Irene Yang was born in Toronto (Canada). She began dance training at a private dance studio in Markham, Ontario. In 2011 she attended Elite Danceworx and trained there in all styles of dance. She began her formal classical training in 2014 at the Academy of Ballet and Jazz (School of Canadian Ballet Theatre). In 2018 she came to Stuttgart to join the John Cranko Schule from which she graduated in 2021. 

She successfully took part in several competitions. At the Prix de Lausanne 2018, she was a finalist and won a scholarship to the John Cranko Schule. In the years 2016 to 2018, she reached several first and second places at the regional Semifinals of the Youth America Grand Prix. 

In the 2021-22 season Irene Yang was an apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet, one season later she became a member of the Corps de ballet. At the beginning of the 2024/25 season she was promoted to Demi-Soloist. 

Anton Tcherny was born in Toronto, Canada. He began his ballet training in 2015 at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto. In 2022 he went to Monte Carlo to continue his education at the Academie Princesse Grace, from which he graduated in 2023. During the 2023/24 season Anton Tcherny was an apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet. In the following season he became a member of Stuttgart Ballet’s Corps de ballet. 

Described by one critic as “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”, Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility. 

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in New York, Maeve‘s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish folk group or 
using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting. 

She tours internationally as a band leader, soloist and composer as well as belonging to a number of innovative collaborations including the prestigious Grammy award-winning Silkroad Ensemble (as a performer/composer and Arooj Aftab’s Vulture Prince and Night Rein Ensemble (as a performer/arranger). She has appeared at such major music events as Newport Folk Fesival, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, Big Ears Festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the historic opening of the Scottish Parliament. She has played with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Frankie Gavin, Ambrose Akinmusire, Darol Anger, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Paul Simon. 

Maeve has released five albums to date, including her most recent recording, The Harpweaver which was hailed by the Irish times in its five-star review as “Buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling….a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game.” Other albums include three recordings for the Adventure Music label including her 2017 release with bassist Viktor Krauss, Vignette and a self-released soloalbum, the Ostinato Project is a beguiling exploration of the possibilities of her instrument. In 2018 Maeve was a featured soloist on the Dreamworks blockbuster movie soundtrack, How to tame your dragon: The hidden world. Maeve was the first lever harpist to be employed as an instructor by her alma mater, Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she taught for five years before switching to being a visiting artist in 2018. She has written several instructional books published by Hal Leonard Music and 80 Days Publishing. She is also an in-demand composer and arranger, with past comissions including two ground-breaking concertos for Lever harp and Symphony Orchestra and several works for harp and string quartet including her three-movement piece Pastures Red premiered at the Edinburgh International Harp festival in 2018. 

Maeve is the Artistic Director of the Rockport Celtic Festival and the Founder of the Hudson Valley Creative Harping Retreat. She resides in Kingston NY with her huband, Logan and one year-old daughter, Ishka.

(Maeve Gilchrist and Aizuri Quartet) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2koKs3qIqA&t=5

Hailed by Opus Magazine as "a stunning musician," violinist Livia Sohn has performed on the international stage as concerto soloist, recitalist, and festival artist across five continents. The Strad Magazine writes that she "possesses a remarkably lithe and transparent tone of exceptional purity — virtually blemishless accounts are nothing short of remarkable. Even when under the most fearsome technical pressure at high velocity, every note rings true with pinpoint accuracy."

Sohn has appeared as guest soloist with major orchestras across North America, including the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Seattle, Milwaukee, Austin, Phoenix, and Boston Pops, and internationally with the Budapest Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Cologne Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, Czech National Symphony, City of London Sinfonia, and orchestras throughout China, Mexico, South Africa, and New Zealand. A devoted chamber musician and longtime favorite at Spoleto Festival USA, she has also appeared at the Newport Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Caramoor, Maverick Concerts, and the Cartagena International Music Festival. Recent highlights include the world premiere of a new violin and piano work by composer Jonathan Berger, performed at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., as well as appearances in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas. This summer, she returns to Spoleto for one of her most significant engagements to date: the world premiere of a new violin concerto written expressly for her by cellist-composer Paul Wiancko, co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA and performed with the Festival Orchestra. Other commissioners for this concerto are the Rogue Valley Symphony, Palaver Strings, and Orchestra Wellington.

Sohn is a founding member of MoVE (Modern Violin Ensemble), an innovative quartet of four violinists dedicated to expanding the repertoire for violin quartet through new commissions and multidisciplinary collaborations that address social issues and reach audiences in both traditional and alternative venues. This June sees the release of their monumental debut album, featuring thirteen world premieres of newly commissioned works.

She is currently on the violin and chamber music faculty at Stanford University. Sohn gave her first public performance at age eight and won First Prize — and the Audience Prize — at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at age thirteen. She trained at the Juilliard Pre-College Division from age eight under Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang, continuing under their guidance at The Juilliard School, where she also studied chamber music with the legendary Felix Galamir. She plays on a J.B. Guadagnini violin crafted in 1770 and a Samuel Zygmuntowicz made in 2006.

Sohn is the founder and artistic director of Coast Live Music, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating community through exceptional live chamber music.

Yolanda Bruno is an Ottawa-born violinist. She’s won Grand Prizes at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, the Isabel Overton Bader Violin Competition, and the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize—the nation’s highest honour for young musicians. As a soloist, she’s performed with the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Orchestra of the Americas, and London Mozart Players.

In 2021, Yolanda founded Music for Your Blues—a performance project offering free-of-charge, personalized, online concerts combining music and poetry. Yolanda has now offered over 70 free performances.

The Wild Swans—Yolanda’s first CD, with pianist Isabelle David—was released in 2019. It features music by 11 women composers, spanning ten centuries, including several world premieres. Yolanda released her second album in 2025—dedicated to the late Jeanne Lamon.

Yolanda’s violin is an exquisite Venetian instrument made by Domenico Montagnana in 1737, on loan from Groupe Canimex. She lives in Toronto with her partner, accordionist Michael Bridge.

www.YolandaBruno.com

Trinity Fan, 24, is a pianist and composer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has been a top prizewinner of several competitions including YoungArts, Music Teachers National Association, Camerata Artists International Competition, and more. Recently, Trinity performed Gershwin’s Concerto in F with the Dexter Community Orchestra where she improvised throughout the work, was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2026 Musicians Club of Women Instrumental Competition, First Prize in the 2025 Rosamund P. Haeberle Piano Competition, as well as Honorable Mention in the 2025 Michigan MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition.

As a composer, Trinity received Second Prize in the 2024 MTNA National Composition Competition for her piece, “Reminiscence.” She previously studied with Shuyu Lin, Corey Chang, and Wong Chun Wai. Aside from performing, Trinity has a love for teaching. She is a former faculty member of IU's Young Pianists Program and is now a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and teaches at SMTD's Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program.

Trinity completed her bachelor’s and master’s in Indiana University and the University of Michigan. She has attended festivals including the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, the Amalfi Coast Festival, Tanglewood, and the Edward Auer Piano Winter and Summer Workshops, where she also assisted as a coordinator for 3 years. Her teachers include Christopher Harding, Edward Auer, and Tomoko Harada. Trinity is currently pursuing her doctorate studies at the University of Michigan in Piano Pedagogy and Performance under Christopher Harding and jazz improvisation with Andy Milne.

“collectif9 takes the future of classical music by the hand, giving it a serious rejuvenation.”

ICI MUSIQUE

Laureate at the 2025 JUNOS and 'Performer of the Year' at the 2025 Prix Opus, Montreal string ensemble collectif9 is known for their innovative programming and approach to chamber music. The string nonet aims to promote classical music from a personal perspective, where new voices and interpretations are welcomed and encouraged, performing “with an infectious energy and vigour that grabs an audience’s attention” (The WholeNote). Since their 2011 debut, collectif9 has performed numerous concerts across North America, Europe, and Asia. As performers of classical and contemporary music, the ensemble combines the power of an orchestra with the agility of a chamber ensemble. collectif9 operates on the premise that a change of context can influence communication and experience.

collectif9 presents new programmes every season in Montréal, Canada, and their national and international touring schedule includes performances in chamber music series, festivals, universities, and more. Highlights include concerts in the Festival de Música de Morelia (Mexico), La Folle journée de Nantes (France), Festival de Lanaudière (Québec), Shenzhen Concert Hall (China), and Sound Unbound (Barbican Centre, London). The ensemble continually explores new repertoire and new artistic partnerships with composers, video artists, poets, lighting designers, and other inspired collaborators, to create multidisciplinary projects that come to life in acoustic or amplified settings.  

Rituæls (Analekta, 2024), the most recent album by collectif9, received a Juno Award and an Opus Award, and was a finalist at the Gala ADISQ. Released with European label Alpha Classics, the ensemble’s two previous albums were nominated at the Juno Awards in 2022 and 2023. Rituæls has been described as “a sensory landscape that evokes timelessness... the real, the important” (Pan M 360), No Time for Chamber Music as “sheer delight” (New Music Buff), and Vagues et ombres as “spellbinding” (Pan M 360), a “superb reinterpretation of Debussy” (Classique News). In addition to their albums, the group has released a series of three film-concerts, live performances filmed with a cinematographic approach, as well as a docu-concert (Ce qui nous lie, 2025) which reveals the group's creative process.  

Inspired by the processes of other artistic movements, collectif9 continually searches for new ways of expression within the classical medium, fostering communication and collaboration between artists of all kinds and members of society. The group is also committed to the preparation of specially-designed school shows and presentations, masterclasses, and workshops. Created specifically for their intended group, collectif9’s educational activities focus on energy, shared experiences, and exploration.  

collectif9 has received a great deal of support and encouragement, and is very grateful to the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, and FACTOR.

Direction

Thibault Bertin-Maghit , general and artistic direction 
Andrea Stewart , associate general and artistic direction

2025-2026 Musicians

violins Chloé Chabanole, Scott Chancey, John Corban, Robert Margaryan, Camille Poirier-Lachance, TJ Skinner 
violas Cynthia Blanchon, Marilou Lepage 
cellos Marieve Bock, Juan Sebastian Delgado, Andrea Stewart 
double bass Thibault Bertin-Maghit  
guitar Steve Cowan 
marimba Krystina Marcoux 
drums Ronny Desinor 

Terry Clark joined The Conservatory at Mount Royal University in 2022. Clark has deep ties to the Calgary community and is excited to return to the Conservatory after spending a number of years abroad. Like his grandfather, he studied at The Conservatory as a youth before going on to the University of Calgary where he earned a Bachelor of Music in flute performance.

Clark joins MRU from the Royal College of Music in London, England where he obtained his PhD. Since then he has been researching and teaching at the College, in addition to managing its Performance Simulators. Clark brings a unique expertise to MRU having dedicated much of his time to performance development and psychology, and he is looking forward to exploring the potential of The Conservatory.

“The Conservatory has always had a very illustrious place in my mind and I am overjoyed to be returning as director,” he says. “The Conservatory is home to some of Calgary’s most talented musicians and I am looking forward to further developing their skills, while also bringing in some of my knowledge around performance psychology.”