Heidi Gielczynsky was generously supported by the Raul Urtasun/Frances Harley Argentina Artists Scholarship.

Heidi Giel (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1991) is a pianist, accordionist, and composer. A graduate of the Escuela de Música de Buenos Aires and student of prominent mentors, she creates, performs, and records her own works while also participating in collective and orchestral projects. Her practice explores jazz, electronic music, tango, free improvisation, and real-time composition.

She has performed at venues such as ArtLab, Palacio de la Cultura, Planta Inclán, Tecnópolis, Teatro Margarita Xirgu, Teatro Colón, and Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires. Between 2013 and 2017, she studied film direction alongside music, expanding her approach to staging and transforming concerts into performative and installation-based operas.

This interdisciplinary approach is reflected in her long-term project Arcanas XIII (2019–2024). Her work is best described as “electroacoustic music”, focusing on compositions that can be improvised or fragmented and later processed through pedals or modular systems. Her influences draw from impressionistic sound, which sought to recover a modal, landscape-like, and ritual quality rooted in ancient perceptual worlds.

She currently works as a teacher at UNA (National University of Arts), and as a composer, session musician, producer, and performer for Sonosfera. She is preparing the release of her first solo album, Hora Azul.

Ian Foster was generously supported by the Frelyn Memorial Endowment.

Ian Foster is a multidisciplinary artist and composer from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. A multiple MusicNL and ECMA Award Winner, including Sound on Screen Composer of the Year (2025), he has released eleven albums of original material and toured all over North America and Europe. He has composed for award winning short films and features that have premiered at TIFF, The Atlantic Film Festival and others. His score for SONS was the most streamed film on the National Film Board’s website in 2025. He was recently commissioned by CBC Radio to develop music for the 2025 Canada Games, and will present a unique sonic exhibition at multiple Canadian art galleries in 2026. He remains committed to a lifelong journey in sound and image. 

More at www.ianfoster.ca and naracommunity.ca

Adanya Dunn was generously supported by the Carolyn Tavender Endowment.

Adanya Dunn (she/they) is a Canadian-Bulgarian opera singer (mezzo-soprano), interdisciplinary artist, and creative entrepreneur. As a singer, Adanya’s performed with the Canadian Opera Company (Sulie/Suzie in Pomegranate, premiere - Marshall/Hale), Santa Fe Opera (Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Barbara Hannigan (Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Mallarmé), Warsaw Chamber Opera (Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito), City Opera Vancouver (Anna in Sophia’s Forest, Canadian premiere - Moscovitch/Beecher), and Festival 20-21 (Berio’s Sequenza III).

Beyond the stage, Adanya is a curator, creator, and producer. Their work and practice is rooted in queer embodiment, community, and a commitment to collaboration across disciplines and identities. They are the co-founder of two different Amsterdam-based organizations: HXSSY and Red Light Arts & Culture (RLAC, est. 2020), a not-for-profit foundation that connects residents, local businesses, artists, site-specific locations, and social organizations, promoting and enriching the area’s cultural diversity.

Adanya composes classical/electronic music, writes poetry, paints watercolour, builds and designs websites, does photography, and performs pole, burlesque, and contact dance. They are a 500hr Yoga Teacher and are currently completing a multi-year Alexander Technique-based Yoga training.

www.adanyadunn.com & www.redlightartsandculture.com

Nicolás Castañeda Lozano was generously supported by the Ken and Marie Madsen Endowment Scholarships.

Nicolás Castañeda Lozano is an award-winning Colombian harpist and composer representing a new wave of Hispanic American musicians who balance innovation with tradition. Born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1989, he has dedicated his career to expanding the artistic possibilities of the arpa llanera, developing a contemporary sonic identity through genre-crossing composition and improvisation.

Mr. Castañeda’s work has been presented at international festivals and academic engagements, including Florida State University (USA), Somerset Folk Harp Festival (New Jersey), Nomads Festival (Helsinki, Finland), and Sonamos Latinoamérica (Copenhagen, Denmark), among others. His performances reflect a commitment to dialogue between Colombian traditions and global music practices.

He studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he earned his Cum Laude degree in Jazz Composition. His first EP, Renacer, showcases the harp’s versatility through original works that blend folk, jazz, and contemporary music. He is currently developing his second album, featuring solo pieces and ensemble collaborations.

In addition, Mr. Castañeda’s master’s research at the Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki investigates creative musical notation systems designed to support intercultural collaboration without limiting artistic identity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Colombia and comparative analysis of notation methods, his work proposes approaches that foster shared creative ownership across cultures.

Kristin Berardi was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Kristin Berardi and James Williams are two artists with a vision: Cultivating songs anchored by the deep roots of gospel and jazz, drawing vital nutrients from the rich soil of their musical craft to create a meaningful work grounded in storytelling and connection.This new body of work aspires to inspire, uplift and facilitate surrender and heartfelt resonance.

BerWillDirt is a budding partnership of culture transplants. Berardi, an award-winning vocalist from Australia, now residing in Switzerland. Williams, a heavily sought-after touring/session drummer from the USA, now residing in Belgium. Both know the balancing act of migration, integration, and parenting while artists - each with two kids of their own.

Lived experiences surround the music: making mistakes, learning, trying again, loss, love - all the many facets of what life brings us. They long to offer to others what music has given to them: a safe place to feel and be one’s self.

Andrew Bennett was generously supported by the John Linn Memorial Endowment.

Under the artistic alias Factor Eight, Andrew is a multidisciplinary, award-winning experimental artist from Saskatoon who creates cinematic soundscapes using only his voice. His work centres on mental health advocacy, embodied in his philosophy “Fear, My Friend” — accepting and transforming challenging aspects of oneself into sources of creative power rather than suppressing them.

His unique approach toward music has earned significant recognition, including awards, editorial playlist adds, and notable sync placements. With years of experience in commercial landscapes, Factor Eight music has been heard in productions and trailers from major studios such as Paramount, Disney+, A24, MGM, and Apple TV, with credits including Gladiator II and the Oscarwinning Women Talking.

Native Instruments describes his practice as “more than a technical decision […] a personal method built around trust in his own instincts, careful attention to detail, and a long-term vision that ties his music and message together.”

A three-time Saskatchewan Music Award winner and Western Canadian Music Award recipient, Andrew’s work extends beyond music into dance choreography, performance art, and interdisciplinary installation. Through Factor Eight, he connects with audiences across the globe, hoping to inspire connection among those who struggle and a sense of compassion among those who struggle to relate.

Rose Bush is the director of photography of the Oscar Winning film, COLETTE. Originally from Alaska, she has based her career with deep connections to: Los Angeles, Austin Texas, New York City, and Stockholm, Sweden. She holds an MFA in film production from the University of Texas at Austin, and as a filmmaker works in a diversity of forms amongst cinema & television from non-fiction to narrative film, commercials and what might be discovered next. She has a foundational belief that filmmaking must connect us to and expand our humanity pursuing the world with films made in uncharted global and existential territory. 

As a director of photography, with COLETTE, her work received an Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary at the 93rd Academy Awards. In her collaboration with Academy Award Nominated director Nicole Newnham, her work with THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE premiered in competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was listed by The New Yorker as “deserving of an Oscar nomination”. She was the official presenter of the Emerging Cinematographer Award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and has screened her work as a DoP with distributors including IFC Films, The Guardian, Dogwoof, Netflix, Hulu, and more.

If there’s an ethos driving everything Luca Fogale does, it’s intention. His songs are unpretentious and free of gimmickry — reverberating instead with rich nuance.This rare mix of skill and restraint is why Fogale has a pair of JUNO Adult Contemporary Album of the Year nominations (for 2023’s Run When the Light Calls and 2020’s Nothing Is Lost) and has garnered more than 180 million streams. For every song that’s made the cut for release, there are dozens more that the masses will probably never hear—he’s very adamant about not releasing songs unless they add value to the world. Luca’s beautiful new album Challenger, is out now on Nettwerk Records.

Savannah Harris is a drummer, producer/arranger, and music director widely regarded as one of the foremost drummers of her generation. Equally fluent in the deep traditions of jazz and the genre-blurring language of contemporary Black music, she brings precision, ingenuity, and emotional depth to every project she undertakes. Harris has become a vital presence in today’s creative landscape, touring and recording with Christian McBride’s Ursa Major, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and jazz luminary Kenny Barron.

Her creative reach extends to her award-winning collaborative project ØKSE, whose debut earned a Deutscher Jazzpreis for Album of the Year. Harris’s wide-ranging recording work includes contributions to Helado Negro’s acclaimed albums Far In and Phasor, where her rhythmic sensitivity and textural awareness play a defining role. She is also a longtime member of Or Bareket’s Quartet, appearing on the albums Sahar and Yom, and she joins Angelika Niescier and Tomeka Reid on the adventurous trio release Beyond Dragons.

Harris also serves as music director for MIKE, shaping the rapper’s live sound with her distinct rhythmic identity. Continually expanding her artistic footprint, she stands at the forefront of a transformative new wave in modern music.

Photo Credit Antonio Porcar.