Artists Past & Present

2013 Summer Tour:

Michelle Simmons, Mezzo Soprano

A native of Newfoundland, mezzo-soprano Michelle Simmons is a graduate of the Master of Music Vocal Performance program at the University of Toronto, where she studied with soprano Lorna MacDonald. During her time at the Faculty of Music, Ms. Simmons was the recipient of the Greta Kraus Fellowship towards her studies at the University of Toronto, and was a First Place winner in her category at the NATS Ontario Student Auditions.

Ms. Simmons has a strong commitment to contemporary music. Most recently, she collaborated with the Alliance Française de Toronto to present an original, bilingual evening of song and drama based on the life and loves of Claude Debussy: Debussy Entre les Lignes (2012). Her performance during the 2010 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto, was an integral part of the avant-garde, inter-disciplinary art installation Allegory for a Rock Opera, presented by visual artist Derek Liddington. During her post-graduate studies, Ms. Simmons commissioned Canadian composer David Passmore to create a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and baritone to the words of Newfoundland-born poet E.J Pratt. Many Moods, received its premiere in the spring of 2004, thanks in part to a grant from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council.

Since relocating to Toronto, Ms. Simmons has sung with Opera by Request, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Opera in Concert. She made her Toronto stage debut in the role of Soeur Mathilde in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. Other opera roles include Sesto in Handel’s Julius Caesar, Lisetta in Haydn’s Voyage to the Moon, and Third Lady in Mozart’s Magic Flute. During the summer of 2010, Ms. Simmons performed the role of Minerve in a touring production of Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers in the south of France.

Ms. Simmons has participated in Masterclasses in association with the Franco American Vocal Academy (FAVA), Summer Opera Lyric Theatre of Toronto (SOLT), the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS), and the University of Toronto. She has coached with such renowned artists as Martin Isepp, Sir Thomas Allen, Stuart Hamilton, Liz Upchurch, Bo Skovhus and Catherine Robbin.

Ms. Simmons currently makes her home in Toronto, Canada, where in addition to her performance career, she also works as Program Assistant at University Settlement Music & Arts School, a non-for-profit community music school located in the downtown core.

For more information on Michelle, please visit her website, msimmons.drupalgardens.com

Geoffrey Sirett, Baritone

Baritone Geoffrey Sirett is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto where he completed a Master of Music degree in opera under the tutelage of Lorna MacDonald. Geoffrey holds a Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma from the University of Western Ontario, where he received the Gold Medal. On stage he has performed leading roles in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Bernstein’s Candide, Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Lehar’s The Merry Widow, Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Britten’s Albert Herring.

In 2010 Geoffrey sang the role of ‘Il Conte’ in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro as a fellowship student of the Aspen Opera Theater Center, studying under Dr. Stephen King. In 2011he returned to perform ‘Snug’ in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and ‘Diesel’ in Bernstein’s West Side Story, and will return in 2012 to perform ‘Nick Carraway’ in Harbison’s The Great Gatsby.

Geoffrey was a winner in the Canadian Conservatory Vocal Competition, the Czech and Slovak International Voice Competition, district winner and regional finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and most recently received 2^nd place and the “Best Performance of a Canadian Work” Award at the 2011 OSM Standard Life Competition. Geoffrey is a three-time grant recipient of the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for young Canadian opera singers, and winner of the 2010 Vancouver Opera Guild Career Development Grant.

On the concert stage, Geoffrey has performed a wide variety of oratorio and concert works, including most recently Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium with the Kingston Symphony, Faure’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Bach cantatas with the Kingston and Chautauqua Symphonies, and Eötvös’s Snatches of a Conversation with the Aspen Contemporary Orchestra. Geoffrey has appeared in recital across Canada and the U.S., including performances with the Aldeburgh Connection and Bayfield Festival of Song with pianist Stephen Ralls, Van Cliburn Foundation with composer/pianist Ricky Ian Gordon, and the Chautauqua Institution with pianists Craig Rutenberg and Mikael Eliasen. As winner of the 2010 Jim and Charlotte Norcop Song Prize, Geoffrey presented a recital with pianist Martin Katz.

Geoffrey’s debut album, Vagabond, with pianist Stephen Ralls, was released in December 2011. The CD includes Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, Butterworth’s Six Songs from ‘A Shropshire Lad’, and Britten’s Folksong Arrangements, as well as premiere recordings of two Canadian compositions by Jocelyn Morlock and Ivan Barbotin.

William Reid, Tenor

William Reid has just this year received his Bachelor of Education from OISE at the University of Toronto. He had previously completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music in Voice Studies. As a tenor, Will sings in many accomplished choirs in Toronto including The Amadeus Choir, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale and The Larkin Singers.

In his solo endeavours, Will has performed with the Canadian Sinfonietta as the baritone soloist in the Faure Requiem as well as the tenor lead in Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio with the Ridley College Choir. When he is not teaching or singing classical music, Will is the front man of the funk and classic rock band Yasgurs Farm which boasts some of Toronto’s best young artists. This 11-piece band has been together for two years and enjoys getting together to play fun and upbeat shows around the city.

Will is very excited to be a part of this great project and is looking forward to having a cardio-filled tour!

Larissa Koniuk, Soprano

Larissa Koniuk is a Toronto-based singer, actor, and avid cyclist. She is interested in all genres, but is especially drawn to new works that are collaborative in nature. Most recently, she co-founded Bicycle Opera, producing and performing in six contemporary opera scenes in venues across Ontario last June and at the Green Door Cabaret in December. In 2012: she premiered Thin Straight Lines, a song cycle for soprano and quartet by Anna Höstman and presented the Toronto premiere of Adam Scime’s work, Images of John A Wilson, a mini opera for soprano in addition to performing in the the premier of Taptoo!, a new opera by John Beckwith with Toronto Operetta Theatre and in Like an Old Tale, Jumblies’ massive multi-disciplinary puppet-opera adaptation of a Winter’s Tale with an original opera score by Juliet Palmer. She has appeared in a modern Toronto-based La Bohème with Against the Grain Theatre, a theatre company that is re-envisioning classic works for contemporary audiences, which often involves bringing Puccini to the bar.

She holds a vocal performance degree from Wilfred Laurier University, and since completing her degree, has found herself singing many genres outside of opera. Her work ranges from being regularly featured as a soloist with H2Orchestra, an ensemble of hydraulophones, or water instruments, to singing as a soloist in the Messiah with Cantala Women’s Ensemble, to singing French cabaret songs with many groups, including a burlesque troupe, Revue Royal. She also sings around Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo with her jazz project, 13 James, with pianist Duncan Macaulay.

Other appearances include Annina in La Traviata and Beth in The Tenderland (Summer Opera Lyric Theatre), The Mayor in The Happy Prince (Singer’s Theatre), and premieres: Nola in Metamorphorically Speakin’, Mother in The Golden Goose (Solar Stage), Dana in The Good Body (Toronto V-Day), Sap (an adventurous baby tree) in Rhythm Is, by Clara Hilts, and Dot in Female Hysteria: A Burlesque Musical Comedy, by Kara Harun, in which all performers collaborated as dramaturgs, script-writers, and musical arrangers.

When not performing, Larissa can be found hiking in the Grand Canyon, canoeing or cycling around Ontario, sitting in her vegetable garden, or playing ukulele.

Upcoming performances include:

The Handless Maiden, a one-act monodrama for soprano and electroacoustic by Wende Bartley at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, March 24th at Daniels Spectrum (Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre) and a workshop performance of a new opera by Adam Scime with FAWN in May.

Katherine Watson, Flute

Katherine Watson is a fresh up-and-coming Toronto flautist, who recently completed her Artist’s Diploma Program at the the prestigious Glenn Gould School (GGS) of The Royal Conservatory (RCM) for flute, studying with Leslie Newman. She is in high demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral flautist, and has performed many world premiers of newly composed music, several of which have been recorded and broadcast on CBC Radio 2. Katherine currently performs with the Sneak Peek Orchestra, the Bicycle Opera Project, the Toy Piano Composer’s ensemble, the Heliconian Orchestra, and the new chamber group Musica Reflecta. In the past, Katherine has performed with Pendulum Ensemble, The Royal Conservatory Orchestra, the RCM New Music ensemble, the U of T Symphony Orchestra, the U of T Contemporary Music Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, and the Sir Ernest McMillian Chainsaw Gang. She has recorded for local film makers Andrew Cividio and J. Adam Brown, musician Emilie Mover and funk band Jay Spectre. Katherine teaches both flute and piano privately in the Toronto area. Katherine is the recipient of the 2011 Bobcaygeon Music Council Bursary.

Leslie Ting, Violin

A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Leslie premiered in 2010 with the Orchestre del’Université de Montréal as a laureate of the Concours de l’Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal, performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with conductor Jean-François Rivest. She has also performed as soloist the Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra by Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich, and Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons with Ensemble Arkea in Montreal.

An avid chamber musician, Leslie has performed in London, England as a member of the Adoch Trio with Hiro Takenouchi, piano and Dongkyun An, cello. Strad magazine praised the ensemble for creating “fire without smoke.” She has since shared the stage with Paul Neubauer, Scott St John and Paul Watkins.

Other performances have included on-stage theatrical productions in Montreal and Switzerland. Leslie also composed and performed original music for the short film Knife by Montreal-based filmmaker Nancy Baric which has screened in the US, Canada and Russia.

Leslie’s 2012/2013 season includes Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Christine Vlajk, violist of the Penderecki String Quartet, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra as well as recitals with Vancouver-based pianist, Sarah Hagen.

Leslie holds a Master’s and Artist’s Diploma from Université de Montréal, and has worked with various artists at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and the Kayaleh Academy in Switzerland.

Wesley Shen, Music Director, Piano

Wesley Shen is a pianist and harpsichordist working and residing in Toronto. He has recently completed both a Bachelor of Music in Piano and an Advanced Certificate in Performance on Harpsichord from the University of Toronto, studying with Lynda Metelsky and Kevin Komisaruk. His focus has been primarily in contemporary and new music, collaborating with many composers and performers, such as the Toy Piano Composers and Pendulum Ensemble, to bring new works and projects to life. His personal project has been to help revive the harpsichord as a contemporary medium, through education, collaboration and performance. He also maintains a strong interest in Baroque performance practice, studying and working with Daniel Taylor, Charlotte Nedigar, Ivars Taurins and Tafelmusik Orchestra.

Wesley performs regularly in Toronto, in various solo, chamber and orchestral settings. He is an accomplished performer and accompanist, working on piano and harpsichord with both vocalists and instrumentalists. He continues to work closely with the Sneak Peek Orchestra, Musica Reflecta, and The Toy Piano Composers. Recent performances include the Toronto Symphony Orchestra concerts featuring soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, a performance of Charles Wuorinen’s Percussion Symphony with New Music Concerts, and the 2011 summer tour of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

Michael Mori, Stage Director

Michael Mori is currently the associate artistic director at Tapestry New Opera. He has a solid combination of artistic and administrative experience including twenty years as a performer and recording artist, seven years as a director, and seven years working in administration including UBC Opera, musica intima, and now Tapestry. Michael began performing as a boy in NYC. Since then, his training has encompassed theatre, dance, and music, including a Masters in Opera Performance. Previous to moving to Toronto, he was a singer, co-Artistic Director, and Artistic Coordinator with Vancouver’s musica intima and with them has toured Europe, been nominated for a Juno, and won best classical album in Western Canada. Michael is a pleased to have had his Toronto directing debut with Tapestry for Opera Briefs and Pub Operas in 2011 and for the New Opera Showcase in March of 2012. As the Metcalf Intern, and in addition administrative responsibilities, Michael is currently being mentored under Wayne Strongman and Tom Diamond as a director and conductor.

Adam Scime, Composer in Residence

As a young composer and performer living in Toronto, Adam Scime has been praised as “…a fantastic success…” (CBC) and “…clever…charged…” (Torontoist). Adam has received several performances by Canadian and International professional soloists and ensembles. Recently, Adam was selected to participate in the Chrysalis Composers Workshop with the Continuum Contemporary Ensemble, during which his piece Fixity was performed under the baton of Christopher Butterfield. In the summer of 2010, it was announced that Adam’s piece “Vagues, a Prelude for Piano and Electronics” was selected as the winning composition for the Electro- Acoustic Composers Competition hosted by acclaimed American pianist Keith Kirchoff. Subsequently, Mr. Kirchoff performed “Vagues” as part of his 2011 North American Tour. In January of 2011, renowned Canadian soloist Nadina Mackie Jackson premiered Adam’s “Concerto for Bassoon, Electronics, and Chamber Orchestra.” Adam was also appointed Composer in residence with the GamUT contemporary ensemble for the 2010/2011 concert season, a residency that saw the commissioning of two new works, and one new installation.

In March of 2011, New Music Concerts premiered Adam’s new trio, “After the rioT, for Flute, Double Bass, and Piano” for a concert celebrating the music of Jonathan Harvey. In the spring of 2011, Adam was selected by The Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop to write a piece for a concert commemorating the passing of Canadian composer Ann Southam. In early 2012, the premiere of Adam’s new Opera, “Rob Ford An Operatic Life” attracted an audience of over 800 people, and was received with much critical praise. In March of 2012, Adam’s piece “Mirage” was selected as the winning composition in the Esprit Orchestra composition competition. “Mirage” was subsequently performed as part of Esprit’s regular season and broadcast on CBC Radio. Most recently, Adam was awarded the 2012 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian music.

Future projects include a commission from The Jumblies Theatre Company for Soprano, Cello, Choir, and Electronics, and a large chamber work commissioned by New Music Concerts for the 2012/2013 concert season. Adam has also been selected to participate in the 2012 National Arts Centre composer training program, and the Vocalypse “Opera From Scratch” workshop. Adam is continually seeking new ways to become involved in the local new music community. He recently created a new concert series, known as “Fuze,” in Toronto as a vehicle to promote the creation and performance of new Canadian works that feature electronics.

In addition to his activities as a composer, Adam also performs regularly as a double bassist. Interesting performance projects have included performances with the Array Contemporary Ensemble, Toronto’s 2009 Nuit Blanche Arts Festival, during which Adam performed under music director Brian Current for a performance of James Tenney’s installation piece, “In a Large Open Space.” In December of 2011, Adam performed double bass in Juliet Palmer’s massive theatre creation, “Like an Old Tale.” In January 2012, Adam traveled to China with the Ontario Festival Orchestra on a tour of five cities over a two-week period. Adam is currently studying with Gary Kulesha at the University of Toronto where he has been awarded a full fellowship to study as a Doctoral student in composition. Previous to his current position at U of T, Adam studied composition at The University of Western Ontario, where his teachers included Peter Paul Koprowski and Paul Frehner. Adam has also received private lessons with Anders Hillborg, Chen Yi, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Alex Samaras, Associate Producer

Alex Samaras is quickly becoming one of Canada’s leading vocalists in the jazz and new music scene. Alex studied vocal performance in the jazz program at the University of Toronto and at the Banff Center’s Creative Music Program. Alex also spent time working in New York City with contemporary arts icon Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble performing in concert versions of Monks work and multi-disciplinary performances.

In Toronto he is currently performing with his own trio, the Toronto Jazz Orchestra and ”A Sondheim Jazz Project.” Alex is the founder and artistic director of his own 8 voice group GREX which performs new and experimental vocal works and which was featured in the Music Gallery’s EMERGENTS series for up and coming artists. Last year, he was selected into the Young Center Emerging Artists Program under the mentorship of Greg Oh. He is at the Young Centre this year as a guest conductor with their “Young Centre City Choir.” This coming season Alex will be teaching at the University of Toronto and Humber College in the Jazz Departments.
He can be heard on a number of recordings including Toronto bands THOMAS, Steven McKay and his first recording project ’ninety-two’ with his experimental/folk/improv group Old Salt. (see Projects)
Alex teaches privately and has worked in schools and camps across Canada and the United States leading improvisational theater workshops and music/voice masterclasses.

Believing that continued training is essential, Alex studies voice with Jeannie Lovetri and theatre with Peter Wylde at The Wylde Project.

2012:

Co-founders
Nadia Chana
Larissa Koniuk

Conductor
Anastasia Tchernikova

Musicians
Katie Avery
Nadia Chana
Gabrielle Charron-Merritt
Larissa Koniuk
Alex Samaras

Assistant Directors
Hilary Hart
Michael Mori

Composers
Brian Harman
Anna Höstman
Juliet Palmer
Darren Russo
Adam Scime
Christopher Thornborrow

Librettists
Michael Albano
David Brock
Larissa Koniuk
Anusree Roy
Julie Salverson

Nadia Chana

Apparently nomadic by nature, mezzo-soprano Nadia Chana arrived in Toronto this September, having lived in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Fluent in many genres, Nadia has improvised live soundtracks to a circus artist on aerial silks in the middle of a desert, and co-created Cut the Sunlight, a one-act chamber opera. She has performed as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Bach Choir, and most recently sang the role of Phoebe in St. Anne’s Music and Drama Society’s production of Yeoman of the Guard. Last season, as part of the eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE) of Winnipeg, Nadia improvised live film soundtracks – sound, song and surrealist poetry – in Chroma-Dance: 11 Experimental Shorts.

With a penchant for the interdisciplinary, Nadia holds degrees in Voice Performance, Musicology and Honours English. During her time at the University of British Columbia, she was named a Wesbrook Scholar, UBC’s most prestigious designation for outstanding academic performance and leadership.

Nadia is active as a voice teacher and clinician and has run workshops both on staged art song and on healing through exploration of the unfettered voice. As a certified yoga teacher, she incorporates body (and soul) work in her voice teaching. Overjoyed at the opportunity to pursue her many diverse interests, Nadia will begin a PhD in Ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago this September.

Larissa Koniuk

When not performing, Larissa can be found hiking in the Grand Canyon, canoeing or cycling around Ontario, sitting in her vegetable garden, or playing ukulele.

Upcoming performances include:

Michael Albano

Katie Avery

Katie Avery graduated from U of T’s music program in 2010. Katie works as a freelance musician in Toronto. She has recently released an album with her folk fusion band, Beneath the Ice, and is about to release another album with her family band, Relative Harmony. Katie is also the musical director of Daughter of Dust, a new country drag musical. She has been using her bicycle as a primary mode of transportation for several years now and is excited to be taking it to a whole new level of awesome.

David Brock

David Brock is a playwright, poet and librettist. In 2011, his play Wet won the Herman Voaden National Playwriting Award, and he has also won a Theatre BC National Playwriting award and four Vancouver Island One Act Play awards. He penned the libretto The Sloans Project for NOISE Opera (composer: Gareth Williams), which premiered at Glasgow’s 2011 Merchant City Festival and was remounted for Tapestry New Opera’s 2011/2012 season as Pub Operas (Toronto). Upcoming projects include Pretty Boy (composer: Jack Perla) for the Paul Dresher Ensemble (San Francisco) and Breath Cycle (composer: Gareth Williams) a multimedia operatic song cycle to be developed with cystic fibrosis patients and caregivers (Glasgow). He has written two chapbooks of poetry: Gasmask Summer (Emergency Response Unit, 2009) and Black Metal Melody (Ferno House, 2011), and a first collection of poetry is forthcoming from publisher Wolsak and Wynn in 2014. David received his MFA from the University of Guelph and he currently lives in Toronto. Follow him on twitter @davidjamesbrock.

Rebecca Bruton

Rebecca Bruton is an interdisciplinary performing artist, holding an Honours BFA in Music Performance & Cultures from York University (2011). While at York, Rebecca studied traditional Balkan voice traditions, jazz violin and contemporary improvisation techniques. From May to October 2011, she worked as both composer and performing musician for Clay and Paper Theatre’s CYCLOPS: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad, where she collaborated in the creation and delivery of environmentally-themed theatre for public space throughout downtown Toronto. Rebecca is active as a singer and violinist in Toronto’s independent and improvised music communities, and she has collaborated in dance, physical-theatre and puppet performances in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal. Outside of the arts, Rebecca’s interests include wildflower identification, soil science and long distance running.

Gabrielle Charron-Merritt

Gabrielle Charron-Merritt is a musician who enjoys performing, teaching, and composing. She can sing, play trumpet and guitar, all at the same time! With a sense of humor, she bikes around town, teaching in-home music lessons. Her school, Musician’s Cool, strives to connect musicians of all ages in Toronto and promote creative music making. Gabrielle is also a comic book lover and maker. She is the editor of gangLion comics.

Websites:
folk music: www.orchardstheband.com
noise music: www.teentitswildwives.bandcamp.com
experimental composition: www.ahlalettre.bandcamp.com
Musician’s Cool: www.musicianscool.bandcamp.com
gangLion comics: www.flickr.com/photos/ganglioncomics/sets

Brian Harman

Brian Harman’s compositions explore the relationship between music and our physical or imaginary experience of the world. He is frequently inspired by extra-musical elements, such as architecture, dance, human speech and technology, and he was written for a very wide variety of mediums, from orchestra and wind ensemble to choral, vocal and chamber music. Brian’s orchestral work Supposed Spaces was recently selected to be part of Canada’s 2013 submission to the ISCM’s World New Music Days in Central Europe. In 2011, he was a winner in the Wiener Jeunesse Kammerchor Composition Competition. This Austrian choir will premiere a new choral work in 2013. In 2009 he was a finalist in the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra Composition Competition for this work Dialectics. His music has been performed by such ensembles as the, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal+, VivaVoce Montreal, Trio ‘86 and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Hilary Hart

Hilary is a Saskatchewan-born actor, singer and director who currently lives in Toronto. After studying theatre for three years in the University of Saskatchewan’s B.F.A. acting program Hilary moved to Toronto to attend the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. Selected Theatre Credits include: Death (Art & Lies Productions), Marat/Sade (Soupcan Theatre), Killing Game (Toronto Fringe/Redhanded Productions), Equus (Hart House Theatre); Metamorphorically Speakin’ (Vallinovations); secret societies (Backburner Productions); Dracula The Undead (Alexander Galant Ent. Inc.). Hilary also enjoys playing music on her piano, trumpet and ukulele.

Anna Höstman

Anna Höstman’s works have been performed across Canada and in Italy, the U.S., England, Mexico, China and Russia. Recent performances include: Rob Ford: The Opera, a joint project presented by the Toronto Faculty of Music, Emily’s Piece, a 25-minute work for the Victoria Symphony Orchestra based on a quartet of mid-1930’s paintings by Emily Carr, Slanted Birds for string quartet (Quatuor Bozzini, Montréal), Pine Trees & Blue Sky for pipa and small ensemble (Beijing International Composer’s workshop), Ghosts of Swallows for small ensemble (Continuum Ensemble, Toronto) and Rhizome for solo accordion (Ina Henning, Emergents Festival, Toronto).

From 2005-8, Anna was a resident composer of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra during which time five new pieces for orchestra were premiered as well as her chamber opera What Time is it Now? with a libretto by the late poet and painter P.K. Page. Telling the poignant and often humorous story of an old woman with dementia, this one-act work was recorded by CBC Radio and broadcast multiple times.

Currently, Anna is in the doctoral program at the University of Toronto where she is writing on the chamber works of composer Martin Arnold. She is also collaborating on an inter-media work with Dylan Robinson and Marion Newman that explores the relationship of the Nuxalk Nation with the Norwegian Settlers in the Bella Coola Valley in the 1900’s. This project is supported by multiple bodies including: a Partnership Development Grant by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, the University of Alberta, University of Toronto, as well as the Center for Indigeneity at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Anna has studied composition with Christopher Butterfield, James Rolfe, Gary Kulesha, Gordon Mumma and John Celona.

Juliet Palmer

Juliet Palmer moved from New Zealand to New York in 1990 to work with interdisciplinary pioneer Meredith Monk, completing her PhD at Princeton University in 1999. Palmer’s work has been featured around the world, from New York’s Bang On A Can Festival to Italy’s Angelica Festival and Australia’s Adelaide Festival. Performers include Penderecki String Quartet, Trio Fibonacci, Gryphon Trio, Toca Loca, Continuum, l’Orchestre Métropolitain with Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Canada); Les Percussions de Strasbourg (France); Fontanamix (Italy); Piano Circus (UK); California EAR Unit and Bang on a Can All-Stars (USA); and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Juliet co-founded the interdisciplinary collective urbanvessel in 2006. Stitch garnered Dora nominations for Best New Opera and Best Production. Slip inspired a short film (director Chelsea McMullan) screened in Europe and North America. Voice-Box, a Harbourfront Fresh Ground commission, was acclaimed as “a performance piece that smashes the boundaries between disciplines and leaves them sprawled out on the mat, down for the count” (MusicworksMagazine). Palmer co-directed (with Miriam Harris) and scored the animated short Soaring, Roaring, Diving named “Best Experimental Film” in the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival. Upcoming: Sweat, an a cappella opera for 12 voices, with writer Anna Chatterton and director Tim Albery for Soundstreams Canada. Palmer is currently the Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music.

Anusree Roy

Anusree Roy is a writer and actor whose work has toured nationally. Her plays include: Brothel # 9, Roshni, Letters to my Grandma and Pyaasa. Her Opera librettos include: The Golden Boy (Premiered at Tapestry New Opera’s “Opera Briefs”) and Noor over Afghan (Premiered at Tapestry New Opera’s “Opera Briefs” and Canadian Stage’s “Festival of Ideas”). Her latest Opera libretto Phoolan will premiere at N.Y.C in the fall of 2012.
She holds an M.A from the University to Toronto, is the Co-Artistic Director of Theatre Jones Roy and has been published by the Playwright’s Canada Press. Her plays and performances have won three Dora Mavor Moore Awards along with multiple nominations and she is the recipient of the K.M.Hunter Award, RBC Emerging Artist Award, The Carol Bolt Award and The Siminovitch Protégé Prize. Anusree has been a playwright-in-residence at: The Blyth Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille and The Canadian Stage Company. She has also been a part of Factory Theatre’s Play Creation group for the last two years. She is currently developing a new play at Young People’s Theatre.

Darren Russo

Darren Russo, born 1984 in Montreal, Quebec began studying music from an early age. Much to his chagrin, his mother put him in piano lessons at the age of five, but after an arduous three years of temper tantrums during practicing sessions, his family decided it might be best if he pursued other interests. For many years he explored other hobbies, including writing, soccer, filmmaking, computer programming, and yes, even badminton. But always something of an outsider, at fifteen years of age when he discovered music notation software, he ironically came full circle and found the perfect outlet for all his teen angst.

Being an outsider, of course, meant stewing in quite a lot of angst, which naturally led to spending a huge amount of time pouring his bleeding teenage heart into this newfound hobby; he took up the piano again and slowly began learning the fundamentals of the language of music. Little by little, writing music transformed from a hobby into a deep love affair and finally in 2010 Darren earned a Bachelor of Music degree, achieving honours, distinction and outstanding achievement in music composition at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where he studied with Jean Lesage and Chris Paul Harman.

During his undergraduate studies, he was awarded positions as composer-in-residence for the Contemporary Music Ensemble and the McGill University Chorus (Tick Tock, Bang Bang – 2009, Missa Syllabis – 2010 which was first prize winner of the Godfrey Ridout award, SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers, July 2011). He had also collaborated with Dr. Sheldon Rosen on creating music for his typographical play Hansel and Gretel which was staged at Ryerson University in May 2009 and was featured at the LyricCANADA national conference at Brock University in October 2010. Recently, he participated in Tapestry New Opera’s exciting composer/librettist laboratory.

He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at McGill, studying with Denys Bouliane and the Philippe Leroux. His current projects include a Serenade for baritone, harp and clarinet, and a hybrid song cycle/opera Storybook which is being written for the inaugural season of the Opera5 company in Toronto, Winter 2012-2013. Some might say he’s come quite a long way, others might say he is only beginning.

Julie Salverson

Julie Salverson is the librettist for the clown/atomic opera Shelter, premiere Edmonton Opera/Tapestry New Opera November, 2012. Julie writes plays, essays and libretti, and has published extensively about the artist as witness to stories of violence, historical memory, ethics and the imagination. Plays include Boom, Thumbelina and The Haunting of Sophie Scholl. In 2011/12 she was Playwright in Residence at The Royal Military College of Canada. Her feature about Canada and the atomic bomb, “They Never Told Us These Things,” appeared in Maisonneuve Magazine (Summer 2011) and has been nominated for a National Magazine Award. She edited Community Engaged Theatre (2011) and Popular Political Theatre and Performance (2010), Playwrights Canada Press. She received an Honorable Mention in 2008 from Malahat Review, Creative Nonfiction Prize (with Peter Van Wyk) was a 2009 CBC Literary Awards finalist. She performed her prose poem The Loyal Wife at Ekphrasis 12, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010. Julie teaches drama at Queen’s University. She is working on the book Atomic Elegy.

Alex Samaras

Alex is the founder and artistic director of his own 8 voice group GREX which performs new and experimental vocal works and which was featured in the Music Gallery’s Emergents series for up and coming artists. Alex will be teaching voice at the University of Toronto Jazz Program this year.

www.alexsamaras.com

Adam Scime

Anastasia Tchernikova

Anastasia Tchernikova is a young professional pianist and conductor with a strong emphasis on ensemble work in an operatic and orchestral setting. A recent graduate of the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music Education, she conducted West Side Story with St. Michael’s College, an original film score and Samuel Barber’s chamber opera A Hand of Bridge as part of the university’s New Music Festival. An avid chorister, Anastasia has been part of Russian Orthodox church choirs, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, University of Toronto MacMillan Singers as well as assistant conductor of Hart House Chorus and guest conductor of GREX vocal ensemble. In the fall, Anastasia is directing a new ensemble-based concert series featuring talented emerging instrumentalists, singers and composers from the Toronto community. A native of Minsk, Belarus with a German background, Anastasia looks forward to further professional development abroad and expanding her musical repertoire and performance experience in many more future collaborations with her talented colleagues of Bicycle Opera!

Christopher Thornborrow

Chris Thornborrow’s interests as a composer have led him to an eclectic array of projects that include concert music, film, theatre and education. He is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Toy Piano Composers, a collective that premieres new works by emerging Canadian composers and encourage curiosity and humour while showcasing new music in an engaging, playful environment. The group has just completed its fourth season and premiered dozens of new works.

His music has been performed by Digital Prowess, TorQ Percussion, junctQín Keyboard Collective and the Array Ensemble. His piece Overcome for string orchestra won the 2011 University of Toronto Orchestra Composition Competition. He has scored several films including Brandon Cronenberg’s The Camera and Christopher Merk which premiered at TIFF and aired on CBC, as well as the award winning film We Ate the Children Last, which also premiered at TIFF and has since been presented across Canada, the United States and Europe.

With a keen interest in education, Chris teaches ear training, sight singing, composition, theory and piano, and founded a music program at International Summer Camp Montana in Switzerland.

Chris is a DMA candidate at the University of Toronto and has received a number of fellowships and travel grants for his research and compo

The Bicycle Opera Project

Twelve wheels, six Canadian opera scenes, five instruments, three voices, and a sense of adventure…