such as Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, Paris Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Radio France, Cologne Philharmonie, Essen Philharmonie, Dresden Philharmonie, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Schwartzenberg’s Schubertiade, Salzburg Mozarteum, Ludwigsburg Festival, Prague’s Rudolfinium, Taipei National Concert Hall, Konzerthaus Vienna, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Dublin’s celebrity series, Edinburgh International Festival, Düsseldorf Tonhalle, la Roque d’Anthéron Festival, Potsdam Sanssouci, Brussels’ Bozar, Berlin’s Boulezsaal, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie.

Eric Le Sage released many albums, all of which were critically acclaimed and received multiple awards. Besides his world-famous Schumann cycle in 2010 that were awarded the very prestigious Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, other milestones include Francis Poulenc's complete chamber works with piano (BMG, 1998), Fauré¹s complete works for chamber music with piano, and Brahms complete chamber music works (B-Records, 2021).

Two magnificent albums were released in 2022: A Mozart album under the baton of his longtime stage partner François Leleux and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra on Alpha (concertos n° 17&24) and a solo album on Sony Classical featuring rare French repertoire from the beginning of the 20th century. In the last few years Eric released Fauré’s complete Nocturnes on Alpha (2019) and Beethoven's last 3 Sonatas (2014). Other recent chamber music recordings include collaborations with such artists as tenor Julian Pregardien for a Schumann album (2019) or Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Daishin Kashimoto, Aurélien Pascal and more for albums around repertoire from Vienna in the 1900s, and works by Nino Rota.

A true chamber music lover, Eric regularly plays with friends like Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Quatuor Ebène, François Leleux, Jean-Guihen Queyras, les Vents Français, François Salque, Lise Berthaud, Daishin Kashimoto, Claudio Bohorquez, Julian Prégardien, Sandrine Piau, Olivier Latry and many other musicians.

Born in Aix en Provence, Eric Le Sage was the winner of major international competitions such as Porto in 1985 and the Robert Schumann competition in Zwickau, in 1989. He was also a prize-winner at Leeds International competition the same year, which allowed him to perform under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Eric Le Sage is Professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany.

Annette Saunders studied at the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music as a pianist, accompanist and repetiteur where she won many prizes. She was recently awarded an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. 

Since 1996 she has worked for Opera North, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Garsington Opera, Buxton Festival, RCM, RAM, the Britten-Pears School at Aldeburgh, and the Jette Parker Young Artists at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. This includes coaching singers and playing the harpsichord, fortepiano, celeste and organ in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to My Fair Lady and contemporary opera. She was the Head of Music at Buxton Festival for seven years and joined the permanent music staff at Opera North in 2016 where she is now the Assistant Head of Music.

As a chamber musician and song accompanist she has given numerous concerts across the UK and Europe including several broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. 

In February 2022 she released her debut album under Warner Classics: "Mozart and Strauss Oboe concertos" with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & Daniel Barenboim. Highly acclaimed by the critics, it was rated with 5-stars by the BBC Music Magazine: “Mozart and Strauss works that mesmerise the ears".
Cristina Gómez Godoy takes on the 2023-24 season with numerous exciting performances, including concerts as a soloist with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra. In addition, she will complete her three years-residency as a "Junge Wilde" artist at the Konzerthaus Dortmund in December 2023.
She develops an intense activity as soloist and chamber musician. Gómez made in 2019 her recital debuts at Carnegie Hall and Pierre Boulez Saal with the pianist Michail Lifits. Shortly after, she was selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) as "Rising Star" for the season 2020-21.

Recent highlights include appearances as a soloist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Festival Strings Lucerne, Saarländisches Staatsorchester, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia. Past solo concerts have also been held with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Stettin Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Cristina frequently collaborates with such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Guy Braunstein, Pablo Ferrández, Mario Häring, Radek Baborak, Sophie Dervaux, Sara Ferrández, Calidore String Quartet, Streichquartett der Staatskapelle Berlin and Castalian String Quartet, at renowned festivals and halls such a Ravinia Festival(USA), Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Liceo de Cámara XXI, East Neuk Festival, Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, Elbphilharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, Mozarteum, Konserthuset Stockholm, Berlin Philharmonie, Sage Gateshead, Köln Philharmonie, Barbican Centre, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Müpa Budapest, Bozar Brussels, Casa da Música in Porto, L’Auditori and Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and Vienna Musikverein.
Born in Linares (Spain) in 1990. Her musical education took place at the conservatories of Linares, Jaén and Seville while she simultaneously joined the Academia de Estudios Orquestales of the Barenboim-Said Foundation at the early age of 14. She finished her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock. 
She was a Prizewinner at the 60th ARD International Music Competition including the BR-Klassik Prize and at the Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen.
In 2013, Gómez was appointed principal solo oboist of the Staatskapelle Berlin under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. Furthermore, she is since October 2015 and adjunct professor at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK).
 

Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg who works across Turtle Island. Her works include the plays The Unplugging and Annie Mae’s Movement, the dance-opera Bearing, the libretto Shanawdithit, the short play-for-film Katharsis, the VR piece Reconciling. She recently co-created Wreckonciliation with Marion Newman and Melody Courage at Opera Kelowna, and is working on a musical adaptation of The Englishman’s Boy with Ian Cusson, Allan Gilliland, Josh Languedoc, Vern Thiessen and Royce Vavrek. Other directing projects include Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade at Stratford Festival, Julie Tamiko Manning’s Mizushōbai at Tableau d’Hôte, Leah-Simone Bowen’s The Flood at Imago, both in Montreal, and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard’s play The First Stone at New Harlem and GCTC in Toronto and Ottawa. From 2003-2011, she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. Her book, Medicine Shows, about Indigenous performance in Canada was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2015. 

Kcenia has been singing and playing piano from a young age, taking extracurricular lessons since age 8. In 2019, she received her ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, after which she pursued her Bachelor of Music at Western University (graduated 2023). She made her operatic debut as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alicina in 2021 with UWOpera, and has been in love with the art form since. She enjoyed performing a handful of roles in the past couple years, including The Mother in The Consul (Opera NUOVA, 2022); Meg Page in Falstaff (Western University Opera, 2023); and the title role of Julius Caesar (SOLT, 2023). She was the recipient of the London Opera Guild Scholarship award in 2021 and the Adrianne Pieczonka Award for Vocal Excellence in 2022. Currently, Kcenia studies at the University of Toronto’s intensive opera program where she will receive her Master’s Degree in Opera in Spring 2025. Recently, she appeared as The Sage in UofT student-composed Lysistrata and as Mme. de la Haltière in UofT’s Spring 2024 production of Cendrillon. Kcenia hopes to expand her musicianship and spread her love for music with audiences, and is extremely grateful to her mentors and family for supporting her dreams!

For Canadian conductor Gordon Gerrard, music is an animating life force. 

The newly appointed Artistic Director of City Opera Vancouver, he’s guest-conducted major Canadian orchestras (Vancouver, Quebec, Toronto, Victoria, London, Kitchener-Waterloo) and opera companies (Calgary, Hamilton, Edmonton). He loves working with emerging artists 
(Calgary Opera, the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, the Banff Centre, Montréal’s Opera McGill, Toronto’sGlenn Gould School.) And since 2016, he’s been the dynamic music director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

All rather unlikely for a kid who grew up on a farm just outside Brandon, MB. 

Piano lessons began at 7; at 17, Gordon left the farm to study at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, followed by a master’s at the Manhattan School of Music. He loved collaborating with singers, which led to a fascination with opera and the world of conducting.

He’s thrilled to be taking the lead with City Opera Vancouver, a company with a reputation for developing new work. 

“Music brings people together,” he says. “I consider it a privilege to be part of that magic.” 

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is an eagerly anticipated visitor to opera houses and concert halls the world over. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1997—the same year she graduated from the University of Toronto cum laude with a Biomedical Engineering Degree—Ms. Bayrakdarian thereafter found her career taking rapid wing.  

She won first prize in the prestigious Operalia competition in 2000 and sang in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s world premiere production of William Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge. She has won plaudits at the Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Los Angeles Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Paris Opera, Barcelona’s Liceu, Milan’s La Scala, Florence’s Maggio Musicale, and the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan. 

An ever-active concertizer, she’s appeared with the premier orchestras of North America and Europe. Her versatility is also reflected in being the featured vocalist on the Grammy-award winning soundtrack of the blockbuster film The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers; she sings on the BBC-produced documentary HOLOCAUST - A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz, and stars in her Gemini-nominated film Long Journey Home documenting her first visit to her ancestral homeland, Armenia.

Ms Bayrakdarian was recently nominated for a 2023 Juno Award in Best Classical Album – Solo Artist for her recording “La Zingarella”, and is the winner of four consecutive Juno Awards.  She is the recipient of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Award, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee and the Diamond Jubilee Medals, and the George London Foundation Award. She holds an Honorary Doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University, and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is currently Professor of Voice, director of Opera Outreach, and Head of Voice Area in the Music Department of University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Joanna Dundas is an arts management professional with over 20 years of experience producing in Vancouver’s cultural community. Trained as a professional singer, she has also  served in a variety of roles off-stage: video director and editor, theatre, audio, video and film producer, project manager, facilitator and digital strategist, among others. Joanna works consistently with many arts organizations including Early Music Vancouver, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and musica intima - most recently as producer of Juno-nominated and WCMA winning recording NAGAMO. She works as Digital Content Strategist for presenting organization Music on Main, and is a producer and editor with Collide Entertainment.

Lyndon Ladeur’s favourite performances to-date include Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. His concert soloist repertoire consists of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Gounod’s Messe solennelle en l’honneur de Sainte-Cécile. His international debut was at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival playing Marco in The Gondoliers where he won the award for Best Male Vocalist and was nominated for Best Male Actor. Lyndon won both the Senior Classical Voice and Vocal Variety competitions at the 2018 BC Provincial Performing Arts Festival. He has participated in several prestigious summer programs, including: Saluzzo Opera Academy, COSA Canada, Orford Summer Music Academy, Highlands Opera Study, Banff Centre of Arts and Creativity, and OperaSparks. Lyndon finished his Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance at the Vancouver Academy of Music (co-op with Thompson Rivers University Open Learning) in 2022 and completed his Masters of Music in Operatic Performance in 2024 at the university of Toronto. He studies with the Canadian Opera Company’s Head Vocal Consultant, Wendy Nielsen. In September 2024, Lyndon will join Vancouver Opera as a member of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program.

Lyndon Ladeur was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, clarinetist Logan Lambert draws inspiration from a wide array of global music traditions. She received her Bachelor’s of Music in 2021 from New York University, where she focused on experimental, collaborative and chamber performance. Although she trained in the Western classical style, her approach to the instrument is defined by her love of Klezmer, Balkan, and Celtic trad music. She is as captivated by traditional folk melodies as she is by contemporary art music, and she strives to strike the balance between these two in her musical practice. She is currently based in Southern California, where she enjoys exploring the Huntington Gardens and boxing with her friends.

Logan Lambert was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Emma Pennell is a trailblazing 2-Spirit Mi’kmaw soprano with roots in Ktaqmkuk. Hailing from the Village of South River in Northern Ontario, Emma holds BMus honours in Voice Performance and Indigenous Studies from Western University. They trained under esteemed mentors, Pamela Teed, Torin Chiles, and presently Adrianne Pieczonka. Emma is an activist, artist and poet whose work in the arts forge spaces for Indigenous voices. They have made significant impact through foundational advocacy, including co-authoring the Indigenous Policy Paper for the Ontario Universities Student Alliance and founding the Faculty of Music Indigenous Leadership Initiative at Western’s Faculty of Music. Emma’s recent roles include Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff, The Skater in Ka Nin Chan’s Ice Time, and Mére Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogue des Carmelites. Emma is in their first year of the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Emma Pennell was generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment.

Mezzo-Soprano Alexandra Sorensen (she/her), who was raised singing in a little house in the woods in Prince Edward Island, will be graduating this June with a Diploma in Opera from the University of Toronto. Recent performances include “le Prince Charmant” in Massenet’s Cendrillon, “Penelope” in UofT Student Composer Collective’s Lysistrata, “Announcer” in Douglas Moore’s Gallantry, “First Apprentice” in UofT Student Composer Collective’s Disobedience, and “Young Countess” in Arthur Benjamin’s A Tale of Two Cities, all with UofT Opera. In her time at UofT, Alexandra has also participated in two new opera workshops: she learned excerpts of “Claire” from Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s opera Melancholia, and this January participated in a workshop of Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek’s new opera Indians on Vacation. While completing the Bachelor of Music program in voice at UPEI, Alexandra performed as “Dido” in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and sang with the UPEI Chamber Singers in Against the Grain Theatre’s Messiah/Complex. Alexandra is excited to be spending June at the Banff Centre.

Alexandra Sorensen was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Simon Proulx is a student at the University of British Columbia, studying clarinet performance and French literature. His clarinet teacher is Jose Franch-Ballester, and he has previously studied with Chris Byman. Featured on CBC Music’s 2022 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30, Simon has performed as a soloist with the Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble, and the University of British Columbia Singers. He has also participated in masterclasses with acclaimed clarinettist David Shiffrin and Franklin Cohen and in summer music programs such as the 2022 National Youth Band of Canada. Simon has won numerous awards, including the WYSO Julie Banton Trophy, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Holtby Scholarship, and most recently, was a semi-finalist in the 2024 McClellan Competition for solo performance with the WSO. He is strongly committed to researching and performing music by underrepresented composers and hopes to continue his educational journey, eventually becoming a professor. Besides music, Simon enjoys cooking, being an at-home barista, and learning languages (currently, Greek!).

Simon Proulx was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Hailed as "a major talent" a0er her Carnegie Hall debut with Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto,  Irish pianist Ellen Jansson is quickly establishing herself as one of Ireland’s most versatile and  exciting young musicians. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and New York Concert SinfonieLa, as well as giving solo and chamber performances around Europe.  Under the guidance of Mary BeaPe at Cork School of Music, Ellen graduated first in her class in 2020 before continuing her studies with Barbara Moser at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Her accolades include winning the Chetham’s Yamaha Piano Competition, the Flax Trust Bursary at Clandeboye Festival, and the COS Emerging Artist Award. An avid chamber musician, she has performed with the ConTempo String Quartet and Irish Chamber Orchestra, and at festivals throughout Ireland, most recently at the New Ross Piano Festival. 
A passionate advocate for underrepresented composers, Ellen has regularly appeared at the ‘Finding a Voice’ Festival, including giving the first complete Irish performance of Fanny Mendelssohn’s Das Jahr, and curating a concert of works by Alexina Louie. Since 2020, she is répétiteur to the MA in String Performance at the University of Limerick.

Ellen Jansson was generously supported by the George Brough Memorial Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

“Virtuoso singer” (WholeNote), and “triple-threat ... talented coloratura” (OperaCanada) Maeve Palmer is an alumna of the Rebanks Family Fellowship and the University of Toronto (UofT) Opera School. Maeve is the winner of the 2021 Jim and Charlotte Norcop Prize in Song (UofT), a prize winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, and a Dora award winner. She has performed with Tapestry Opera, New Music Concerts, Continuum Contemporary Music, and Opera Atelier. Her voice can be heard in the Hollywood film The Space Between Us. Recent operatic roles include Adina, L’Elisir d’Amore (Highlands Opera), Genio Haydn’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Jean MacDonald and Daisy Fairchild in The Bells of Baddeck (MacDonald & Burry), and Robot 1, and [Helena] understudy in Tapestry Opera’s production of RUR: A Torrent of Light (Lizée). An interpreter of many Mozart roles, Maeve has performed as Queen of the Night (Toronto City Opera) Susanna, Sandrina, and Serpetta (UofT Opera), and Zerlina (Center for Opera Studies Italy). World and Canadian premieres include works by Nicole Lizée, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Samuel Andreyev, and Haydn. A passionate scholar, Maeve is a UofT Massey College Junior Fellow culminating her doctoral studies in the voice pedagogy of native Irish sean-nós singing.

Maeve Palmer was generously supported by the Ontario Arts Fund and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Introduced to music at the age of 11 at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec (CMQ), Cassiana excels both in supporting roles and as a soloist in the opera workshop at CMQ. She has made her mark by winning several regional competitions, ranging from the Concours de musique de la Capitale to the Concours de musique du Canada. These victories have earned her multiple scholarships. She also participated in the first season of the Virtuose TV show animated By Gregory Charles and was invited twice to perform with Les Violons du Roy, first for a solo concert after being a finalist in the Concours de musique de la Capitale, and then for the “Quatuor pour un général” concert in the same year.
Occasionally, she takes part in events and recordings with the city, such as the Quebec Day celebration, highlighting the region’s rich historical heritage. Recently, she co-founded the Collectif du 4e Art, a classical music ensemble aimed at inspiring the next generation of musicians. Thanks to a generous grant from the Hans-Jürgen-Greif Fund, the Collective was able to finance its very first concert and is already preparing for other great musical events!
Recently, Cassiana sang the national anthem at the Citadelle de Québec during the decoration ceremony for acts of bravery, giving her the chance to meet and shake hands with the Governor General of Canada. This moment, which deeply marked her, inaugurated the promising beginning of her career within the Canadian Armed Forces, combining musical talent and patriotic commitment.
Currently in the first year of her master’s program, she continues her training with Sonia Racine and Hélène Guilmette.

Cassiana St-Cyr was generously supported by the Joyce and David Keith Scholarship for the Arts and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Ben Wallace is a baritone, conductor, pianist, and teacher currently studying with Wendy Nielsen and Alain Coulombe in the University of Toronto opera program. He was the recipient of the Laurier Alumni Gold Medal (2022), a finalist for UofT’s Norcop Prize in Song (2023), and a winner of the Laurier Concerto Competition (2021). Recent solo performances include Pandolfe in Cendrillon (UofT Opera), Le Dancaïre/Moralès in Carmen (Southern Ontario Lyric Opera), Billy Bigelow in Carousel (Cambridge Symphony), Fauré’s Requiem (Musicians of the KWS), Duruflé’s Requiem (Grand Philharmonic Choir), Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem (Symphony in
the Barn), John Brooke in Little Women (Opera Laurier), and Barone Douphol/Dottore Grenvil in La traviata (KW Symphony). He will appear as Figaro in Highlands Opera Studio’s Il barbiere di Siviglia later this summer. Ben formed his own chamber choir and orchestra in 2022 and has since partnered with Canadian composer Justin Lapierre to conduct première performances of One Thousand Shields of Gold, Messe de Ste. Anne, and Stabat Mater (available to stream). He has served as the music director for productions of Cabaret, Matilda (Royal City Musical Productions), Company, The Last Five Years, and In View: The Lyrics of Gord Downie
(Downtown Theatre Project).

Ben Wallace was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

A champion of vocal versatility, Camryn Dewar is an accomplished Métis vocalist and multiinstrumentalist of many genres, including contemporary classical, opera, musical theatre and jazz. Hailed as an “incredible performer and instrument” (Jeffrey Gall), she is passionate about presenting the works of living and Indigenous composers and is committed to using her artistry to uplift and amplify Indigenous voices.

Recent operatic engagements include performances in The Grapes of Wrath with Master Voices at Carnegie Hall and Blind Injustice with Peak Performances in Montclair, New Jersey. In Blind Injustice, Camryn served as the understudy for the principal role of Nancy Smith, collaborating closely with composer Scott Davenport Richards and Tony Award-winning music director Ted Sperling. She portrayed Josette LaGrande in Li Keur: Riel's Heart of the North, the first full-scale Indigenous-led opera presented on a Canadian opera mainstage alongside the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Opera in their 2023 workshop.

A frequent recitalist, Camryn produced and showcased her talent at a concert entitled Living Music at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, as well as Beneath the Azure Sky at the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival. Camryn was honoured to have been awarded the 2023/2024 Virtuosi Concert Young Artist, a distinction that culminated in her performance at the Roots and Branches Concert.

For her vision and drive, Camryn was awarded the Modern Métis Woman Scholarship, the Association of Opera in Canada Fellowship, and the InPath: N’we Jinan Artworks Fellowship. Camryn is currently completing her Master of Music (Performance) at Montclair State University with Barbara Dever from the Metropolitan Opera. She received her Bachelor of Music with Distinction (Vocal Performance) from the University of Manitoba, where she studied under Mel Braun.

Camryn Dewar was generously supported by the Sheila K. Piercy Opera Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Jeremy Scinocca is an award-winning tenor from Toronto and alumnus of Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Farris Young Artist Program. During his time with Vancouver Opera he made his main stage debut as Le Remandado in Carmen and played the roles of Lorenzo in Bolcom’s Lucrezia and Tiberge in Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon. During this time at Vancouver Opera Jeremy also covered the roles of Nadir in Pearl Fishers, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2023 Jeremy made his role debut of Tonio in La fille du regiment as part of the Festival d’opera de Quebec, which included a tour across Quebec and the 
Maritimes with Jeunesses Musicales Canada. Jeremy is a graduate of McGill’s Master’s in Voice and Opera program where he played the roles of Edoardo in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno, and Mr. Buchanan in Street Scene. Upcoming, Jeremy will be playing Luke in Handmaid's Tale by composer Poul Ruders as part of Banff Centre’s Chamber Music and Opera Interplay program. 

Jeremy Scinocca was generously supported by the Ruby Mercer Endowment.

Canadian Bass-Baritone Luke Noftall is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto with a Master’s of Music in Opera Performance, as well as a Bachelor of Voice Performance with Honors from the same institution.  He currently studies with Wendy Nielsen.  

Recent performance have included: Zuniga in Carmen (Southern Ontario Lyric Opera), Count Monterone in Rigoletto (Opera by Request), and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (Doctor Bird Productions).

While at the University of Toronto’s Opera school, Luke was seen as: Mr. Choufleuri in Monsieur Choufleuri, Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Sviliglia, Top in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land,  Jacques I in A Tale of Two Cities, and the Chorus of Antiquity in a Canadian premiered student composition of Disobedience. Additional credits include Lancelot in Camelot (Red Panda Productions), and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Halifax Summer Opera Festival).  As Papageno, Luke was described as a “Star of the Festival.  Playful and mercurial, his warm baritone and dynamic interpretation complimented and contrasted effortlessly with his more earnest Tamino” (Opera Canada).

This is Luke’s second summer at the prestigious Opera in the 21st Century Program at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity.  Last summer, Luke played the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni, as well as Morris in a workshop of a new opera Adoration by Mary Kouyoumdjian and Royce Vavrek, which premiered in New York City earlier this year.    

Luke Noftalll was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.
 

Praised for “her natural warmth matched equally by innate lyricism,” (Opera Canada), Canadian soprano Nicole Leung is currently a second year McPhee Artist at Calgary Opera. Most recently, she made her professional debut in the role of Adina in L’elisir d’amore at Calgary Opera, a role she first sang at The Yale School of Music and covered at Festival Napa Valley as a Manetti Shrem Vocal Fellow. She also performed the role of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. 2022/2023 season highlights included Pamina in The Little Opera Company’s production of The Magic Flute: The Trials of Tamino and Pamina, and Frasquita (Carmen), Delia in Joe Illick’s Stone Soup, and Héro (Béatrice et Bénédict) at Calgary Opera. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, Ms. Leung was seen as Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas and Morgana in Alcina. She sang the role of Amy in a workshop of the world-premier opera The Snowy Day by Joel Thompson and libretto by Andrea Davis Pinkney, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera. Concert repertoire includes Soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Brahms’ Neue Liebeslieder.

Nicole Leung was generously supported by the Alice and Betty Schultz Scholarships Endowment Fund for Dance and Music and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Rachael McAuley is a mezzo soprano who was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. After having made the move to the west coast a few years ago, Rachael is finding her footing in the Vancouver music scene. She is grateful to have had recent performance opportunities with Vancouver Chamber Choir, Early Music Vancouver, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Rachael competed in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and is thrilled to have been a winner of the Western Canada District. Rachael is delighted to be spending her first summer at the Banff Centre in the Chamber Music and Opera: INTERPLAY program. Rachael holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from Western University where she studied under the instruction of baritone, Ted Baerg. She is currently studying with Marisa Gaetanne at the University of British Columbia. Some of Rachael’s past role highlights include Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Serse in Serse, and Mercédès in Carmen.

Rachael McAuley was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Described as “fearless and uncompromising”, Aidan Chan is an Irish-Chinese pianist whose work primarily explores identity and social structure through performance. He has performed in the US (Carnegie Hall), UK (Wigmore Hall), Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, China and across Ireland.

As a performer Aidan holds a particular affinity for the works of Chopin and Mozart, the latter whose keyboard music he has studied intensively with Dr. Robert Levin at the Salzburg Summer Academy and regularly improvises on in concerts. In addition, he is deeply passionate about performing music by contemporary composers, commissioning and premiering Knuckleduster and torn, to the ground, exhausted, sobbing by Alex Ho (2021 and 2024), Polygon by Delyth Field (2022) and Reflections and Refractions by Philip Hammond (2023).

Aidan holds a Master of Music degree with distinction from the Royal College of Music in London under the tutelage of Professors Nigel Clayton and Andrew Zolinsky, having previously completed his undergraduate studies there with first class honours.

Recent engagements include the Irish premiere of John Adams’ Eros Piano with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and performances of his interdisciplinary Wagnerisms programme in the UK.

Aidan Chan was generously supported by the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Nikki Pet, clarinetist, is a D.M.A. student at Yale School of Music, studying with David Shifrin. She also holds an M.M. in clarinet performance from Yale School of Music and a B.A. in computer science from Columbia University, where she was a member of the Juilliard Exchange Program studying with Alan Kay.  Awards Nikki has received include the Philip Francis Nelson Prize, Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, Yale CCAM Studio Fellowship, runner-up in the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, and Rapaport Prize. Festivals attended include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Kneisel Hall.  A focus of Nikki’s work is producing multimedia performances, often incorporating A.I. technology. Live and digital productions include Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Bach’s Second Violin Partita, and Joan Tower’s Wings, to be performed live with reactive animated accompaniment.

Nikki Pet was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

McKenzie Warriner is a Saskatchewan-born/Toronto-based soprano acclaimed for her interpretation of music spanning from the Baroque to the Avant-garde. An alumna of Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program, in the 2023/2024 season McKenzie made her mainstage debut with the company in The Magic Flute singing Papagena while also the understudy for Queen of the Night, and was featured in a concert of works by Osvaldo Golijov with Edmonton Opera. Other recent credits include Messiah (Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra), Le portrait de Manon (Vancouver Opera), and Abigail Richardson-Schulte’s Alligator Pie (Regina Symphony Orchestra).

Particularly committed to works by living composers, McKenzie premiered two new orchestral vocal works at the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival as a Britten Pears Young Artist, and she earned first prize at the 2023 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, granting her the opportunity to give a recital tour of contemporary works across Canada with pianist Danielle Guina,  She also recently released an album on the Centrediscs label entitled Unfinished Business with pianist Paul Williamson and composer Tristan Zaba (her husband). McKenzie holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Manitoba, and is a devoted pet mother to Marcie the dog and Blake the snake.

McKenzie Warriner was generously supported by the Eileen Higgin Calgary Theatre Singers Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Christina Katsimbardis was born in Perth, Western Australia and began violin lessons at the age of 5. Christina gained her Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Australia and her Master of Music from the University of Melbourne. Christina spent 3 years studying at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne.

Christina has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Orchestra Victoria and Australian Youth Orchestra. Christina performed in the Perth and Melbourne International Arts Festivals. She has a keen interest in period performance and was part of Festival Baroque Australia in 2011. Christina has toured repeatedly with various orchestras to most of Europe and Asia. Christina was an ACO Emerging Artist in 2005 and has toured Australia numerous times with ACO and ACO Collective.

In 2007 Christina studied at the Tibor Varga Summer Academy in Sion, Switzerland. In 2008 Christina spent a year in London studying privately with the assistance of the Tait Memorial Trust Scholarship, the PPCA Travel Grant and private donations. Christina was awarded the 2011 Mr & Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship which saw her undertake study in Canada and New York in 2012. Christina completed winter residencies in 2012 and 2013 at the Banff Centre, Alberta where she studied and performed on both violin and viola. Christina has been a full-time permanent violinist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra since 2016.

Christina Katsimbardis was generously supported by the N. Murray Edwards Family Fund and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Hailing from Winnipeg, Elena Howard-Scott is a versatile soprano residing in Toronto, Ontario. Deemed "someone to watch" (Ludwig vanToronto), Elena is a graduate of the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School, and the University of Manitoba (B.Mus), where she studied with Adrianne Pieczonka and Tracy Dahl, respectively. A ’23/’24 member of the Rebanks Family Fellowship Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Elena has been enjoying a busy recital schedule around the GTA, and most recently, made her debut as Blanche de la Force in GGS’s production of Dialogues des Carmélites in Koerner Hall. Selected stage credits include Tina in Flight, Venus in Venus & Adonis, Svadba (GGS Opera); Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Opera NUOVA); A Little Night Music (Koerner Hall Special Events); Narnia (BadHats Theatre); Strike! the Musical, Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow Stage). To close out the year, Elena is attending the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria, and performing in multiple theatre contracts, including A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Drayton Entertainment) and Into the Woods (Koerner Hall Special Events). Elena is thrilled to be at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity surrounded by thoughtful music makers, storytellers and of 
course, mountains.

Elena Howard-Scott was generously supported by the T.C Hargrave Scholarship in Voice Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

George Theodorakopoulos is a passionate and lively baritone from Toronto, Ontario. He received his BMus in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto in 2022, and graduated from UofT with a MMus in Opera this past spring, studying under the guidance of baritone Peter Barnes. Some of George’s recent roles include Pandolfe in J.Massenet’s Cendrillon, Marullo in G.Verdi’s Rigoletto, Emilio in N.Rota’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, Sydney Carton in A.Benjamin’s A Tale of Two Cities, Dr.Pangloss in L.Bernstein’s Candide, and Dr.Gregg in D.Moore’s Gallantry. In early 2024 he sang excerpts from Ian Cusson’s Indians on Vacation as Bird, Oz, Eugene, and Chip in a workshop with UofT Opera in collaboration with Against the Grain Opera. George also took part in Songbook XII and the New Opera 101 program with Tapestry Opera, in which scenes from Canadian contemporary works such as Rocking Horse Winner (Gareth Williams) and The Shadow (Omar Daniel) were workshopped and performed. Some of his recent choral work has been with Tafelmusik on both their Handel Messiah and Handel Celebration programs.

George Theodorakopoulos was generously supported by the Meteoros Fund at Calgary Foundation and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Treaty One-based tenor Nolan Kehler is a performer dedicated to collaboration and reconciliation. He recently made mainstage opera debuts in his home city of Winnipeg with Manitoba Opera as La Roche in Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North and with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra as Oronte in Alcina. On the concert stage, Nolan sang tenor soloist roles in Bach’s Ascension Oratorio and Coffee Cantata in the Winnipeg Baroque Festival and in Carmina Burana with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Nolan also recently made his American debuts with American Bach Soloists in San Francisco and Emmanuel Music in Boston. 

Nolan has also had the pleasure of working with Juno-nominated Cree composer Andrew Balfour on his compositions Captive and Nôtinikêw in performances with Winnipeg’s Dead of Winter at the Montreal New Music Festival, the Brandon University Chorale, and with Edmonton’s Chronos Vocal Ensemble. 

When he is not performing, Nolan serves as Provincial Coordinator for the Manitoba chapter of Opera InReach, which aims to provide accessible opera education to schools from a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds. Nolan can also be heard over the airwaves on CBC Radio One on the weekends across Canada
introducing curated classical music selections.

Nolan Kehler was generously supported by the Virginia Middelberg Scholarship and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Eva Stone-Barney is a mezzo-soprano from Montreal, Quebec, who prides herself on a wide breadth of musical experience and expertise. Eva holds degrees in vocal performance and musicology from the Schulich School of Music and the University of Toronto. In the fall of 2024, Eva will begin her Artists Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. 

Eva has recently appeared in the North American stage premieres of Joseph Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo (University of Toronto/McGill HP) and Henekh Kon’s Bas Sheve (Ashkenaz Festival, Toronto). Previous opera credits include Joseph Bologne’s L’amant anonyme (Opera McGill), Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno (Opera McGill), and Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Opera da Camera).

Eva has trained at the Tafelmusik Summer Baroque Institute (2023), and the Lunenburg Academy of Musical Performance (2022). As an professional choral singer, she has appeared with ensembles in Montreal and Toronto, and has twice been named a provincial delegate to the National Youth Choir of Canada.

Eva was named a 2021 RBC Emerging Artist Fellow by the Association for Opera in Canada. She has received the SSHRC-CGS-M Award, the Pauline Donalda Memorial Scholarship, and the Margaret Kalil and Grace Evelyn Tuttle Awards (McGill University). 

Eva Stone-Barney was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.
 

Graeme Linton is a tenor based in Victoria, BC. He has a Graduate Diploma and a Bachelor of Music in Voice and Opera from McGill University. Throughout his time at McGill, he performed in choruses, operatic productions, and solo recital works. Through his classes and teachings, he developed a keen interest in art song repertoire, and romantic opera. He loves the ability to tell stories through music and collaborate with other musicians. While at McGill, he performed as Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and as Mr. Jones in Weill’s Street Scene. He has recently performed The Evangelist in Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium with the Victoria Philharmonic Choir. He also has performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s second symphony Resurrection, Opera Kelowna in Hector Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict, and the Bach Festival Montreal in Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium. He has collaborated with Juno Award winning Ensemble Caprice through the Ensemble Art Choral, where he recently sang in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and a tour of Handel’s Messiah. During the summer, he sang the role of Bill in Jonathan Dove’s Flight at Opera Nuova. He has also started a master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Victoria.

Graeme Linton was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Kai Chen Cheng is an active soloist, chamber musician, and avid educator based in the New York area.

Ms. Cheng is the Outreach Artist at the Staller Center of the Arts and Instructor of the Community Chamber Music Program at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She was the Music Director of the 17th LISMA International Music Competition and has adjudicated for the 17th LISMA International Music Competition and the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention Collegiate Soloist Competition. 

As a versatile musician, Ms. Cheng has made her appearance with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), Counterpoint Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan), and the New York Wind Orchestra. In the summer of 2023, Ms. Cheng co-founded Project 23.6°N— a piano trio aiming to promote Taiwanese music and to share the 
essence of Taiwanese culture. 

A recent graduate, Ms. Cheng received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the State University of New York at Stony Brook under the tutelage of Carol Wincenc. She holds a Bachelor degree from Taipei National University of the Arts (Taiwan), Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Major mentors include Jinny Hwei-Jin Liu, Kathryn Lukas, and Thomas Robertello.

Kai Chen Cheng was generously supported by the Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Mezzo-soprano Stephania Romaniuk serves as a teaching artist for Calgary Opera, where she performs, teaches in schools, and develops opera discovery programs for new audiences and learners of all ages. She has also developed innovative programming as a Calgary Board of Education Resident Artist and teaching artist for “What Is Opera, Anyway?” As a vocalist, Stephania has performed most recently with the Calgary Civic Symphony (Beethoven Symphony No. 9 – Alto Soloist) and Calgary Opera chorus in Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, Macbeth, Carmen, and the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show. She also premiered a semi-staged recital for ProArts@Noon and High Performance Rodeo that recounts through music the two months before, and the two months following, the fully fledged invasion of Ukraine.

In 2020, Stephania completed her M.A. in Music Education at the Eastman School of Music where she received the Catherine Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Program Certificate and was awarded the Teaching Assistant Prize for group voice instruction. A burgeoning arts writer and passionate advocate for music education, she has co-presented at the College Music Society national conference in Rochester, NY and has been published in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra’s Prelude magazine, Eastman Journal, Eastman Case Studies, and the Journal for Performing Arts Leadership in Higher Education.

Stephania Romaniuk was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.
 

Justine Leichtling is a composer, violinist, and psychologist living in Brooklyn. Originally from San Francisco, she received her BA in Computing and the Arts from Yale University. She went on to obtain her doctorate in Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. In 2023, Justine began a Masters in Composition at Mannes School of Music, where she studies with Timo Andres. She maintains a small therapy practice on the side. Justine often explores psychological themes in her music and seeks to capture emotional truth through sound. Her recent work in this vein, Stand Clear of the Doors for piano trio and audio-visual media, premiered in New York in February and depicts a physical and emotional journey from a situation of being trapped to one of freedom. Other notable works include Controlled Burn for string quartet premiering this year at the LunART Festival, which depicts the dance between destruction and creation that occurs in the redwood forests of her home state as well as within our psyches. In her spare time, you can find Justine playing chamber music with friends, attending live shows, writing poetry, running in Prospect Park, or swimming in the ocean.

Justine Leichtling was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Known for his versatility, sensitivity, and compelling storytelling, Evan Lindberg is an Alberta born bass-baritone. He recently completed a Master of Music at McGill University, and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

At Opera McGill, Evan performed roles such as Leporello (Don Giovanni), Zoroastro (Orlando), Ormonte (Partenope), and participated in a digital opera collaboration with Tapestry Opera, focusing on contemporary Canadian opera. With the Oberlin Opera, his roles included Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Father (Beasts of the Bungalow). 

Later this summer, Evan will join the Highlands Opera Studio. Previous artistic fellowships include the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Opera on the Avalon, and Opera Nuova.

Recent soloist highlights include Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Cantabile Chorale, and Handel’s Messiah with L’écurie de Montréal. Additionally, a keen interpreter of song repertoire, Evan was a member of McGill University’s Song Interpretation ensemble, and has performed recitals in Calgary, Montréal, Lunenburg, and Vienna.

When Evan is not performing, he enjoys curling up with a cup of tea and a good book, taking a stroll through Montreal’s botanical gardens, and going to see live theatre!

Evan Lindberg was generously supported by the Hicks Memorial Scholarship and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, Emily Luo began her musical studies at the age of 14. She has performed in festivals including Orchestre de la Francophonie, the Brott Music Festival with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Domaine Forget, and the Curtis Summerfest Young Artists Summer Program where she received the Canadian Cross-Border Award. In competition, her quintet advanced to the finals and placed third in the 2023 Glenn Gould School Chamber Competition. She is an active soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, debuting in 2016. She has taken part in masterclasses
across North America with artists such as Phillipe Tondre, Eugene Izotov, Nathan Hughes, and Elaine Douvas. Emily recently completed her Bachelor of Music degree from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Sarah Jeffrey and previously studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She will be attending Rice University this upcoming Fall.

Emily Luo was generously supported by the Finch Chmaber Music Scholarship Fund.

Gina Hyunmin Lee is a Korean Canadian pianist currently based in Rochester, NY. Gina is pursuing the DMA in Accompanying and Chamber Music at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Dr. Andrew Harley. She is currently on faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Gina has been invited to festivals and venues across North America including Aspen Music Festival and School, Songfest, Yarn/Wire Institute, Indian River Music Festival, Toronto Arts and Letters Club, and the Music Gallery.

Gina’s summer 2024 season includes residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity as a collaborative pianist and repetiteur for the Interplay: Chamber Music and Opera workshop. Second half of the summer season will focus on a recording project centering around Lili Boulanger’s monumental song cycle Clairieres dans le ciel, along with a newly commissioned work for soprano and piano. Her artistic activities in Canada and abroad have been supported by Canada Council for the Arts, ArtsNB, Art song foundation of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Gina received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto where she studied with pedagogues Dr. Midori Koga and Professor Marietta Orlov.

Gina Lee was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.
 

Ábel M.G.E. is a Hungarian-American composer and electronic music producer. He is most interested in the convergence of music with other art forms—works of opera, dance theatre, and narrative podcast—and telling one story through many overlapping layers. For this reason, collaboration is at the heart of Ábel’s practice; most prominently he works with writers, choreographers, theater makers, as well as other composers. He believes it is through narrative that we connect to art, ourselves, and others, and contextualize and understand our experiences.

Ábel is a graduate of Indiana University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His music has featured at Resolution Dance Festival, BMI, and venues including Wigmore Hall and Grange Park Opera. Past commissioners include the Royal Northern Sinfonia, New Voices Opera Company, the Illuminated River Foundation, and Tesla, inc. and he has been supported by Canada Council for the Arts, the Irish Arts Council, the University of Cincinnati GSG Research Fund, and Sky Arts. In the 2024–25 season his operatic works will be performed at Tête à Tête opera festival (new commission TBA) and Hungarian State Opera (I’m Cleaning, I’m Cleaning). Ábel is currently based in London, UK.

Ábel M.G.E was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Daniella Tejada Cortes began her studies of the oboe at the age of 10 and continued the persuit of a proffesional carreer at the Conservatory of the National University of Colombia where she finished her bachelor degree in 2019. During her studies, she participated in several student and professional ensembles and orchestras in Bogotá; the Bogota Philharmonic Band, the Bogota Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the Colombian Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Internationally, she has played several times at Femusc (music festival in Santa Catarina, Brazil), at the Portillo International Festival (Chile) and at the Francophonie Orchestra. Having completed her master's degree in interpretation of the oboe at the University of Montreal in 2021, she currently works as an "Oboe Teaching Artist" at Sistema New Brunswick, as the New Brusnwick youth Orchestra oboe coach, as the Moncton University oboe Lecturer and the Mount Allison University Oboe Professor.

She plays an active part of the New Brunswick musical scene, playing regularly with the New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, being an official member of the Ventus Machina woodwind quintet and taking part in several producions of the Tutta Musica orchestra with the Moncton Capitol Theater.

Daniella Tejada Cortes was generously supported by the Richard and Sidney Killmer Oboe Endowment Fund and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Madeleine Black is an active performer, educator, and music enthusiast in Dallas, TX. She received her degree in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas in May 2022. During her time at UNT, she participated in multiple masterclasses and competitions, including placing third in the Città di Massa International Competition for Young Musicians. She served as the Keyboard Representative for the UNT Student Advisory Committee for two years and graduated magna cum laude. She was one of a select few musicians invited to perform at her graduation ceremony. Since graduating, Madeleine has performed with various organizations 
around DFW. She plays frequently with the Plano Symphony Orchestra and has also substituted for the Irving Symphony Orchestra. She is a frequent accompanist and coach for multiple high school band programs in the area and plays for other events regularly. Madeleine maintains a full piano studio where she teaches nearly 50 students per week and helps prepare them for multiple performances each year. Her work with nonprofit organizations since graduating has been very inspiring, and she has enrolled at Southern Methodist University to pursue an MBA and a Master of Arts and Nonprofit Leadership, beginning in the Fall of 2024. 

Madeleine Black was generously supported by the Marek Jablonski Piano Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Mezzo Soprano Amanda Weatherall holds her MMus of vocal literature and performance from Western University.  She is from Cranbrook, British Columbia, where she had her first taste of the stage.  The highlight of her Cranbrook performances was performing with Fort Steele Heritage Town as various historical residents and performing with the Symphony of the Kootenays on multiple concerts.

Amanda was thrilled to take part in the Yulanda M Faris Young Artist Program with Vancouver Opera, and performed as the Wife in the Music Shop, a Canadian Premier, and as Carmen in Carmen: Up Close and Personal, a new adaptation of the classic work by Bizet, during her time there.  Her other operatic credits include the title role in Bizet’s Carmen (Western), the chorus in Verdi’s Otello (Canadian Opera Company), Mrs Ott in Floyd’s Susannah (Toronto City Opera), Filippyevna in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Highlands Opera Studio), Romeo in Bellini’s i Capuleti e i Montecchi (Opera NUOVA), Fox in Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen (NUOVA), Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (NUOVA), Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff (Western), and Third Lady in Mozart’s Magic Flute (Western). She is excited to workshopping Handmaid’s Tale as Offred in the before times at the Banff Centre this summer.

Amanda Weatherall was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.
 

Francis Sadleir is a clarinetist from Vancouver. Characterised by his curiosity, and creativity, Francis finds so much joy in expressing himself through music. He’s currently a student at the University of British Columbia, where he studies clarinet performance with Jose Franch Ballester.

Francis’ previous clarinet teacher was AK Coope, with whom he studied with for 10 years. In that time, he also took lessons with Alain Desgagné, Todd Cope, Jean-François Normand, Jenny Jonquil, Michelle Goddard, and Kenneth Grant. In 2022 he attended Domaine Forget in Québec where he had the privilege of playing in masterclasses for Yehuda Gilad, and Charles Neidich.

Along with being a dedicated clarinetist, Francis is also a composer. In 2022 his piece ‘Puddle’ was read by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 he took part in composition workshops with the Standing Wave Ensemble, which culminated in a performance of his piece ‘Forests’. 

Music has provided Francis with many opportunities and connections that he never would have found otherwise. He hopes to share with audiences the same amount of joy that music has brought him.

Francis Sadleir was generously supported  by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.
 

Ehrentraud is currently in her second year at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto pursuing an undergraduate degree in violin with Barry Shiffman and Paul Kantor. She hails from Edmonton, Alberta where she studied with Robert Uchida and James Keene.

She has appeared as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2019 and 2022, the University of Alberta Symphony in 2022, and the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton in 2023. She has also played with and been a member of numerous ensembles, including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, the University of Alberta Symphony, the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, the River City Chamber Orchestra, and is a current member of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in Toronto.

In 2022, Ehren had the opportunity to perform chamber pieces with members of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the C'mon festival, including the Edmonton debut of Julia Wolfe's "Blue Dress." In 2020 Ehren performed in the Edmonton debut of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. Passionate about chamber music, she looks forward to future chamber endeavors. Ehrentraud is grateful for the generous support she has received from the Anne Burrows Foundation, the Edmonton Community Foundation, and the Glenn Gould School of Music.

Ehrentraud Moser was generously supported by the Edith Marion Ramsay Memorial Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Emanuel Reichert-Lübbert (*98 in Wiesbaden, Germany) pursued his academic studies at the University of Music Mainz, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Music majoring in violin under the guidance of Prof. Anne Shih. Currently, he continues his studies at the Academy of Music Darmstadt, pursuing an artistic postgraduate program in composition under Arne Gieshoff and Il-Ryun Chung.

Emanuel has diverse professional experience, including solo and chamber music performances as well as composing at various festivals. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Mainzer Virtuosi, a professional string chamber orchestra. Additionally, he has distinguished himself through the composition of commissioned works for the Harzburger Musiktage.Emanuel was awarded the Andreas Werckmeister Prize in Halberstadt in 2017 and the Composition Prize on the theme of "Art Nouveau" by the Hessisches Staatstheater in 2019. In 2023, he was honored with the Composition Promotion Prize from the "Prinzessin Margaret von Hessen" Competition.

In addition to classical music, Emanuel is also involved in experimental rock and metal. From 2014 to 2020, he was the lead guitarist and songwriter for the group "Gentle Gent." Since  2021, he has been leading another experimental metal band called "Time for Aardvarks."

Emanuel Reichert-Lübbert was generously supported by the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Montreal based Australian flutist Alex Huyghebaert completed her studies across three continents with teachers Denis Bluteau (McGill University), Thies Roorda (Royal Conservatorium of the Hague), and Patrick Nolan (University of Queensland).

In the past three years Alex has performed more than 30 world premieres, and since her time in Montreal has helped share more than 60 new pieces with the public. She is a member of the Montreal based ensemble Éclat and with them has recorded a collaboration with NASA as part of The Universe of Sound data sonification project. Alex is the artistic director of collaborative contemporary music project REACH, has been an active part of research ensembles of the ACTOR project, performed at the Festival de Lanaudière, and performed alongside flutists Emily Beynon and Timothy Munro, as well as the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Nederlandse Fluite Academie.

Alex Huyghebaert was generously supported by the Finch Chamber Music Scholarship Fund.

Keely McPeek (she/her) is a member of the Anisininew (Oji-Cree) Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, with Irish and German settler roots. She holds a Bachelor of Music and Post-Baccalaureate in Vocal Performance from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. Winning the Rainbow Stage Trophy at the Winnipeg Music Festival encouraged her stage performance career. You may have seen Keely in Manitoba Opera’s Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North as Marie Serpente, Vancouver Opera/Pacific Opera Victoria's tour of Flight of the Hummingbird as Bunny, Manitoba Theatre for Young People's recent seven-month tour of Frozen River, Dry Cold’s production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, or the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Keely McPeek was generously supported by the Liz Crockford Artists Fund.

Emma is originally from southern Alberta, where she studied violin as well as piano from an early age. Her most influential teachers were Fiona Carnie, Joan Barrett and Colleen Athparia. After completing her Associate Diploma with the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (ARCT), she studied at Wilfrid Laurier University with Christine Vlajk and Jerzy Kaplanek, earning a Bachelor's of Viola and Violin Performance and a Diploma in Chamber Music. Currently, Emma is pursuing a M.Mus in Viola Performance at the University of Ottawa with Michael van der Sloot. In addition to studying performance, Emma is an active instructor with a decade of experience teaching violin, viola, piano, fiddle and theory of various levels and to all ages. She is certified in Suzuki Pedagogy, having taken long-term teacher training with Paule Barsalou. Emma’s musical interests are quite broad ranging from teaching to theoretical analysis to free improvisation; however, her current focus is orchestral performance as she begins the audition circuit. In her free time, Emma enjoys reading and going on walks.

Emma Dunbar was generously supported by the Louis and Gertrude Crosby Family Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Recently named one of CBC's “30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30”, mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington is currently in her second year at the Canadian Opera Company's (COC) prestigious Ensemble Studio.  Last season, Alex made her COC debut as Mercédès in Carmen and returned as the Slave in Salome. COC engagements this season include Lapák in Cunning Little Vixen and Second Handmaiden in Medea. Highly skilled in the realm of new music, Alex has joined Tapestry Opera on several projects, most recently as the House in Rocking Horse Winner and Riley in Nicole Lizée’s R.U.R. A Torrent of Light. Further operatic credits include Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Carmen (La tragédie de Carmen), and Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann). On the concert stage, Alex has performed as a soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Mozart Requiem; Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes), the Victoria Symphony (Songs from the House of Death), the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Neruda Songs), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (The Bear). In her spare time, Alex can be found reading, gardening, and admiring dogs.

Alex Hetherington was generously supported by the Jeffrey Jansen Award and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

San Diego born and raised trombonist David Johnston began his studies in 2018 in his high school marching band. He discovered his life passion, and began to pursue music as an eventual career.

David has played in various ensembles, such as the La Jolla Symphony, Lamont Jazz Orchestra, OSU Wind Ensemble, as well as having the honor to play with the Colorado Symphony. From 2020-2022, David was the principal of the San Diego Youth Symphony.

David has been a part of two recording projects during his career. He has had the opportunity to record with the Lamont Jazz Orchestra, as well as most recently he performed in the OSU Wind Ensemble on Alan Baer’s upcoming Tuba album.

David has been fortunate to study under his father, Bob Johnston, Peter Steiner, Richard Harris, Ohtae Kwon, and Sean Reusch. He is currently studying at Oklahoma State University under Paul Compton for his Bachelors in Music.

His trombone arsenal features a LITTIN S217, 1970 Conn 88h, and a Yamaha YSL-891Z Custom Z. He also plays on Griego mouthpieces.

Outside of music, David enjoys spending time with family and friends, working out, and traveling.

David Johnston was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Rebecca Gray is a soprano, composer and improviser passionate about performing and creating both classical and contemporary repertoire, always seeking to bring queerness and feminism to everything she does. She performed with Pacific Opera Victoria as part of the Civic Engagement Program in 2021-2022 for which she composed, performed and directed an original opera video.  This video “Jess” was recently named a winner of Opera America’s Awards for Excellence in Digital Opera.  Rebecca’s creativity, energy and perfect pitch are sought after in the creation of new work, and she has performed with Tapestry Opera (Toronto), OperaQ (Toronto), Esprit Orchestra (Toronto), Highlands Opera (Haliburton, ON) and Code D’accès (Montréal). She also premiered the lead in Pomegranate (2019) with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. She is a member of FAWN chamber creative with whom she performs genre-bending vocal music, and has appeared as a finalist at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Contemporary Music Competition in Manitoba. Equally at home in classic repertoire, Rebecca is a graduate of the University of Toronto Opera School, where she appeared as Donna Elvira in U of T’s Don Giovanni, and Diane in Orphée aux enfers.  She performed popular arias with Toronto’s Counterpoints Orchestra and looks forward to a future performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Rebecca’s unique compositional voice has been recognized by numerous commissions and fellowships, including opportunities to present work at the Atlantic Music Festival, the Banff Centre, Westben Centre and Chateau La Napoule in France. She harbours a particular passion for vocal music, and received Canada Council support to develop Bus Opera, an absurdist fantasy about millennial alienation on public transit, excerpts of which were premiered by New Music Concerts in Toronto. She has composed unique, narrative-driven choral work for Voces Boreales (Montréal), Pro Coro (Edmonton), Soundstreams (Toronto) and the Capital Chamber Choir (Ottawa). A winner of the Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes, she will develop Raccoon Opera – a fable of the housing crisis involving Toronto raccoons - with her sister, Rachel Gray, which will be presented at Salle Bourgie in Montreal in May 2024. Rebecca will perform the titular Raccoon role, and is busy practicing her shrieks and hisses, in between her Mozart arias.  

Rebecca Gray was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Jesus Pompeyo Lugo Garcia graduated from the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico with a degree in Operatic Singing. He has participated in various choirs. He debuted at the CNM Opera Workshop in (2017) "El Sueño de Rosina" at the CENART National Arts Center. His repertoire includes:

(2018) "The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart as The Count, at the Centro Cultural Mexiquense Bicentenario, Elisa Carrillo room.

(2019) "Don Giovanni" as Mozart's Don Giovanni.

(2019) "Small Solemn Mass by Gioacchino Rossini in the Faculty of Music of the National Autonomous University of Mexico UNAM.

(2019) he joined the Vocal Scenic Ensemble of the National Musical Promotion System at the Los Pinos Cultural Center.

(2020) Encouragement winner, The Metropolitan Opera, National Council Auditions. Ah! Per semper io ti perdei by Vincenzo Bellini, and Questo amor, vergogna mia by Giacomo Puccini.

(2023) Soloist with the Carlos Chávez School Orchestra under the artistic direction of the teacher-conductor Roberto Rentería Yrene for symphony no. 9, op. 125 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

(2024) Finalist of the 15th edition of Concurso San Miguel.

(2024) Soloist with the Carlos Chávez School Orchestra under the artistic direction of the teacher-conductor Emilio Aranda for Requiem K.626 by Mozart.

Pompeyo Lugo was generously supported by the Benediktson Fellowship Fund for Mexican Artists and the Benediktson Fellowship Fund for Mexican Artists (Travel Portion).

Music has been a life-long endeavour for Madeleine Davis. When first hearing the warm sound of the French horn, Madeleine fell in love with the instrument and never looked back. She completed her Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance at the University of British Columbia where she studied with Dr. Valerie Whitney in 2019. Upon graduating, she was the recipient of the Catherine Cooke Topping Memorial Medal for musical excellence. Madeleine enjoys freelancing in the Vancouver area with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Allegra Chamber Orchestra and Turning Point Ensemble. She also plays with the UBC Women’s Brass Ensemble, which aims to promote women brass players and encourage younger female brass players; a topic she is incredibly passionate about. Madeleine loves sharing music with others and always plays from the heart with conviction and passion.

Madeleine Davis was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Yang (they/them) is a versatile percussionist with many side-hustles who prioritizes collaboration, personal growth, and joy. Yang is a grateful nexus of playful curiosity, cross disciplinary yearning, classical training, and loving relationships. All of which influence process & product within their work. Recent highlights include the release of two albums: longing for _ their debut percussion+friends album and Tiger Balme their band’s self titled debut album. Yang holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, two institutions which encouraged Yang’s interest in music/sonic exploration of all kinds and subsequent mélange of a career.

Based in Toronto, you can find Yang performing contemporary classical and freely improvised music, drumming with RAW Taiko, teaching private & group classes, administrating the West End Micro Music Festival, grant writing endlessly, learning and performing modal music with the Labyrinth Ensemble, collaborating with composers and performers to create new music across all genres, playing drumset with some of their best friends in the band Tiger Balme, dreaming & scheming, and always growing into their most authentic self. See more @yango.bongo. Yang is excited to be creating at the Banff Centre!

Yang Chen was generously supported by the MacLachlan Ridge Family Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Joyce To (she/her) is an Australian artist whose explorations ebb and flow between genres, disciplines, and roles. She works often in collaboration with others as a percussionist, improviser, new media/sound artist, and sharer of process and ideas. Her music practice is experiment-forward - preferring to dive into sonic realms primarily composed from objects, toys, and found sounds. She actively reflects and considers tensions between ethics, aesthetics, and the material consequences of art-making practices. Joyce’s performance career spans across the globe, having performed in Australia, Japan, America, and Canada. Her output includes presenting research at conferences, performing at international festivals, premiering over 50 new works, and collaborating across multiple mediums with visual artists, improvisers, composers, dancers and writers.

Joyce To was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Molly Beatrice is a stage director and a community organizer based out of unceded and occupied xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory. She is grateful to work, learn, and play alongside the artists at the Banff Centre this summer.

Molly Beatrice was generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Ellie Shifflett grew up in High River, Alberta surrounded by music and musicians.  She explored many instruments in her youth until her middle school music teacher put a bassoon in her hands.  Good fortune brought her a high school band director who was also a bassoonist, and set Ellie on the path that she travels today.
Ellie is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance at the Uni-versity of Lethbridge, studying under Antoine St-Onge.  As well as solo and or-chestral playing, Ellie has enjoyed collaborating with pianists, guitarists, other bas-soonists, and as part of a wind quintet during her time at university. Ellie’s life expe-rience has given her a special interest in musicians’ health, and music as a sustaina-ble activity. She is also a choral singer, animal lover, and enjoys various crafts in her spare time. Ellie is looking forward to further exploring the role of the bassoon in chamber music and opera settings this summer. 

Ellie Shifflett was generously supported by the Lucy and Stephen Maxym Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Aubrey Lavender is a librettist and composer based in London, UK. Aubrey loves working collaboratively and across different disciplines and mediums. He is passionate about storytelling and music. Aubrey holds a BA from Bennington College (with a concentration in playwriting and music composition) and an MA from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Opera Making and Writing. He has written music for Tesla, Inc., The London Wildlife Trust, and HUNAP. He was recently commissioned to write and compose an adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s “Karlsson” series of books into an opera for the Kaunas National Puppet Theatre, Lithuania. In addition to his work as a composer, Aubrey has written libretti for numerous productions. Opera magazine called his libretto for the opera “I’m Cleaning, I’m Cleaning” the “perfect balance of slapstick and satire.”

Aubrey Lavender was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Leslie Jimenez is a violinist from El Paso Texas, USA. She began her musical career at the age of three years old playing the piano and continued until the age of twelve when she began playing the violin. Leslie continued to hone her musical skills leading her to become the Concertmaster for the Region 22 All-Region Orchestra from 2017 through the 2019 academic years, as well as being the Concertmaster for the Ysleta Independent School District from 2017 through 2023 consecutively. She has received the Outstanding Soloist Award from the 2017-23 seasons in UIL Solo and Ensemble. In the years 2019 through 2023, she traveled to Austin for 
State Solo and Ensemble and received the Outstanding Soloist Award once again. Leslie was a section leader in the El Paso Youth Symphony for seven years and played as a soloist in the Symphony. She was invited to Washington D.C. to play in the Mexican Cultural Institute for some of the most influential politicians in the United States and Mexico. Leslie is actively a private violin instructor for children under the age of 18. She is currently working on her Undergraduate Degree at the Baylor School of Music in Waco, TX.

Leslie Jimenez was generously supported by the Margaret (Peggie) Sampson Memorial Endowment.

Sólveig Thoroddsen Jónsdóttir was born in Reykjavík in 1989. Sólveig studied classical harp under Caryl Thomas at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru), where she also enjoyed the guidance of Meinir Heulyn and Valerie Aldrich-Smith. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in the summer of 2013. Sólveig's first encounter with the triple harp was through the Welsh harpist Robin Huw Bowen, with whom she took several classes. Growing interest in Historical Performance led her to continue her studies in the Early Music Department of the Hochschule für Künste Bremen in Germany, where she studied historical harps with Margit Schultheiß, obtaining a Master of Music degree in July 2016. Sólveig has performed at festivals in Europe and Central America, such as Sumartónleikar í Skálholti in Skálholt, Iceland, XVIII Festival Internacional de Música Barroca Santa Ana in Costa Rica, Celebrating Sanctuary in London, Sharing Heritage – Europäisches Kulturerbejahr 2018 in Bremen, Germany and 31 Festival de Música BAC Credomatic in Costa Rica. She has twice been principal musician of the annual Christmas fairy tale of the Bremer Shakespeare Company. In 2019 she issued her first solo album Snotrur, where she sings while accompanying herself on different harps and kantele. In 2023 Consort of Two, her duo album with the Costa Rican lutenist Sergio Coto Blanco, was published by the German record label arcantus.

Sólveig Thoroddsen was generously supported by the Benediktson Fellowship Fund for Icelandic Artists and the Benediktson Fellowship Fund for Icelandic Artists (Travel Portion).

Established in September 2019, the Arete Quartet unanimously passed the  audition of the Young Chamber Concert of Kumho Art Hall, and subsequently made its debut at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei. Two years after its founding, the quartet won the first place at the 72nd Prague Spring International Music Competition and five other special prizes, including the Bohuslav Martinu Foundation Prize. In addition, the Arete Quartet received two special prizes at the 12th PREMIO PAOLO BORCIANI International String Quartet Competition for the "Best Performance for String Quartet Commissioned by Toshio Hosokawa" and a scholarship from Jeunesses Musicales Germany. In 2022, the quartet obtained a special prize at the 71st ARD International Music Competition in Munich. One year later the quartet won the first prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of Mozart’s work at the 15th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg. 

The string quartet has already performed throughout Europe and has been invited to major European festivals such as the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival, Mozart Festival Würzburg, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and Ravenna Festival. Currently, the quartet members are studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and also Fiesole School of Music. The Arete String Quartet studies with Prof. Christoph Poppen, Jaeyoung Kim of the Novus Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Prof. Eberhard Feltz and Prof. Cuarteto Casals.

The Arete Quartet is supported by Music in PyeongChang and the Banff Centre partnership.

Chae-Ann Jeon was generously supported by the Margaret (Peggie) Sampson Memorial Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Seong-hyeon Park was generously supported by the Sylvia and Jack Chetner Endowment and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Yoon-sun Jang was generously supported by the Finch Chamber Music Scholarship Fun and the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.