ALAIN COULOMBE
One of the most commanding and exciting singers of his generation, French-Canadian bass Alain Coulombe has been enjoying an international singing career for over thirty years. He has collaborated with outstanding conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Richard Bradshaw, Helmut Rilling, Bernard Labadie, Alain Altinoglu, Jacques Lacombe, Ingo Metzmacher, and Richard Bonynge.
Highlights from recent opera seasons include Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival, Der Doktor in Wozzeck and Archangel Uriel in the world premiere of CO2 at Il Teatro alla Scala, Clark Gable in the world premiere of Waiting for Miss Monroe and Geronte di Ravoir in Manon Lescaut at De Nationale Opera, Amsterdam, as well as Bishop Taché in Louis Riel at the Canadian Opera Company, le Festival d’opéra de Québec, and the National Arts Centre. He was also Oroveso in Norma and Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette at the Calgary Opera, Merlin in Kopernikus and Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande at Against the Grain Theatre, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette and José Tripaldi in Ainadamar at l’Opéra de Montréal, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni at l’Opéra de Québec, as well as Timur in the Vancouver Opera production of Turandot.
Recently in concert, he was Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at l’Opéra de Québec, as well as bass soloist in the world premiere of Paul Frehner’s L.E.X. with Soundstreams, in a tribute concert to bass Joseph Rouleau at Le Domaine Forget, and in the gala L’Opéra Français en Fête at Le Festival d’opéra de Québec. As bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with l’Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, as well as in Mozart’s Requiem at the Festival Music and Beyond, Alain was Zuniga in Carmen with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, The Gravedigger in Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgerfahrt Op.112 at Le Festival de Musique de Lanaudière, and Le Père de Famille in Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with the National Orchestra of Spain, Pax Christi Chorale, the Boston Symphony, and the Dresdner Philharmonie.
On DVD, he is Phinée in the EuroArts production of Lully’s Persée and Masetto in the film Don Giovanni Unmasked by Rhombus Media. On disc, he is Clark Gable in Robin de Raaff’s Waiting for Miss Monroe for Challenge Classics, Sam Jarvis Senior in Harry Somers’ Serinette, and the bass soloist in Somers’ The Death of Enkidu and Chura Churum for Centrediscs Records.
This season, he is Gaston in the world premiere of Messe Solennelle pour une pleine lune d’été by Michel Tremblay and Christian Thomas at le Festival d’opéra de Québec, l’Assistant de Descartes in the world premiere of La Reine Garçon by Michel Marc Bouchard and Julien Bilodeau at l’Opéra de Montréal, Zuniga in Carmen at the Vancouver Opera, and in concert with l’Orchestre Philharmonique et Chœur des Mélomanes.
Next season, he will be Le Spectre du roi défunt in Hamlet at l’Opéra de Montréal, l’Assistant de Descartes in La Reine Garçon at the Canadian Opera Company, and Simone in Gianni Schicchi at the Calgary Opera.
An esteemed Canadian artist, in 2023 Alain Coulombe was a nominee for the prestigious Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award by the Ontario Arts Council for the importance and the longevity of his singing career in Canada and abroad.
AVATAAR
JUNO-winning saxophonist/flutist/vocalist and composer Sundar Viswanathan has shared the world stage with national/international artists alike. He has performed extensively in Europe (including stints with the Grammy-nominated Charles Tolliver Big Band at several Jazz Festivals), Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, and the USA. Musical associations from Jazz and World music arenas include Wynton Marsalis, Vijay Iyer, Kenny Wheeler, Jaffa Road, Lee Konitz, Dave Holland, Kiran Ahluwalia, Rez Abbasi, John Abercrombie, Suba Sankaran, Terry Clarke, Joe Lovano, John Hicks, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, Jim McNeeley, Hip Hop artist GURU, and Dave Douglas. He has been commissioned to compose/perform with several Dance companies in Canada/USA. Sundar has been reviewed/profiled in Downbeat, JAZZIZ, the New York Times, Worldmusiccentral.org, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, EYE magazine and several other Canadian and international publications. Sundar’s music has been featured on CBC radio, JAZZ FM, WBAI, Radio Bombay and college radio nationally and internationally.
JUNO-nominated Canadian vocalist, improviser and electronic sound artist, Laura Swankey is dedicated to exploring the full capacity of her voice, both in solo settings and in collaboration with others. Her solo work for voice and electronics sets simple, earnest melodies and stories over top of lush soundscapes and bizarrely textured grooves. Laura creates and presents with Noam Lemish’s 2024 Juno-nominated Twelvetet, Plastic Babies, Parade, The Afton Project, Elisa Thorn’s HUE, Mike McCormick’s Proxemics, and Jazz Bras Dot Com. She is thrilled to be joining Sundar Viswanathan’s 2022 Juno award-winning ensemble, Avataar. In 2024, Laura will be releasing a duo album of improvised music with long-time collaborator and friend, guitarist Patrick O’Reilly (W/DRWN Records), as well as albums with Parade, The Afton Project and Plastic Babies.
An eight-time JUNO Award nominee, guitarist/composer Michael Occhipinti’s inventive approach to creative music of all kinds has earned him a broad array of listeners and the respect of critics and musicians alike. Crossing genres that include jazz, chamber music, funk, world music, and anything involving modern guitar sounds, Michael is both a versatile musician and an imaginative bandleader. His Sicilian Jazz Project has been called “a masterpiece of cross-cultural fusion” and has thrilled audiences in Canada, the U.S., Italy, and Mexico – the project earned Michael a JUNO nomination, and a Chalmers Award that allowed him to live in Sicily from March – June 2010.
Bassist Tyler Emond is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music producer, who has worked with a broad array of musical acts found in Canada and around the globe. As a bassist/guitarist he has performed and recorded with Alessia Cara, Tyler Shaw, Matt Dusk, Amalia, Mark Kelso’s Jazz Exiles, Avataar, Marito Marques, Ahmed Moneka, Fethi Nadjem, The Canadian Arabic Orchestra, Naseer Shamma, Mr. Something Something, Tamar Ilana & Ventanas, Netsanet Melesse, Dead Prez & Randy Brecker. As an audio engineer and musical director Emond has produced recordings for Hush, Kune, Ahmed Moneka, Tyler Shaw, Tamar Ilana & Ventanas, Tennis Partner, Tara Moneka, Fethi Nadjem, Melissa Lauren, Duane Forrest, Janelle Monique, Melanie Brulee, Kristin Fung, and Natureboy.
Ravi Naimpally studied the art of tabla playing in India. Having completed extensive training with his uncle Nikhil Ghosh and also Anindo Chatterjee, Ravi has been an active member of the Toronto world music scene for nearly 20 years. As a vital part of Toronto’s large South Asian community, Ravi continues to perform traditional music from India. Ravi has had several Juno nominations and is featured on Kiran Alhuwalia’s Juno winning CD Beyond Boundaries. For the last 11 years Ravi has led his own Indo-jazz ensemble Tasa, which was awarded an Urban Music Award for Best World Music album.
Juno winning drummer/percussionist Max Senitt is a highly regarded and in-demand freelance musician on the Toronto and international scene. He brings a wealth of experience and versatility gained from performing across Canada, USA, the Caribbean, South America, and Europe with such Grammy and Juno award winning artists as: Alex Cuba, Hilario Duran, Odessa/Havana, Josh Groban, Odessa Havan, the Flying Bulgars, and Carol Welsman. Presently a member of Tzadik Recording artists “Zebrina” and Urugayuan singer Valeria Matzner’s bands, he also leads his own Trio.
BLUES ZHANG | MUSICUS
20-year-old violinist Blues Zhang is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Catherine Cho. Born into a musical family, Zhang first studied violin with his mother, Zhang Xi, 1st violinist of the Hong Kong Philharmonia Orchestra. He went on to pursue studies with Jeremy Williams and Martin Beaver at The Colburn Music Academy.
Zhang was the winner of the Colburn Music Academy Concerto Competition, as well as a finalist in the Juilliard Concerto Competition and the Musicus Society Young Artist Audition. He was also awarded first prize in the HKGNA International Music Competition, Concerto Class of the Hong Kong Youth Catania Music Competition, and was the first runner-up in the Hong Kong Strings Scholarship for Stringed Instruments.
An active orchestral musician, Zhang served as concertmaster of the Colburn Academy Virtuosi, Diocesan Boys’ School’s String Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Camerata Strings. He is also a substitute musician in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. His festival appearances include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, Kneisel Hall, Meadowmount School, New York String Orchestra, Heifetz International Music Institute, and the Asian Youth Orchestra.
Zhang has appeared as a soloist on NPR’s From the Top (Show #431), with the Colburn Academy Virtuosi, and the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra. He has also performed in various masterclasses with Paul Kantor, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Clive Greensmith, Frank Huang, Kirill Troussov, Pavlo Beznosiuk, and Tatjana Masurenko. In chamber music settings, Zhang has worked and collaborated with members from the Brentano, Dover, Emerson, Juilliard, Orion, and Parker string quartets. His quartet is part of Juilliard’s Honors Chamber Program, which recently made its debut at Alice Tully Hall.
Zhang is a recipient of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, Greendale Scholarship, Dorothy Delay Scholarship, and Mai Family Scholarship.
BRYAN CHENG
Following recent prize-winning successes at some of
the world’s most prestigious international competitions,
including Queen Elisabeth, Concours de Genève, and
Paulo, Canadian-born, Berlin-based cellist Bryan Cheng
has established himself as one of the most compelling
young artists on the classical music scene.
In the 2024/25 season, he continues his residency with
the Banatul Philharmonic Timisoara in Romania, gives the
European premiere of Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto with
Tampere Philharmonic in Finland, and debuts with hr-
Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, BBC National Orchestra of
Wales, Prague Philharmonia at Mozartfest Würzburg,
Orchestre Métropolitain, and Bochumer Symphoniker,
among others. Equally in-demand as a chamber musician,
he graces the stages of Wigmore Hall, Festspiele
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ChamberFest Cleveland,
Rockport Music, and Tippet Rise Arts Center for the first
time, while returning to the Verbier Festival and
Heidelberger Frühling, curating a mini-residency featuring
his two regular ensembles, Cheng2 Duo and CelloFellos.
Bryan has released a trilogy of critically-acclaimed albums on German classical label audite, and his
newest recital album Portrait (2023) on Centrediscs, featuring commissioned works and own
arrangements by composers of diverse Asian heritage, was nominated for 2 JUNO awards.
Bryan received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Universität der Künste Berlin
and is now enrolled in the Professional Studies program at Germany’s Kronberg Academy. He plays
the 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello generously on loan from the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank.
CHENG2 DUO
Rooted by a sibling bond that transcends the familial, the Cheng2 Duo (pronounced Cheng Squared Duo) transfixes listeners through its impassioned expressivity and contagious joy—critics have hailed their performances as “brilliant” (The Sunday Times, UK), “truly exhilarating” (The WholeNote, Canada), and “absolutely captivating…through a tremendous mastery of their instruments” (Pizzicato Magazine, Luxembourg).
Cellist Bryan Cheng, prizewinner of the 2023 Virginia Parker Prize and 2022 Prix Yves Paternot, and pianist Silvie Cheng, 2022-23 Cecilia Concerts Musician-in-Residence and National Arts Club Artist Fellow, have been making music together for nearly their entire lives. Since officially forming the Cheng2 Duo at their 2011 Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut, their artistry has left lasting impressions across the globe, with extensive tours to illustrious concert halls and international festivals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.
In the 2023/24 season, the duo will appear as guest soloists with the Banatul Philharmonic (Romania), embark on multi-week tours in Canada and South Africa, and present recitals in Switzerland and the US. Recent highlights include recitals at the Frauenkirche Dresden, Flagey (Brussels), Munich Künstlerhaus, California Center for the Arts, Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), Chamber Music at the Clark (Los Angeles), Harvard University (Cambridge), Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (Kingston), Orford Musique, Salle Bourgie (Montréal), Palais Montcalm (Québec), as well as Chamberfest Cheboygan, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Toronto Summer Music Festivals. Past performances and interviews have been broadcast on CBC Radio, ICI Musique, Radio-Canada International, Vermont Public Radio, WCRB Classical Music Boston, WCNY Classic FM, Kulturradio RBB and Südwestrundfunk (SWR2) Germany, ORF Austria, and Classical Radio Orpheus (Moscow).
In the vanguard of creative programming, Bryan and Silvie are equally committed to presenting traditional masterworks, rediscovering neglected repertoire, and championing the music of their time. Since 2013, they have commissioned and arranged 15 new works, as well as curated cross-disciplinary concert experiences that meld classical and contemporary music with jazz, poetry, and visual/media arts. World-class collaborative partners have included photographer and cinematographer Edward Burtynsky, Mercury Films, and multimedia studio Normal.
Cheng2 Duo has released four critically-acclaimed albums on the Canadian label Centrediscs and the German label audite: Portrait (2023) – nominated for a 2024 JUNO Award in the category “Classical Album of the Year, Small Ensemble”, Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016). Born in Ottawa and Tokyo to Chinese parents, Bryan and Silvie are proud Canadians who also have musicals bases in Berlin and New York City. For more information, follow @Cheng2Duo on social media.
CHRISTINA PETROWSKA QUILICO
Christina Petrowska Quilico website
CHRISTINA PETROWSKA QUILICO, C.M., OOnt, FRSC, was appointed to the Order of Canada “for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist, and for championing Canadian music”. She was appointed to the Royal Society of Canada “the country’s highest honor an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences”. Her “astonishing contribution to musical life in Canada, particularly her teaching and advocacy of Canadian and women composers,” earned her the treasured Oskar Morawetz Prize in 2023, with the jury asserting, “She is legend.” The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named her “one of Canada’s 25 best classical pianists” and inducted her into CBC’s “In Concert Hall of Fame”. Four of her 60 CDs have earned JUNO Awards nominations including Glass Houses Revisited by Ann Southam. Solo concerts and performances of 53 concertos with orchestra have taken her across the U.S. and Canada, as well as to Taiwan, the Middle East, France, England, Germany, Greece. Her recent CDs have landed on four best-of lists in Canada and abroad and Vintage Americana was one of the winners in the classical category of the Global Music Awards. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York and performed in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Centre, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Halls, garnering superlatives from the New York Times, “an extraordinary talent with phenomenal ability… dazzling virtuosity”.
DAVID R. MARACLE
David R. Maracle, Tehanenia’kwè:tarons – (Cutter of the Stone) has been crafting his artistry since 1985, from his home community of Kenhtè:ke Kanyen’kehá:ka-Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He brings to life the ancestral teachings of the Haudenosaunee People’s way of life through his magnificent prize-winning stone sculptures, musical compilations, and all aspects of his entrepreneurial-ship as a business owner on his Indigenous Territory.
David’s “Originals in Stone” sculptures are throughout the world; with many corporations, and private collectors including the estate of the late Nelson Mandela, the Emperor of Japan, Dan Aykroyd, & Loretta Lynne. He has been on a successful journey in his life which interfaces with his 40-year multi-faceted career in the Arts & Music Industry.
Not only is he a world-renowned sculptor of stone, David is also an International award-winning multi-instrumentalist, musician, poet composer & Producer who has over his career released over 18 musical compilations and music scores for various Documentaries during his multi-faceted career. David has so far, received two Gold Records from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for his world fusion ambient melodies of the Iroquoian Love Flute, paired with his collection of rare world instruments!
DAVID’s accolades include numerous Canadian Indigenous Music Awards. He has had the fortune of performing his ambient music all over the world; Austria, Holland, Pakistan, the 2000 Olympics in Australia, and before the Queen in Parliament, but just recently had the Honor to perform virtually from the Empire Theatre for the 50th JUNO AWARDS for the opening and closing ceremonies for the Indigenous Juno Nominee awards segment.
David is a successful entrepreneur with many businesses; he is the owner of a “tiny but mighty” art shop, the Eagle POD Gallery and his online business entitled Native Expressions. Due to the global pandemic, David was forced to pivot his career off the road, and focus on his newest endeavor; David manages a successful Indigenous Boutique retreat entitled “LiL Crow Cabin & PODS Courtyard,” a 5-star staycation destination, nestled along the shores of the beautiful Bay of Quinte on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
ELISSA LEE
Co-founder and Executive Director
Juno award winner and First Prize winner of the 23rd Eckhardt-Gramatté Strings Competition, Elissa Lee has appeared as a soloist with top orchestras across Canada. She has held positions as second concertmaster in both the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the WDR Sinfonie Orchester. Now enjoying a busy freelance career, Elissa tours frequently the greatest concert halls and festivals in Europe. She has performed as Concertmaster with the Rundfunk Orchester München, the Swedish Radio Orchestra, the KlangVerwaltung Orchestra in Munich, and Festival Strings Luzern, and in leading positions with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Luxembourg Philharmonic and the Canadian Opera Company. She has also been a guest of the world renowned Chamber of Orchestra of Europe, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and has worked under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink and Daniel Harding.
As a chamber musician she has performed with Louis Lortie, Augustin Dumay, Anton Kuerti, Pascal Devoyon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Lawrence Lesser, and Shauna Rolston and has been a frequent participant in Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, England. Elissa Lee joined Ensemble Made In Canada in 2010, which performs concerts and tours throughout Canada and the United States.
Elissa enjoys sleeping. When she is not sleeping, playing the violin, or on her computer, she enjoys cooking, baking, reading cookbooks, going to restaurants and thinking about what she wants to eat for her next meal.
ILYA POLETAEV
A musician with a fiercely inquisitive mind, impeccable technique and an intensely poetic vision, Ilya Poletaev is an artist equally at home on the modern piano or on historical keyboards: harpsichord, fortepiano, and chamber organ. Hailed as “one of the most significant pianists of his generation” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, he launched his career after capturing First Prize at the prestigious International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig in 2010—the only Canadian ever to win that competition. He has since appeared at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, KlavierFestival Ruhr, Dresdner MusikFesttäge, Potsdam Musikfestspiele, Leipzig BachFest, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Montreal Bach Festival, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Chamber Music Society, St. Paul’s Ordway Center, Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, Caramoor Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and many other prestigious venues and festivals across Canada, US, Italy, Romania, Germany, and Russia. He also was the Grand Prize winner of the 2008 Concorso Sala Gallo in Italy, a laureate of the 2008 Canadian Stepping Stone, a top prize-winner at the 2007 SEHKS harpsichord competition, and a prize-winner at the 2011 George Enescu Competition in Bucharest. In 2009 he joined the roster of Astral Artists and is currently an Astral Artist laureate.
On the modern piano, he has appeared with the Toronto Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Hartford Symphony, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Samara Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Orchestra Filarmonica di Cluj, Orchestra Filarmonica de Bacau, and McGill Symphony Orchestra collaborating with such conductors as David Robertson, Peter Oundjian, Bernhard Gueller, Alexis Hauser, Rossen Milanov, Nurhan Arman, John Holloway and Leo Kraemer.
Known for the breadth and creativity of his programming choices, Poletaev has in past seasons offered solo performances ranging from the complete 2nd Book of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (which he performs in its entirety on both modern and historical keyboards); to traditional recitals and concerto performances of both well-known and neglected repertoire (C.P.E. Bach, Dussek, Medtner, Enescu, Nielsen, etc.), to interdisciplinary events combining performances on different instruments, poetry readings, spoken commentary, and historical narrative.
In performing Baroque and Classical repertoire on the modern piano, an area in which he is well-known, Ilya Poletaev strives to bring together a personal vision and wide palette of instrumental colors with the most scrupulous attention to sources and historical performance techniques. “An expert harpsichordist, he played Bach on the piano as well as any I have heard… All that he played was deeply considered… His intelligence was luminous.” (Berkshire Eagle). “The Bach Overture was set forth with delightfully springy rhythms, a constantly stimulating interplay of contrapuntal lines, and tone that was clear and warm with no suspicion of harshness. Stylish as it was, with intricately detailed embellishments, this was also romantic playing.” (Seen and Heard International).
In his interpretations of the traditional Romantic literature, Mr. Poletaev combines the improvisatory flexibility derived from his experience with period performance practice with psychological insight and a gift for large-scale musical narrative. Of a recent performance of Schumann’s Humoreske, a critic wrote: “There was no attempt to sand down Schumann’s jagged edges, to soften the blows of sudden changes in thought and mood. Through a liberal amount of rhythmic distortion, Poletaev revealed the wonderful truth in Schumann’s anxieties, obsessions, and wild tangents—that his was a reality apart. Resolution (sanity) was all the more sweet in the penultimate section, which the pianist rendered in the most tender shades of sincerity.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Among his many musical interests, Poletaev has a special devotion to the music of the great Romanian composer, George Enescu. His performances of the violin and piano works with Axel Strauss, published by Naxos in two volumes, have been hailed as “the finest readings… aside from the recordings that Enescu himself made” (American Record Guide); “formidable” (Gramophone), and “highly compelling” (The Strad). A recent performance of Enescu’s Piano Sonata No. 1 at a Philadelphia Chamber Music Society recital “seemed to transport to another time and place” (Philadelphia Inquirer). In 2011, to mark the composer’s 130th anniversary, Poletaev toured Italy and Romania with a program exclusively devoted to Enescu’s music, and in 2017, he organized a first-ever mini-festival of Enescu’s works in Canada, combining efforts by internationally renowned performers, prize-winning students and alumni of McGill University.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Poletaev is the founding member of the Trio de Montreal (Axel Strauss, violin, and Yegor Dyachkov, cello) and Trio Séléné (Mingzhe Wang, clarinet, and Elizabeth Lara, cello). Trio Séléné’s debut recording, featuring music by Fauré, Zemlinsky, and the Catalan composer Fernando Buide, has been released in May of 2018; and the second one, with fortepiano, and featuring music of Beethoven, Eberl, and Sharlat, will be released in Sept 2021. Mr. Poletaev has also appeared alongside such vocal artists as Susan Graham, Miah Persson, James Taylor, Thomas Cooley, and Dominique Labelle; cellists Gary Hoffmann and Joshua Roman; violinists Donald Weilerstein, Colin Jacobsen, Mark Steinberg, Stephen Copes, and members of the St. Lawrence, Juilliard, and Alcan string quartets; flautist Ransom Wilson, and many others.
As a solo harpsichordist, Mr. Poletaev appeared at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Pierpont Morgan Library, Helicon Foundation, Ordway Center in St. Paul, Minnesota (with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, both in chamber formations and under the leadership of Christian Zacharias), Montreal’s Salle Bourgie, the Aston Magna Early Music Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments, and Helicon Foundation in NYC. As a continuo player, he has performed with Masaaki Suzuki, Andrew Lawrence-King, Steven Stubbs, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington, Graham O’Reilly, Matthias Maute, and Helmuth Rilling. He can be heard in both solo and continuo roles on several recordings with the Yale Schola Cantorum (Bach’s 1725 St. John Passion; Bertali’s Missa Resurrectionis, among others)—all issued on the ReZound label.
In addition to performing classical repertoire, Mr. Poletaev is also active as an improviser, both as a soloist and a creator of live scores for silent film. In 2019, he made his debut at the Giornate del Cinema Muto, a world-renowned festival of silent film in Pordenone, Italy.
Mr. Poletaev’s performances and interviews have been broadcast on the BBC; WQXR in New York; Minnesota Public Radio; CBC Radio-Canada; Radio Berlin-Brandenburg, MDR, NDR, and WDR networks in Germany; Radio Romania; Radio Rossiya and Radio Orfei (Russian Federation), and others. His recording of George Enescu’s violin and piano works with Axel Strauss has been heard on radio stations worldwide.
A dedicated teacher, Mr. Poletaev is currently Associate Professor of Piano at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal. He is also Assistant Director at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival’s Choral Week. He previously served on the faculty of Yale University as a Lecturer in Early Music. He has given numerous master classes and talks on performance practice in many of the world’s most prestigious music schools, including the San Francisco Conservatory, the Guildhall School in London, UK, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the Buchman-Mehta Music Academy in Tel-Aviv, Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School, and the Conservatorio di Milano. His students have been the recipients of many distinguished prizes and scholarships.
Mr. Poletaev began studying in Moscow at the age of six and continued his studies in Israel until he moved to Canada at the age of 14. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied with pianist Marietta Orlov, harpsichordist Colin Tilney, and composition with Walter Buczynski, as well as Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Yale, where he studied with Boris Berman.
Mr. Poletaev currently resides in Montreal with his wife, the Romanian-born fortepianist Ruxandra Oancea, and their son Nikolay Simon.
ISABELLA PERRON
Isabella d’Éloize Perron is a multidisciplinary musician—violinist, violist, singer, and pianist—celebrated for her authentic, expressive artistry and belief in music’s healing power. Originally from Montreal, she trained in Calgary with Bill van der Sloot, later earning her Bachelor’s in violin performance at Toronto’s Glenn Gould School with Erika Raum. Though classically trained, Isabella embraces many genres and is devoted to improvisation, composition, and arranging.
She made her solo debut at age 7 with I Musici and has since performed with orchestras worldwide, including the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Prague Radio Orchestra, and Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Isabella released her first album at age 12 and performed in over 80 shows of MusicMan with Gregory Charles. She’s received numerous awards, including first prizes at the National Music Festival of Canada and Concertino Praga, the Michael Measures Prize, and the Orford Musique Grand Prize.
A 2020–21 Radio-Canada Classical Revelation artist, she commissioned and recorded a new work by Métis composer Gregory Borton. In 2024, she recorded and toured North America with Vivaldi and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, including her debut on the Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.
Outside of music Isabella loves cooking, foraging, forest bathing, and practicing Qigong on British Columbia’s West Coast.
*Isabella plays on a Guadagnini 1768, generously on loan from CANIMEX
JOHANNES DEBUS
Johannes Debus, Artistic Director for Biglake Arts, has been Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company since 2009.
Highlights of his tenure at the COC include Wagner’s Tristan and the Ring of the Nibelung, Verdi’s Aida, Falstaff and Otello, Mozart’s Abduction from Seraglio, Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin, Ariodante by Handel and the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. Most recently he conducted La Traviata, The Flying Dutchman and Salome in Atom Egoyan’s iconic production.
He worked with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Cleveland Orchestra and Boston Symphony and appeared at festivals such as Scotiafest Halifax, the Banff Centre Summer Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival and Santa Fe Opera as well as at opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and the Staatsoper Berlin.
Born and raised in Germany he is now residing in Toronto and enjoys the use of words like “sorry” and “eh”.
KORNEL WOLAK
A 2023 JUNO Award Winner, Kornel Wolak is a touring soloist, recording artist, author and clinician involved in research on the role of oral articulators in clarinet playing at Speech-Language Pathology Department at University of Toronto. He is Assistant Professor of clarinet at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.
Highly acclaimed for his musical imagination and astonishing versatility. “Control, and a smooth, elegant expressivity… are what make Wolak shine.” (John Terauds, the Toronto Star) Regularly appears in recitals as soloist with American and European orchestras as well as chamber musician. A “Fryderyk” nominee, Poland’s highest recording award, he is a regular fixture on the CBC, Classical 96.3 FM, Public Radio International, and in the US, NPR. Regularly gives master classes and lectures in Europe, Asia and both Americas. His newly published book “Articulation Types on Clarinet (and Saxophone)” has become a bestseller world-wide among the woodwind community.
Since 2015 together with Drs. A. Slis, A. Namasivayam and P. van Lieshout Dr. Wolak is using 3D Electromagnetic Articulography (AG501) to measure tongue movements when playing various articulation types on the clarinet. The current study is focused on analyzing tongue action in single-, double, and side-to- side staccato articulation.
He is the founder of Music Mind Inc., an initiative that promotes music education through research and understanding.
Since 2018 Dr. Wolak is an Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Queen’s University.
MIHAELA MARTIN
Romanian-born artist Mihaela Martin is one of the most outstanding violin virtuosos of her generation, her playing displaying a chameleon-like versatility of musical expression. Following her prize-winning appearances in the Tchaikovsky, Montreal, Sion and Brussels competitions, Mihaela’s gold medal performance at the Indianapolis Violin Competition launched her international career.
Equally at home as a soloist with orchestra and as a chamber music performer, Mihaela’s performances in season 2023-24 include performances with Bucharest Philharmonic, Staatsorchester Hamburg, Berlin Academy for American Music, appearances at the Verbier Festival, Enescu Festival, Budapest Academy Festival, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Festival, Santander Festival, Ravinia Festival, Suntory Hall.
She has performed with leading orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Manfred Honeck, Andrew Davis, Andrew Litton, Gabor Takacs, Thierry Fischer, Thomas Sanderling, Constantine Orbelian, Nicholaus Harnoncourt, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi.
Chamber music has a very important place in Mihaela’s life. In addition to participating in many chamber music festivals, she is a founding member of the Michelangelo String Quartet with whom she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Boulez Hall-Berlin, Wigmore Hall-London, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw, and Theatre de Champs Élysée.
Since 2017 she is artistic director of the Rolandseck/Bad Honnef Chamber Music Festival and frequently collaborates with musicians Daniel Barenboim, Sergei Babayan, Lera Auerbach, Kirill Gerstein, Denis Kozhukhin, Sharon Kam, Nobuko Imai and Gabor Takacs.
Mihaela Martin is a professor at University of Music in Cologne, at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and at the Kronberg Academy. She gives masterclasses throughout the world and is a regular jury member at important international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), Indianapolis (USA), Concours Musical (Canada), Enescu (Romania) and Tchaikovsky (Russia).
Mihaela Martin plays a violin by J.B. Guadagnini that dates from 1748.
PHIL CHIU
“A pianist-painter who transforms each musical idea into a beautiful array of colors” (La Presse), Philip Chiu is acclaimed for his brilliant pianism, sensitive listening, and a stage presence that eschews the hermit-pianist image and favours openness, authenticity, and connection with audiences. Inaugural winner of the Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer, Mr. Chiu has become one of Canada’s leading musicians through his infectious love of music and his passion for creation and communication.
He concertizes extensively as soloist and chamber musician and has performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts in most major venues across Canada, as well as concert halls in France, Japan and the United States. He recently made his debut for the La Jolla Music Society in California in their 50th anniversary season and will be appearing in Maine and Massachusetts in fall 2019. Chamber music partners have included James Ehnes, Emmanuel Pahud, Regis Pasquier, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bomsori Kim, Johannes Moser, and Raphael Wallfisch. He has a long-standing violin-piano duo with Jonathan Crow, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and violinist of the New Orford String Quartet. Mr. Chiu is a veteran touring artist of Prairie Debut, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Debut Atlantic, having toured the country 14 times with their generous support.
As Artist-in-Residence of Cecilia Concert’s 2018/19 Season, he immensely enjoyed programming four unique and imaginative concerts, and is looking forward to further exploring his creative side as Artist-in-Residence for Montreal’s La Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur in 2020. Other upcoming projects include a recording/concert tour of John Burge’s 24 Preludes for Solo Piano, as well as a recording/concert project with Pentaèdre, honouring the music of Jacques Hétu.
In addition to his performing activities, Mr. Chiu created the Collaborative Piano Program at the Domaine Forget International Academy and consulted for national and international competitions as a recognized expert in collaborative piano. He has also juried for provincial, national, and international competitions.
Mr. Chiu has recorded for Warner Music, Analekta, ATMA Classique, and CBC Music. He can be heard on BBC Radio 3, France Musique, ICI Musique, and CBC Music. He is eternally grateful for the support of Mécénat Musica, the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
SARAH MOON
Toronto-based flutist Sarah Moon enjoys an active performance and teaching career. She balances her schedule between teaching at Queen’s University in Kingston and performing in Toronto. Currently, Sarah is a member of Blythwood Winds, a prestigious professional woodwind quintet in the GTA. She is also the principal flute of the Ontario Philharmonic. From 2016 to 2018, Sarah held the principal flute position with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and taught at the University of Saskatchewan during her time there. In 2019, she was invited back to perform Christos Hatzis’ Concerto for Flute “Departure” with the SSO. Sarah’s previous orchestral engagements include Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax (2008–2010) and Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico (2014). As an active recitalist, Sarah recently performed at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Arts in Kingston as part of the Faculty Artists Series and at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, NY.
SEBASTIAN KRUNNIES
Violist Sebastian Krunnies is a frequent performer at chamber music festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein-Musikfestival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Kuhmo Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, Orford Chamber Music Festival and Marlboro Music Festival. As part of the series “Musicians from Marlboro” he toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Krunnies has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Mitsuko Uchida, Louis Lortie, Andras Adorjan, Peter Stumpf, Augustin Hadelich, Augustin Dumay, Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott among others.
Sebastian Krunnies began his musical studies on the viola at the age of four and later studied with Ulrich Koch, Thomas Riebl, Garth Knox and for ten years with Kim Kashkashian. He attended master classes with Hariolf Schlichtig, Gyorgy Kurtag and Ferenc Rados.
A member of the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Kirill Petrenko, Mr. Krunnies is also a regular guest principal violist at the Oslo and Munich Philharmonic, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra London. Mr. Krunnies also holds a degree in Psychology from the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
SHHH!! ENSEMBLE
SHHH!!… a powerful utterance designed to draw attention forward… creating space and awareness… opening ears to something important.
Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham are the SHHH!! Ensemble, described as “truly virtuosic and intense” (Confluence Concerts) and “a beautiful discovery” by the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. Their appetite for collaboration and experimentation has led to bold new works written for them by John Beckwith, Frank Horvat, Jocelyn Morlock, Mari Alice Conrad, Monica Pearce and more.
In February 2023, SHHH!! Ensemble “enthralled” (Winnipeg Free Press) as soloists in the world premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s concerto “Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters” with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Other world premieres include JUNO-winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s Spirit Gradient with the Tuckamore Festival in Newfoundland, and Noora Nakhei’s “Echoes of the Past” for the Ottawa International Literary Festival. Across the country, their performances at the Open Ears Festival, LUMINA, the Tuckamore Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, the Banff Centre, and for the National Arts Centre captivate audiences and critics with their “avant-accessible” approach, calling them “inspiring” and “inventive”.
SHHH!! Ensemble’s debut album Meanwhile (Analekta), nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards, was released in October 2022 to critical acclaim, reaching top positions on Apple Music and Spotify playlists. In the fall of 2023 they will release their 2nd CD, a large-scale commission by Toronto composer Frank Horvat on the Leaf Music label, titled “An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene.”
SILVIE CHENG
Lauded for her “extraordinarily varied palette” (WholeNote Magazine) and “purely magical” playing (New York Concert Review), Tokyo-born Chinese-Canadian pianist Silvie Cheng has performed across five continents, from the California Center for the Arts to Brussels’ Flagey Hall, Montreal’s Salle Bourgie to Santiago’s Centro GAM, and the University of South Africa to Shanghai’s Poly Theatre. She has premiered over fifty new works, including at Carnegie Hall, Cornell University, and the National Gallery of Canada.
Recent highlights as guest soloist include appearances with the Filarmonica Banatul, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Silvie tours extensively with Cheng² Duo alongside her cellist brother, Bryan Cheng. She has collaborated with Angela Hewitt, James Campbell, Jonathan Crow, members of the Aizuri, Attacca, Kronos, and Penderecki Quartets, as well as musicians of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Her discography spans the labels audite, Centrediscs, Navona, and New Focus Recordings, with Cheng² Duo’s latest release, Portrait, garnering two 2024 JUNO nominations.
SOPHIE LEUNG | MUSICUS
A native of Hong Kong, Sophie Hingfei Leung, an 18-year-old violinist, is currently studying at the Colburn Music Academy as a Kohl Scholar with Prof. Robert Lipsett. She was born into a musical family, beginning her violin instruction at the age of four from her violinist mother and pianist father. She earned her LTCL Performance Diploma at age 11. At the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Sophie trained intensively with Prof. Ivan Chan. During her early school years in Hong Kong, she served as concertmaster of the Diocesan Girls’ School Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Primary School Symphony Orchestra.
Passionate about the violin, Sophie’s ambition is to become an outstanding violin soloist, hoping to engage more people in the beauty of music through her performance. She was invited as a soloist to perform the Mozart Violin Concerto with the Hong Kong Orchestra under Mr. Kin-Fung Leung’s baton and was also interviewed by Radio Television Hong Kong.
Sophie has won many local and international prizes, including Champion in the Young Virtuoso of the Tokyo International Youth Music Competition in Japan, Grand Prize Winner of the Hong Kong Music Talent and Performance Award, Winner of the 2nd Concerto Competition of the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra, HKGNA Senior Strings Grand Prize, 2nd Prize at The Coltman Chamber Music Competition, and was a finalist for the Hong Kong Music Society Young Artist Award.
She has participated in various music festivals such as the Kneisel Hall Young Artist Chamber Music Program, Heifetz International Music Institute, Meadowmount School of Music, and Sounding Point Academy in the United States.
THE FRETLESS & MADELEINE ROGER
THE FRETLESS & MADELEINE ROGER
Four ferocious players, masterful composition, and a genre-bending sound — Juno award-winning The Fretless is a Canadian quartet that has firmly taken its place on the map to a progressive form of “trad.”
A supergroup of celebrated solo artists, The Fretless has been creating a singular and signature sound that dares to expand the idea of what a string music quartet can be — transforming fiddle tunes and folk melodies into intricate, beautiful, high-energy arrangements that have quickly gained a dedicated following and accolades from around the world. Within what appears to be a simple construct — two fiddles, a viola, and a cello — The Fretless has created a sound that is distinctly rich, multi-layered, and uniquely percussive. This tonal quality is pushing traditional music to new heights, producing a completely fresh approach to folk music.
Starting with its debut album in 2012, The Fretless had a breakout year winning Instrumental Album of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and Instrumental Group of the Year and Ensemble of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA). Their self-titled follow-up album, The Fretless, took home Ensemble of the Year at the CFMA’s and features the tune “Waving To Ryan,” currently approaching nearly two million Spotify plays. In 2015, they released Bird’s Nest, an album that solidified them as a force among the world’s roots music scene and earned them a 2016 Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year. Recorded in a historic barn, live off the floor in upstate New York, they released Live from the Art Farm in 2018, an expanded rhythmic, harmonic, and stylistic exploration of the many folk genres they play. This album not only won them a CFMA for Best Ensemble but earned them a second Juno nomination.
Since the band’s inception in 2011, The Fretless has been successfully touring at home in Canada, as well as globally throughout Australia, South and North America, and six European tours. From iconic and intimate concert halls to some of the world’s most prestigious stages, The Fretless has had the pleasure of performing at the Cologne Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra Hall, Shetland Folk Festival, Festival Internacional Cervantino, two sold-out shows at Celtic Connections, as well as sharing the bill with Canadian fiddle legend Natalie McMaster for Canada Scene at the National Arts Centre. A Fretless show is infectious, dynamic, and impressively relentless. They not only deliver expert musicianship and an electrifying performance but always invite the audience to feel the passion they hold for their music.
The Fretless is excited as they look toward 2021 with plans to release their most ambitious recording to date — Open House: a 10-track guest singer collaboration, featuring an astounding list of powerhouse vocalists that will absolutely solidify The Fretless as an ever-evolving, truly transcendent group.
Outreach and inspiring the next generation of string players is very much a part of The Fretless’ ethos. They continue to support numerous fiddle camps, masterclasses and workshops around the world, not only as instructors but as mentors. Over the past few years, they have connected with notable organizations such as the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the Luxembourg Youth Orchestra, creating and performing full orchestral arrangements of Fretless tunes.
The Fretless is Trent Freeman (Fiddle/Viola), Karrnnel Sawitsky (Fiddle/Viola), Ben Plotnick (Fiddle/Viola), and Eric Wright (Cello).
They not only deliver expert musicianship and an electrifying performance but a show that makes you feel the passion they have for the music.
TREY LEE
Artistic Director
Hailed as a “miracle” by Gramophone, Trey Lee enthralls audiences with a virtuosity that combines intellectual sophistication and a profound depth of emotions. His concerto debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage earned him a standing ovation, with The New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini declaring him “the excellent cellist… with enveloping richness and lyrical sensitivity.” The late Lorin Maazel praised him as “a marvelous protagonist… a superb cellist” after conducting Trey in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
2023 and 2024 highlights include touring with Camerata Salzburg, the season opening concert in London with the English Chamber Orchestra, a recital tour of 11 cities in China, and concerto performances in Paris, Berlin, Milan, Vienna and Budapest. Notable musicians Trey has worked with include conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Bashmet, Mikko Franck, Hannu Lintu, Juanjo Mena, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Vassily Sinaisky and Dima Slobodeniouk; the philharmonics of BBC, Netherlands, Radio France; the Tapiola Sinfonietta; the Moscow Soloists; and the chamber orchestras of London, Mantova, Munich, Stuttgart and Romanian Radio, among others.
Seeking to increase the expressive possibilities of the cello, Trey has re-arranged Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which he debuted with the Trondheim Soloists followed by a tour of Norway. Wang Liping’s The Dream of the Red Chamber Capriccio, co-rearranged by Trey, was premiered with Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, Trey has given world premieres of two pieces dedicated to him: Bright Sheng’s The Blazing Mirage (recorded for Naxos) and contemporary Finnish composer Kirmo Lintinen’s Cello Concerto.
Trey is a laureate of major international competitions, including First Prize at the International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition. His debut and recital albums were distributed by EMI with critical acclaim; recent recordings include a recital by Deutsche Welle television, the German public international broadcaster.
Trey plays on the 1703 “Comte de Gabriac” cello by Venetian master maker Matteo Goffriller.
VENUTI STRING QUARTET
The Venuti String Quartet is made up of some of the most sought-after freelance musicians in Toronto. Their members frequently perform with many of the major orchestral ensembles in Toronto, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada, and Tafelmusik.
They are a highly versatile group, comfortable performing not only the great classical repertoire but also jazz, contemporary, and many other musical genres. Their violinist, Drew Jurecka, also composes and arranges for the quartet.
The members are very versatile and perform with various other ensembles including Schmaltz & Pepper, Payadora Tango Ensemble, Jill Barber, VC2, Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company, the Gryphon Trio, the Art of Time Ensemble, the Canadian Opera, and many more.
The Venuti String Quartet can be heard frequently as recording artists for film and various recording projects, including Royal Wood’s, Donovan Wood’s, and Justin Gray’s most recent records. They are the quartet in residence for Caledon Chamber Concerts.