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.

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.

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.

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.

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.