Dave Horrocks is a mastering engineer, drummer and percussionist from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Associated with Infinite Wave Mastering studio and Sundae Sound recording studio. Formerly the co-owner of Sundae Sound recording studio.
Anastasia (she/her) is a queer, certified intimacy director, coordinator and fight designer from Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 Territory. She is a founding member of Principal Intimacy Professionals (PIPs), and an instructor for the PIP’s SAG-AFTRA accredited intimacy training program. She’s worked with students at Ambrose University, UBC and UofA and is on the Board for the National Society of Intimacy Professionals. Anastasia holds mental health and trauma-informed care as central to her practice.
Select credits include: Legally Blonde (Citadel Co pro), A Streetcar Named Desire, Beaches the Musical, Selma Burke (Alberta Theatre Projects Co Pro), Meteor Shower, Escape To Margaritaville (Theatre Calgary), Hurry Hard (Western Canada Theatre), Mary Stuart (SAGE Theatre), Girl On The Train (Vertigo), Bombay Black (Alberta Theatre Projects), A Midsummer Nights Dream, Measure For Measure (Free Will Shakespeare), Genesis: The Mary Shelley Play (ACT Edinburgh Fringe), Guilty Party (Paramount+), Peacemaker (HBO), Upload S2 (Amazon).
Special thanks to her PIPs Pals and loved ones for their ongoing support.
Composer Karim Al-Zand’s (b.1970) music is acclaimed for its expressive power and imaginative spirit, described by the Boston Globe as “strong and startlingly lovely.” His works have been performed across North American and internationally, earning him such distinctions as the Arts and Letter Award from the American academy of Arts and Letters and the 2024 Barlow Prize. A prolific and versatile composer, Al-Zand has created a catalogue of works spanning orchestra, opera, chamber, vocal and solo repertoire. His music embraces a variety of interests, issues and influences. It explores connections between sound and other art forms, drawing inspiration from graphic art, myths and fables, folk music of the world, film, spoken word, jazz, and his own Middle Eastern heritage. From compositions for young audiences to scores for dances to interdisciplinary projects, Al-Zand’s music resonate with a wide range of listeners and collaborators. Alongside his creative work, Al-Zand is a founding and artistic director of Musiqa, Houston’s leading contemporary music ensemble, where he helps shape programming of 21st century repertoire. In his scholarly work, he has pursued several diverse areas of music theory, including topics in jazz, counterpoint, and improvisation (both jazz and 18th century extemporization). Al-Zand was born in Tunis, Tunisia, to an Iraqi father and an American mother. He was raised in Ottawa, Canada and educated in Montreal (McGill University, BMus 1993) and Cambridge (Harvard University, PhD 2000). Since 2000 he has taught composition and music theory in Houston at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University.
Born in Acadia, soprano Suzie LeBlanc is internationally recognized for her expressive performances of early music, art song, Acadian repertoire, and contemporary works. She began her career in London with the Consort of Musicke and went on to perform worldwide with leading ensembles and orchestras.
She has performed on major stages and at prestigious festivals around the world and appears on more than 75 recordings, including a Grammy Award for Lully’s Thésée and an ECMA for her album I Am in Need of Music, featuring Canadian settings of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry. Suzie is also the co-creator of mouvance, a JUNO-nominated multimedia work combining Acadian poetry and music by Jérôme Blais.
An inspiring educator, Suzie served as Artistic Director of Cappella Antica and vocal coach at McGill University from 2017 to 2020. Since 2021, she is the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver, where she curates a vibrant season of historically informed performances and continues to sing occasionally. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2015 and named Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Republic in 2024.
Toronto-based conductor and educator Sandra Horst is celebrated for her “superb direction” (La Scena), professionalism, and musical integrity throughout her thirty-year career. Recent conducting engagements include Orphée+ with Edmonton Opera, Florence, the Lady with the Lamp with Voicebox: Opera in Concert, and the premiere of Cusson and Vavrek’s Indians on Vacation at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Since 1998, she has served as the Price Family Chorus Master at the Canadian Opera Company, amassing a repertoire of over seventy operas to date. In past seasons, she has worked with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Juilliard Opera Centre, the Chautauqua Institution, and made her mainstage conducting debut at the Canadian Opera Company with Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims in 2002. Next season, she looks forward to conducting the COC Ensemble Studio's performance of Rossini's Barber of Seville. In 2022, Horst joined Tapestry Opera’s groundbreaking Women in Musical Leadership program as an industry mentor and was appointed to the board of the Association for Opera in Canada in 2024.
Spencer Kryzanowski is a passionate crossover artist working as a conductor, music director, répétiteur, and vocal coach in both musical theatre and opera.
Spencer is the assistant conductor and pianist for Edmonton Opera; a staff member in the University of Toronto Opera department; resident music director for Good Mess Opera Theatre; and resident music director for Pop Goes the Opera in Edmonton, Alberta. On top of these regular positions, Spencer maintains a busy freelance schedule.
As a conductor and music director, Spencer has worked on numerous opera and musical theatre productions across Canada. His recent opera credits include Wagner’s Die Walküre (Edmonton Opera), Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (Edmonton Opera), Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus (Edmonton Opera), Puccini's Il tabarro (Pop Goes the Opera), Massenet's Cendrillon (UofT Opera), Hank and Gremlin (Good Mess Opera), and La bohème (Mercury Opera). Spencer's recent musical theatre credits include Newsies, Mean Girls: The Musical, and Beauty and the Beast with Bravo Academy.
Spencer's recent répétiteur credits include Guerrero's El huésped del sevillano with Toronto Operetta Theatre, Nino Rota's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, and a comedic triple-bill of Hindemith's Hin und zurück, Offenbach's Monsieur Choufleuri, and Douglas Moore's Gallantry. Other credits include Humperdink's Hänsel und Gretel with Berlin Opera Academy; Copland's The Tender Land; Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia; Puccini’s Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi; and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Spencer had the pleasure of workshopping Melancholia, an opera based on the Lars von Trier film, by Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek in 2023 for the Royal Swedish Opera. Additionally, Spencer assisted as a répétiteur and vocal coach in a workshop of Indians on Vacation by Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek in 2024 as part of a collaboration with Against the Grain Theatre and Edmonton Opera.
Emma Hammond (she/her) is a west coast based stage manager who has been working in theatre and opera for over 10 years. She thrives on being calm under pressure, pastries, and calling perfect cues. Emma has worked with a variety of companies such as: Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera, City Opera, The Firehall, Ruby Slippers, Sticks and Stones, Theatre Under the Stars, Theatre Replacement, and The Cultch.
Coming up next for Emma is working on Rigoletto at Vancouver Opera. She would like to thank Justin for his love, support, and for always pretending to be impressed when she says “places” in real life.
Carolyn Choo (she/her) is a skilled props artisan currently living on the traditional lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱ SÁNEĆ Peoples. Her professional work in theatre and opera has been showcased on national and international stages with prestigious companies, including the Canadian Opera Company, the Shaw Festival, and the Banff Centre. Most recently, she contributed her talents at the Prague Quadrennial of Space and Performance 2023 in the Czech Republic.
Beyond her professional practice, Carolyn is passionate about arts education. She fosters inclusive and thoughtful learning environments, grounded in the belief that creativity is deeply shaped by our surroundings. She views the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity as a uniquely inspiring space—one that nurtures exploration, innovation, and connection within the field of props and beyond.
