Collaborators

Sarah Albu is a singer, composer and performance-maker based in Tio'tia:ke (Montréal, Canada).

Her background in theatre and obsession with science fiction feed quirky and darkly comedic imagined worlds. She has been an invited artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Koumaria Residency in Greece, the Summertónar Festival in Tórshavn (Faroe Islands), and international series and festivals across Canada, Europe, the US and Mexico.

An active soloist specializing in new/experimental music, 20th century repertoire and free improvisation, she can be heard in settings ranging from traditional Balkan village music and ancient sacred polyphony to film and game soundtracks, noise and psychedelic rock. She is a founding member of the experimental voice collective Phth and frequently collaborates with artists working in video, installation, contemporary dance, textiles and digital media. Her first solo album was released independently in 2013, featuring 8 commissions for solo voice. She has contributed to recordings with a wide array of artists as a guest vocalist. Upcoming in 2022 is the release of an album of Gayle Young's complete vocal works spanning from 1978-2021.

She has premiered many new works and contemporary opera roles in close cooperation with composers and new media artists including James O'Callaghan, Gabriel Dharmoo, Gayle Young, Patrick Saint-Denis, Keiko Devaux, Charles Quevillon and Tedd Robinson(10 Gates Dancing), Snežana Nešić, Sam Shalabi, Will Eizlini, Symon Henry, and Rita Ueda, among others. She performs as a soloist with ensembles such as Ensemble Paramirabo, l'Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, No Hay Banda, Architek Percussion, the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra and collectif9.

She is the voice of all of the characters in interdisciplinary duo Chloë Lum and Yannick Desranleau's six part video installation The Garden of a Former House Turned Museum, for which she also acted, danced and consulted on the writing process. As a student in Jennifer Walshe and David Helbich's Composer-Performer course, she workshopped and performed her modular participatory work FutureMoves at the Darmstadt Summer Course and Festival for New Music in Germany and subsequently toured the work throughout the Nordic countries.

She holds BFAs in Theatre and Music Performance from Concordia University and an MMus from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (Netherlands). An avid knitter and folk dancer, her recent performance work explores the effects of rapidly developing technology on our bodies and lives through a mix of curiosity and nostalgia.

Marie-Annick Béliveau has been active on the Montreal musical stage for over 20 years. Her recent performance of Scelsi’s solo “performance opera” Les Chants du Capricorne, under the direction of Pauline Vaillancourt, was unanimously praised by critics, earning her an Opus Award for the Musical event of the year from the Conseil québécois de la musique.

She has made a name for herself as an accomplished performer of the contemporary repertoire, premiering over 30 works in Canada and Europe. She can regularly be heard on CBC and has made several award-winning recordings.

Equally active on the classical stage, she performs as a soloist with several ensembles and has participated in many soundtracks, such as The Red Violin and Paul à Québec.

Marie-Annick is also very active in her community, as a teacher in charge of classical vocal instruction at UQAM, at Camp musical Père Lindsay and CAMMAC music center, and as a performer for La Société pour les Arts en Milieux de Santé.

Robin Best, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, has been playing the harp for 15 years. Her studies began on the celtic harp with Mary Muckle in Ottawa, and continued with the pedal harp beginning in 2001.  Orchestrally, Robin has performed with the Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Gatineau, Longueuil and Drummondville Symphony Orchestras, I Musici de Montreal, La Sinfonia de Lanaudière, The Banff Centre Opera Orchestra, all the ensembles of McGill University, and has twice been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.  Robin holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Harp Performance and an Artist Diploma from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, where she studied with Montreal Symphony principal harpist Jennifer Swartz, and studied for one semester at the Glenn Gould School with Judy Loman.  She also holds a Performer Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she studied with Distinguished Professor Susann McDonald.  

Robin is now based in Montreal and Ottawa, where she is making her career as an orchestral, chamber and solo performer, as well as maintaining a private studio of harp students.  

Marie Brassard is an actress, director and author. In 2001, after working in close collaboration with Robert Lepage for fifteen years in the theater and in films, she created her first solo show, Jimmy, as part of the Festival de théâtre des Amériques (now FTA). The success of this work prompted her to start her own production company, Infrarouge and to begin a solo career. Since then, in collaboration with guest artists from different disciplines and origins, she has created surreal theatre with virtuoso acting skills and innovative video, light and sound installations.

After Jimmy, there was The Darkness (2003), Peepshow (2005), The Glass Eye (2007), The Invisible (2008), Me talking to Myself in the Future (2010) and Trieste (2013), pieces in which she continues her technological experiments, exploring the possible ways to use sound and light in the theater. Her pieces, performed in French or English have been presented and acclaimed in many countries in the Americas, Europe and in Australia, among other cities in Paris, Brussel, London, Dublin and Berlin, in Vienna, Lisbon and Madrid, in Milan, Oslo and Stockholm, New York and Mexico, Sydney and Melbourne, in places as Le Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris, the Barbican Center in London (PIT), the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the Sophiensaele in Berlin, the Halle G im Museums Quartier and the Brut im Künstlerhaus in Vienna and the Kulturhuset in Stockholm and at The Studio of the Sydney Opera in Sydney and the Malthouse, Merlyn Theatre in Melbourne.

In 2013, at Sophie Cadieux' invitation she made a collage of texts of the quebecois author Nelly Arcan, that she directed with a cast of six actresses and a dancer, titled The Fury of my Thoughts.  The piece, a major success originally produced and created at ESPACE GO,  was re-created by Infrarouge in Spring 2017 and presented in front of full houses in Ottawa (CNA), Québec (Carrefour international-Grand Théâtre de Québec) and Montréal (FTA-Usine C). In April 2018, the play was programmed in Madrid, at the famous Teatro Espanol, and in autumn 2018, it was part of the Festival des Francophonies en Limousin in Limoges and was then shown in Amsterdam, at the Stadsschouwburg (ITA-Rabozaal).

Marie Brassard then directed this show in its Japanese version in Tokyo. Produced in collaboration with PARCO, this play, which premiered at the Galaxy Theater on November 4, 2017, ran there for three weeks, then went on tour to Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, Kyoto and Toyohashi.

Marie Brassard is currently developing a new solo work that will be declined in two steps. The first segment of the projet, titled Introduction to Violence, will be created in company of  artists Antonin Sorel, Alexander MacSween, Pascal Grandmaison, Mikko Hynninen and Sabrina Ratté. It will open in Spring 2019, at Montreal Usine C. Initiated in 2016 while in residency at the Montevideo Centre in  Marseille, the work officially started in Sweden Göteborg, in August 2018, in the context of a creation residency at the Vitlycke Centre for Performing Arts, commissioned by the Göteborg Dance and Theatre Festival.

In recent years, Marie Brassard has also been involved as a director and dramaturg in dance. She has created two shows in collaboration with choreographer and performer Sarah Williams, Moving in this World (2014), that was presented in Montreal, Potsdam and Madrid, States of Transe (2013), creation in situ at the Darling Foundry, and choreographed a solo for she in the triptych Here is always somewhere else (2010). She also worked with dancer and choreographer Anne Plamondon on her solo The same Eyes (2012), presented in Montreal and on tour in Quebec and also acted as director for Mécaniques Noctures (2017). She danced for Isabelle Van Grimde (Perspective Montréal et Le corps en question), acted as artistic advisor for Dana Gingras and Animals of Distinction (Another) and collaborated in different ways and to different degrees with choreographers Anne Thériault, Annik Hamel , Jane Mappin, and Karine Denault.

She also plays occasionally in films. She has appeared in films by directors Robert Lepage, Michael Winterbottom, Ryan McKenna, Denis Côté, Sophie Deraspe, Erik Canuel, Guy Maddin, Matthew Rankin and Stéphane Lafleur, among others.

In 2016, she was awarded the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, an honorary distinction highlighting her exceptional contribution to the Quebec artistic community. 

After studying the oboe and theatre, Jean-François Daignault earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in early music literature and performance from McGill University, with high distinction in voice.

Mr Daignault has for many years specialized in early music, with some incursions into the world of contemporary music. He has performed in North America and Europe with ensembles including Opéra de Montréal chorus, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal chorus and Chants Libres, under the direction of conductors such as Hervé Niquet, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and John Rutter.

He has sung the famous « roasted swan solo » from Orff’s Carmina burana more than 20 times, including at the Festival de Lanaudière and at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal.

He is the cofounder of Ensemble ALKEMIA, a vocal trio that explores a capella repertoire from the last millenium. He sings and plays wind instruments with Ensemble séfarade et méditerranéen, which was awarded an Opus prize for their first album.

Mr Daignault also composes and arranges music. His works are performed regularly by local ensembles. He also enjoys exploring Montréal’s underground art scene, where he has put together performances which explore phantasy, transformation and the voice. 

Montreal native Charles-Eric Fontaine is a conductor and oboist born in 1996, with a passion for contemporary music and composer-performer collaboration. His detailed attention to nuance in the score and devotion to collaborating musicians leads to vivid and intimate performances. He obtained his Master’s degree in conducting at McGill University in 2021 and learned alongside Alain Cazes, Guillaume Bourgogne, Lorraine Vaillancourt and Sandro Gorli. In March 2022, he was conducting Divertimento Ensemble and recording a CD released by Stradivarius. In 2023, he will make his conducting debut with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. The young conductor aspires to showcase the great works of the canon, while supporting the leading composers of the next generations.

Léo Guiollot holds a master's degree in classical percussion from the Université de Montréal and a 5ème cycle degree from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal. He is increasingly active on classical and contemporary Quebec scenes, having recently worked with the Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens, Orchestres symphoniques de Québec, Sherbrooke, Laval, Trois-Rivières, OM, the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble, SMCQ, Ensemble Caprice, Paramirabo, etc.

Founder and director of Movimento, a Brazilian percussion ensemble socially engaged, and more recently director of Kumpa’nia, a percussion ensemble, Léo also has a particular interest in 'world percussion'. He traveled to Cuba, Brazil and Spain to learn and experience traditional styles. His talent for interpretation and his involvement in the community have earned him various distinctions, notably the Lieutenant Governor's Youth Medal and a handful of academic and travel scholarships.

Praised for his “contagious sensibility” (Revue l’Opéra), Canadian-American Baritone, Raphaël Laden-Guindon will be heard next as the baritone soloist in Keiko Devaux's new opera: L'écoute du perdu in a co-production of Musique 3 Femmes and Ensemble Paramaribo. He recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Performance at McGill University, where he performed the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera McGill. He made his professional debut at the 2020 Festival de Musique de Lachine, as a part of the concert entitled “Spotlight on the New Generation." Recent credits include Ophémon in L’amant anonyme (Chevalier de St-Georges), Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief (Menotti), Mr. Olsen in Street Scene (Weil), and Publio (cover) in La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart) with Opera McGill; Aristeo in Orfeo (Rossi), Corebo in La Didone (Cavalli) and Aristone in Xerse (Cavalli) with the Yale Baroque Opera Project. Raphaël holds a Master's degree from McGill University during which he was a recipient of both SSHRC and FRQSC master’s research grants. Outside of opera, he is a cofounder of Puntalytics, the world’s foremost open source hub for NFL punting analytics.

Soloist, improviser, chamber and orchestra musician, Laurence Latreille-Gagné completed her studies in both Quebec, graduating with distinctions in horn and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, and in Germany at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart.

Recipient of various academic scholarships and several first prizes in solo and chamber music competitions, her thirst for challenges and new knowledge has led her to continue perfecting her playing by participating in many master classes and training courses such as the National Arts Centre, Orford Centre for the Arts, Domaine Forget and the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Austria. She has also gained experience playing in various orchestras and festivals including the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the National Academy Orchestra. Since 2007, she also distinguished herself playing as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble of the Montreal Conservatory of Music, as well as playing Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for four horns twice as principal horn.

Laurence stands out for her curiosity, her commitment and her great versatility.  She is very active as a chamber musician in Montreal (being a member of Choros wind quintet, Ensemble Magnitude6 and Débonnaire Trio), performs regularly with several of the bests chamber ensembles and orchestras across Quebec, and is a passionate teacher.  She is very involved in the field of contemporary music, worked for the Montreal Contemporary Music Lab and Codes d’Accès, as well as regularly participating in the creation of new works as a member of the Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal and the Ensemble Magnitude6.

Since the age of 28, Jean-Michaël Lavoie enjoys an international career as a guest conductor and performed in more than 40 music capitals, among them Salzburg, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Cologne, New York, Los Angeles, Prague, Milan, Venice.

After his studies in Montreal, he is appointed Assistant Conductor to the Ensemble intercontemporain (2008-2010) and one of the Resident Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as part of the Dudamel Conducting Fellow program (2010). He deepens his musical training with Pierre Boulez (Ensemble intercontemporain, Lucerne Festival Academy) and Susanna Mälkki (Ensemble intercontemporain, Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Esa-Pekka Salonen (Orchestre de Paris).

Since 2010, he is guest conductor to the following orchestras : Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestra national de Lille, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, NFM Filharmonia Wroclawska, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony.

He made his opera debuts at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, co-conducting with Susanna Mälkki the world premiere of Luca Francesconi’s Quartett, at Opéra de Lyon and Opéra national de Bordeaux and is a regular guest to the specialized ensembles in contemporary music : Ensemble intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Musikfabrik, Ensemble Resonanz, Ensemble L’Itinéraire, Ensemble Multilatérale, Israel Contemporary Players.

Winner of the Prix Opus 2010 New Artist of the Year, he recorded two piano recitals for La chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada’s program Les Jeunes Artistes. In 2017, he was appointed Professeur adjoint at Faculty of music of Université de Montréal. In July 2020, he is appointed Music Director Associate of Ensemble Ars Nova (France) for the next three years.

During the 2020-21 season, Jean-Michaël Lavoie makes his debut at the Wiener Staatsballett – Volksoper Wien and returns conducting the SMCQ Ensemble at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal for the 10th edition of the Montreal New Musics Festival.

Clarinetist of French nationality established in Montreal, Charlotte Layec evolves around different musical aesthetics combining classical music and contemporary music, and mixte music and free improvisation. Attracted by creation and new music, this musician regularly collaborates with different composers on works as soloist or in chamber music. She is particularly interested in the co-creation process inherent in the collaboration between a composer and an interpreter in electroacoustic music.

A committed and active artist on the Montreal music scene, Charlotte Layec is a founding member of several ensembles including the Trio Émerillon, the Ensemble ILÉA, the Collectif Bakarlari and the TESSE Ensemble. The clarinetist has performed in several international events and festivals including NYCEMF (USA), ClarinetFest (USA), Re-Flux (CA), Mise-En-Place (USA), FIMU (FR), Sonic Circuits Festival (USA) , TIES (CA) and Mutek (CA).

Frédéric Le Bel graduated in 2011 at the University of Montreal where he studied composition with Philippe Leroux. In 2013, he completed a master’s degree from the Conservatory of Music in Montreal under the supervision of Serge Provost. From 2014 to 2019, he attended both Ircam's cursus and obtained a PhD degree from the same institution for working on the development and the integration of ‘smart’ algorithms by and for sound design and music composition. Frédéric has also participated in several international academies such as the Impuls Academy in Austria and the ManiFeste Academy in France. His music has been awarded several times in Canada and has been performed in various international festivals such as the New Music Darmstadt in Germany, the Matera Intermedia in Italy and the Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts in Canada to name a few. His repertoire explores instrumental, acousmatic and mixed music. From soloist to symphonic orchestra, he has worked with numerous recognised artists such as Ricardo Descalzo, the TANA String Quartet, the Divertimento Ensemble, the Klangforum Wien and the CMM Orchestra. For him, composing is a mix of research, creation and confusion. Finally, the expression by the sound phenomenon through an architecture bearer of knowledge and meaning remains his greatest artistic preoccupation.

A graduate of McGill University, Myriam Leblanc obtained a master's degree in choral conducting direction from the University of Sherbrooke. She was a First Prize winner and People's choice Award winner at the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières Competition, a Jeune Ambassadrice Lyrique in 2014 (Prix Québec-Bavière), Audience Choice Award winner at the Canadian Opera Company Centre Stage Competition, Third Prize winner at the Ottawa Choral Society New Discoveries contest, holder of the Excellence grant given annually by l'Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, First Prize winner in the Mathieu-Duguay Early Music Competition at the 2017 Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival. She has been working in the world of music for few years. Leblanc is recognized for the purity of her tone, a flexible and warm voice and her mastery of both technique and musical expressiveness.

In 2016, she made her debut with the Opéra de Montréal in the role of the High Priestess in Verdi's Aida. La Presse music critic Caroline Rodgers described her voice as one of "rare beauty". Her more recent performances (2017-2018) include Milica in Sokolovic's Svadba with Opéra de Montréal, Micaela in Bizet's Carmen with Opéra de Québec and concerts with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano, Matthias Maute and Jonathan Cohen. In 2018-2019, she sang a Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, the soprano solos on Handel's Messiah with Ensemble Caprice, the Mendelssohn's Symphony No.2 "Lobgesang" with l'Orchestre Metropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin's direction. Recently, she was a soloist with Les Violons du Roy under Jonathan Cohen's direction.

Montréal-born soprano, Frédéricka Petit-Homme is celebrated for the warmth and strength of her full tone. She has distinguished herself as a dynamic and engaging performer in roles such as Annie in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Opéra de Montréal), the Third Witness in L’Archange (Chants Libres), the Nurse in Concordia’s Rise Pandemic Opera, Marian Anderson in Backstage at Carnegie Hall (Black Theatre Workshop), and Aida in Parisa Sabet’s Vanishing Point.

Her musical prowess and collaborative spirit have provided her with opportunities to perform with the city’s premier ensembles, notably l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, and l’Opéra de Montréal under renowned conductors including Paul McCreesh, Hervé Niquet, Wayne Marshall, and Kent Nagano.

Frédéricka holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance and a Master of Music degree in conducting both from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Music Education at McGill University and is the new host for Choral Concert on CBC Music. 

Miss Petit-Homme is scheduled to perform with the Phoenix Chamber Choir in May. She will also participate in Bradyworks’ full production of Backstage at Carnegie Hall in the Fall of 2022 and Keiko Devaux’s L’Écoute du perdu in 2023.

Pamela Reimer is a pianist based in Montreal, Canada.  She has performed extensively throughout Canada, as well as in the US and the UK. In 2016, she was nominated for an Opus prize with flutist Marie-Hélène Breault for their concert ‘Mes Hommages’.  She has also performed, toured and recorded numerous albums with Orford Six Pianos, Bradyworks, Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Erreur de Type 27, Blue Rider Ensemble, KORE Ensemble, Quatuor Bozzini, Ensemble Paramirabo, flutist Marie-Hélène Breault, and percussionist Beverley Johnston.  In 2020 she was guest pianist with the London Sinfonietta (UK).  

Pamela is sought after as a collaborative pianist, in the summer at Orford Music Academy and Domaine Forget, and as official pianist for international competitions.  She has been on many festival and competition juries, in Montreal, Kingston, Moncton, Laval and Ottawa, and for the Musique Actuelle/Electronic Music category of the Opus awards.  She was Artist-in-Residence at Concordia University in Montreal from 2016-2018.

In 2019, Pamela created a solo piano theatrical recital entitled ’50 questions @ 50’ following a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, funded with an Exploration and Creation grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.  Other theatrical projects include the premiere of Yuliya Zakharava’s OJ-Tap song (2020), and Perspectives d’Hildegard (2016).

Praised for her colourful performances, Canadian soprano Catherine St-Arnaud is a promising young lyrical artist. Ms St-Arnaud received the First Prize in the voice category of the prestigious Prix d’Europe, was awarded Third Prize in the voice category of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Manulife Competition and was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions regional finalist (New England). She has also been named a Jeune Ambassadeur Lyrique by the L20 Theater, who awarded her the Québec-Bavière Prize.

Catherine’s versatile, luminous and warm timbre transposes itself beautifully in both baroque repertoire as well as opera. In 2019, she made her debuts with Orchestre Métropolitain and with Kosice Philharmonic Orchestra in Slovakia. We also heard her as a soloist with Les Idées Heureuses, Clavecin en Concert, the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the Montreal Bach Festival, the Montreal Baroque Festival, the Société d’Art Vocal, and the Arte Musica Foundation.

During season 2019-2020, Catherine sung the role of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Quebec Opera Festival, show which went on a Canadian tour with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. In October 2020, she sung the role of Lucia in Lucia di Lamermoor in a Jeunesses Musicales production, which should also have been presented at the Quebec Opera Festival and gone on a Canadian tour.

Catherine has many ongoing projects, please visit her website for some future announcements.

Praised for “an immense sweetness and precision which seemed to be flawless” (L’Opéra) and an “amazing versatility” (Opera Ramblings), Jennifer Szeto carves a dynamic path as a performer, producer, and administrator. She is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship, Merola Opera Program, Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, and L’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. A sought-after collaborator for contemporary creations, Jennifer is Founding Artistic Director of Musique 3 Femmes, which commissions and develops operas by emerging female composers and librettists with a biennial $50,000 award - the Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes. Highlights include INCONNU for UfaFabrik (Berlin); TRIPTYQUE in collaboration with La société de musique contemporaine du Québec; and Laurence Jobidon’s L’hiver attend beaucoup de moi for Opéra de Montreal, described described by the Montreal Theatre Hub as “exactly what opera needs.. bold, contemporary, poetic, political, feminist, theatrical, well-executed, and not afraid of traditionalists…” In 2023, Jennifer leads the world premiere of L’Écoute du perdu by Keiko Devaux in co-production with Paramirabo and Le Vivier, with stage direction by Marie Brassard. For Opéra de Montréal, she serves as music staff for the Canadian premiere of Golijov’s Ainadamar. 

A passionate administrator, Jennifer worked with Tapestry Opera to develop a new Canadian Opera Resource database (COR), as well as the Women in Musical Leadership Program, a fellowship for female and non-binary conductors in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria. A noted panelist for conversations around creation, young artist training, and entrepreneurship, Jennifer is on the musical staff of Opera McGill and a faculty member at Sewanee Music Centre’s OperaFest. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Association for Opera in Canada. Jennifer holds degrees from McGill University and University of Toronto.

Aysel Taghi-Zada is a passionate violinist devoted to the performance of classical and contemporary music. She has collaborated with some of the most distinguished composers and musicians from North America and Europe such as Philip Glass, Brian Current, Salvatore Sciarrino, Chris Paul Harman, Kevin Lau, Mark Fewer, Pierre Leroux, David Geringas and Pascale Beaudin. She is frequently invited to perform with contemporary ensembles such as Tapestry Opera, New Music Concerts, Freesound Ensemble, Thin Edge New Music Collective and Soundstreams Canada, and she recently participated in Continuum Contemporary Music’s Hatch Summer Performance program as an emerging artist.

She is also a founding member of the Vaso String Quartet, which performs around North America and participated in the 2019 Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax. As a recording artist, she can be heard on Jason Doell’s 2018 album … Amid the Cannon’s Roar, Catherine Daniel’s Sacred Christmas, and the Marrieds’ Fire in the Flame.

She was invited to be a Guest Concertmaster for the Georgian Bay Symphony in 2018 and 2019, and a Guest Assistant Concertmaster for the Kingston Symphony Orchestra in 2019. She has performed with several orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Windsor Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Concert Orchestra.

In 2019, Aysel participated in a residency at Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, where she worked with Gidon Kremer. She is a graduate of the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School where she studied with Barry Shiffman. While studying at McGill University with Jonathan Crow, she co-founded Ensemble Paramirabo, a group that specializes in showcasing music written by Canadian composers, and she performed on their first album Autoportrait. She is currently a violin instructor with the Columbus Cultural Centre, where her studio includes students of all ages, and she was a mentor with the Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Sessions in 2018 and the Toronto Creative Music Lab in 2019.

A conductor and pianist, born in 1947, Lorraine Vaillancourt is the founder and Music Director of the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), the ensemble-in-residence at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music since 1989. A full professor at this same school since 1990, she led its Contemporary Music Workshop from 1974 until retiring from teaching in 2016.

Vaillancourt is regularly invited by different ensembles and orchestras, both at home and abroad. In Canada, she has conducted the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the Orchestre Métropolitain; overseas, she has led the Orchestre de Cannes, the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon), the RAI National Symphony Orchestra (Turin), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (Lyon), the Ensemble Sillages (Brest, France), the Plural Ensemble (Madrid), and Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Vaillancourt is a founding member, along with composers José Evangelista, John Rea and Claude Vivier, of the Montreal concert society Les Événements du Neuf (1978 to 1989). In 1990, she was the driving force behind the creation of Circuit, a North American journal dedicated to 20th-century music. She was the president of the Conseil Québécois de la Musique (CQM) from 1998 to 2001 and subsequently sat on the board of directors of the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ) until 2006.
 
Vaillancourt is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Ordre du Bleuet. The recipient of an honorary doctorate from Université Laval in Quebec City in June 2013, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) in February 2016, in recognition of her considerable contribution to contemporary music. That same year, she received the Homage Award at the Opus Awards ceremony, as well as the Prix Denise-Pelletier granted by the Government of Quebec in honour of her outstanding career in the performing arts. In 2018, Vaillancourt was named a Knight of the Order of Quebec and, in 2019, was awarded the Medal of the National Assembly of Quebec, a prestigious distinction recognizing her major contribution to Quebec’s cultural life.