Scotia Festival of Music 2025

Guest Artists

Guest Artists for 2026 are yet to be announced - here, you can see our 2025 Guest Artists.

Click/tap on each artist’s name to view their bio.

  • A passionate communicator, Canadian conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser brings clarity and meaning to the concert hall, fostering deep connections between audiences and performers. Daniel is an innovative creative visionary, who believes that the beauty of music can heal and unite all of us beyond differences.

    Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser holds the positions of Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education at the San Francisco Symphony, the Barrett Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Youth Conductor and Creative Partner with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Daniel is also the Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia, conducting Ballet and Pops with national and international artists and designing diverse and relevant family and outreach shows for the Halifax community. He is the host of the weekly, national Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio show Centre Stage – with Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser.

    Daniel has conducted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony in the US and the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, and Regina Symphony in Canada. He was a guest conductor with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Centre in 2020. Additionally, Daniel has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. In April 2022, Daniel made his debut with Carnegie Hall’s Link Up Orchestra, conducting the world premiere of “Ram Tori Maya” by Indian American composer, Reena Esmail and “We Shall Not Be Moved” arranged by American vocalist and composer, Nathalie Joachim.

    Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser was featured in the 2019 CBC documentary Disruptor Conductor directed by Sharon Lewis. Along with RuPaul’s Drag Race star Thorgy Thor, the documentary follows Bartholomew-Poyser as he collaboratively creates the first orchestral drag queen show in Canada, titled Thorgy and the Thorchestra. The award-winning documentary focuses on Bartholomew-Poyser’s concerts for the Neurodiverse, Prison, African Diaspora and LGBTQ2S+ populations.

    Daniel holds a Bachelor of Music Performance and Education from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Philosophy in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts Jean-Marie Beaudet Prize for Orchestral Conducting. He has been awarded RBC Royal Bank Emerging Artist Grant and the Canada Council for the Arts Jean Baudet Prize for Orchestral Conducting. Daniel is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers.

  • The Elora Singers, under the direction of Mark Vuorinen, has established an international reputation as one of Canada’s finest professional choirs. Founded in 1980, it is the ensemble-in-residence of the Elora Festival for three weeks each summer, in addition to presenting a regular concert series, producing recordings, and touring across Canada and internationally.

    With twelve releases on the NAXOS label, the Grammy- and JUNO-nominated Elora Singers is recognized for its rich, warm sound and clarity of texture. The choir is renowned for its diverse styles, for its commitment to presenting and commissioning Canadian repertoire, and for collaborating with Canadian and international artists. Recent and upcoming collaborations include Voces8, the State Choir LATVIJA, the Grand Philharmonic Choir, Festival of the Sound, Canadian composers Stephanie Martin and Peter-Anthony Togni and the TorQ Percussion Quartet. A recording featuring new works by Barbara Assiginaak (Giishkaapkag) and Reena Esmail (This Love Between Us) was released in 2020 a Christmas recording, Radiant Dawn, was released in November 2021, and this past summer, The Elora Singers released their newest album, In Beauty May I Walk. 

  • Ensemble Made In Canada is rapidly gaining recognition as Canada’s premier piano quartet. The members of the group have been forging outstanding individual careers and bring together a wealth of experience having already appeared at prestigious festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Orford, Verbier, Prussia Cove, Pablo Casals and Evian. EMIC has performed for Winnipeg Virtuosi, Montreal Pro Musica, SUNY New Paltz, Stratford Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Parry Sound Festival of the Sound, Jeffery Chamber Music Series, Lindsay Concert Productions, Almonte in Concert, Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, Kawartha Concerts, including multiple work cycles for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. EMIC has provided master classes, chamber music coachings, and lectures at universities across Canada and in the United States and have also participated in outreach programs for public schools in Ontario. The group is grateful for support from FACTOR, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. EMIC has been Ensemble-in-Residence at Western University since 2014.

  • 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.”

  • Jonathan Crow has been Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) since 2011.

    A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Jonathan earned his Bachelor of Music degree in honours performance from McGill University in 1998, at which time he joined the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) as Associate Principal Second Violin. Between 2002 and 2006, Jonathan was the Concertmaster of the OSM; during this time, he was the youngest concertmaster of any major North American orchestra.

    Jonathan continues to perform as guest concertmaster with orchestras around the world, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO), Pittsburgh Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Filarmonia de Lanaudiere, and Pernambuco Festival Orchestra (Brazil). Jonathan has also performed as a soloist with most major Canadian orchestras, including the Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras; the National Arts Centre and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras; the Victoria, Nova Scotia, and Kingston Symphonies; and Orchestra London, under the baton of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Kent Nagano, Mario Bernardi, João Carlos Martins, and Gustavo Gimeno.

    Jonathan joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as an Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. His current and former students have received prizes at competitions around the world, including the Menuhin International Violin Competition, OSM Competition, Shean Competition, CBC Radio’s NEXT Competition, Eckhardt-Grammatté Competition, Canadian Music Competition, and Stulberg International String Competition, and work regularly with orchestras such as the NACO, TSO, OSM, Camerata Salzburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Verbier Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Kammerphilharmonie, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.

    In 2016, Jonathan was named Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music, which enjoyed record attendance and rave reviews in his first three seasons. An avid chamber musician, he has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America, and Europe, including the Banff, Ravinia, Orford, Domaine Forget, Seattle, Montreal, Ottawa, Incontri in Terra di Sienna, Alpenglow, Festival Vancouver, Pernambuco (Brazil), Giverny (France), and Strings in the Mountains festivals. He is a founding member of the JUNO Award–winning New Orford String Quartet, a project-based ensemble dedicated to the promotion of standard and Canadian string quartet repertoire throughout North America. As an advocate of contemporary music, he has premièred works by Canadian composers Michael Conway Baker, Eldon Rathburn, Barrie Cabena, Gary Kulesha, Tim Brady, François Dompierre, Vivian Fung, Ana Sokolovic, Marjan Mozetich, Christos Hatzis, Ernest MacMillan, and Healey Willan. He also includes in his repertoire major concerti by such modern composers as Ligeti, Schnittke, Bernstein, Brian Cherney, Rodney Sharman, Vivian Fung, and Cameron Wilson.

    Jonathan has recorded for the ATMA, Bridge, CBC, Oxingale, Skylark, and XXI-21 labels, and is heard frequently on Chaîne Culturelle of Radio-Canada, CBC Radio Two, and National Public Radio, along with Radio France, Deutsche Welle, Hessischer Rundfunk, and the RAI in Europe.

  • Recognized as one of Canada’s most outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is in her 37th and final season as Concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She joined the orchestra as Concertmaster in 1987, having been awarded the position as the unanimous choice of the audition committee. This position has allowed and encouraged her to pursue not only her love of orchestral playing, but also solo performances, chamber music performances, and teaching.

    Gwen Hoebig has performed all the major violin concerti with orchestras across Canada, the United States and Europe. Particularly celebrated for her interpretation of new music, she has given the Canadian premieres of violin concertos by S. C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, T. Patrick Carrabré, Randolph Peters, Joan Tower, Christopher Rouse and Philip Glass, and Gary Kulesha.

    As a chamber musician, Gwen has been a member of the Hoebig/Moroz trio with her husband, pianist David Moroz, and with her brother, cellist Desmond Hoebig for over 40 years. She is a founding member of the Clearwater Quartet which in addition to performances for the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society has been Ensemble-in-Residence of the University of Manitoba since 2019. She also regularly plays with her family; husband David, children Alexander (viola) and Juliana (cello) as the JAGD quartet.

    Teaching is an integral part of Gwen’s life. She maintains a private studio in Winnipeg, and has students performing and teaching across North America. As founding Co-Artistic Director of the elite Morningside Music Bridge programme, she teaches and coaches young violinists from around the world in preparation for their international performing careers. She is also directly involved with numerous summer festivals and with the Winnipeg Youth Orchestras, currently serving as President of the WYO’s Board of Directors.

  • Winner of the 23rd Eckhardt-Gramatté Strings Competition, Elissa Lee has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Boris Brott Festival Orchestra, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l‘Orchestre de Chambre de Montréal and the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra.

    Elissa Lee was born in Toronto, Canada where she studied with Victor Danchenko at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and, extensively, with Lorand Fenyves at the University of Toronto where she received a masters degree in performance. As an undergraduate she was the recipient of the prestigious Eaton Scholarship. Elissa Lee then moved to Germany to study privately with Andreas Reiner in Munich and Thomas Brandis at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. There she won second prize in the Gyarfas Competition and her graduation recital was awarded with Excellence. These studies were made possible by two Chalmers Performing Arts Training Grants from the Ontario Arts Council and a Canada Council Grant.

    Elissa Lee has held positions as second concertmaster in both the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the WDR Sinfonie Orchester. Elissa Lee is now enjoying a busy freelance career, frequently on tour performing in the greatest concerts 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 Philhamonic and the Canadian Opera Company. She has also been a guest of world renowned Chamber of Orchestra of Europe, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and has worked under the baton of Claudio Abaddo, Simon Rattle, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink and Daniel Harding.

    Elissa Lee has had a busy chamber music life as first violinist of the Kamareli Quartet and the Bomari String Quartet. As a chamber musician she has performed with Louie Lortie, Augustin Dumay, Anton Kuerti, Pascal Devoyon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Lawrence Lesser, and Shauna Rolston amongst others and has been a frequent participant of Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, England. With pianist Jeanie Chung she won second prize at the 2001 Caltanisetta International Chamber Music Competition and received Honorable Mention at the Vittorio Due Competition in Florence. Elissa Lee joined Ensemble Made in Canada in 2010, which is performing concerts and tours throughout Canada.

  • Halifax-born violinist Mark Lee studied at Dalhousie University with Philippe Djokic. Following his graduation in 2010, he pursued his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Lydia Mordkovitch and Maureen Smith as a Leverhulme Scholar. In addition to his teachers at the Royal Academy, he has also received private studies with Maxim Vengerov. Mr. Lee is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships that include the first Georg Tintner Scholarship Award, a solo debut with Symphony Nova Scotia in February 2010, the London Symphony Orchestra String Experience Scheme, Wolfe Wolfinsohn String Quartet Prize (both in 2011 and 2014), Max Pirani Piano Trio Prize, and the Regency Award recommended by RAM for notable achievement.

    After receiving his Masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music with the highest distinction, Mr. Lee worked closely with the London Symphony Orchestra, and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as acting Principal Violinist. He has made recordings with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, Russia, and Asia. He has also performed for members of the British Royal Family in the House of Lords at Parliament.

    Mr. Lee is a member of the Verbier Music Festival Orchestra serving as concertmaster under many renowned conductors including Charles Dutoit, Yuri Temirkanov, Daniel Harding, Jaap van Zweden, Ivan Fischer, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gianandrea Noseda, Valery Gergiev, Manfred Honeck, and Zubin Mehta.

    As a chamber musician, Mr. Lee has performed extensively across Europe. His performances have been radio broadcasted live across the UK and Scandinavia. He has worked with several established chamber ensembles such as the BBC Scottish Ensemble, the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, the Maggini Quartet, the Endellion Quartet, the Ying Quartet, and the Escher Quartet.

  • Canadian violist Isaac Chalk received a rich and diverse musical education. In addition to training as an instrumentalist, he studied singing at the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal and worked extensively as a choral singer. He is also a graduate of Mozarteum University in Salzburg and of McGill University in Montréal, where he received the prestigious Lloyd Carr-Harris String Scholarship and the Golden Violin Award, Canada’s largest privately-funded music scholarship. In June 2013, he was named principal viola of Les Violons du Roy and has since performed with the orchestra on four continents. He has also appeared as a soloist with the orchestra on many occasions, most notably in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Anthony Marwood and as viola d’amore soloist in the orchestra’s popular Vivaldissimo! project. Mr. Chalk has been generously supported by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts.

  • Sheila Jaffé was born into a family of musicians and was fascinated by classical music from a young age. Born in Montreal and raised in South Florida, she returned to her native Quebec at the age of thirteen to live and study with her second cousin Catherine Dallaire, concertmaster of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and professor of violin at the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec. After completing high school as part of the arts intensive program at l'École Secondaire Pierre-Laporte in Montreal, Sheila completed her Bachelor's degree in violin performance at the Université de Montréal.

    Over the course of her years in Montreal, it became clear that chamber music and orchestral playing were at the core of her musical passions. She co-founded the Alaya String Quartet, performed in numerous chamber music concerts in the city, and kept herself impossibly busy with every kind of ensemble she could put together. In the summers, she participated in orchestral, chamber music and masterclass festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein Orchester, Domaine Forget, International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Orford Arts Centre, Aurora Music in Sweden, and several others. Sheila continued her studies in Berlin, Germany with a Master's program at the Hanns Eisler Hochschüle für Musik, during which she also was accepted into the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Akademie for a one-year position. During this time she also co-founded the Alondra String Quartet, who were invited to the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove as well as the Toronto Summer Music festival. The members of this quartet are now in leading orchestras around the world. In 2013, at the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Alberta, Canada, she co-founded the Rosebud String Quartet (RSQ), with whom she currently performs regularly. Sheila is also the violinist and violist of the Array Ensemble, specializing in new music.

    In 2015, Sheila joined the Canadian Opera Company as a violist while continuing to nurture her love of chamber music on the violin with her string quartet as well as other chamber ensembles and various solo performances. She is now principal viola of the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada orchestras. Her first album, "Lachrymae", a tribute to her late husband Peter Longworth and featuring works by Franck, Elgar and Britten in collaboration with Welsh pianist Huw Watkins (Coviello Classics), came out in 2022, closely followed in 2023 by her string quartet's first album of Haydn and Mozart featuring Canadian violist Steven Dann and the Rosebud String Quartet (Leaf Music). 

    Sheila Jaffé plays on a Francesco Gobetti (1710-15) violin and Raymond Schryer (2001) viola on generous loan from Canimex.

  • Hailed as a “miracle” by Gramophone, Trey Lee enthralls audiences with a virtuosity that combines intellectual sophistication with a profound depth of emotions. His latest album, Seasons Interrupted, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra for Signum Records, met with critical acclaim with BBC Music Magazine describing his performance “an exquisite delivery of the melody” with “an intoxicating intimacy”.  The late Lorin Maazel praised him as “a marvelous protagonist…a superb cellist” after conducting Trey with the Philharmonia Orchestra. His concerto debut at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage won him a standing ovation, with New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini declaring him “the excellent cellist…with enveloping richness and lyrical sensitivity”.

    Highlights of the 2024 season include a tour with Camerata Salzburg, English Chamber Orchestra, and solo engagements in Vienna, London, Paris, Milan, Budapest, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Trey has worked with notable musicians and groups that include conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Bashmet, Mikko Franck, Hannu Lintu, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Vassily Sinaisky, Dima Slobodeniouk, BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonic Orchestra Radio France, Netherlands Philharmonic, Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Moscow Soloists, and chamber orchestras of London, Munich and Stuttgart.

    Seeking to increase the expressive possibilities of the cello, Trey has re-arranged works including Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, which he debuted with the Trondheim Soloists. Wang Liping’s The Dream of the Red Chamber Capriccio, co-arranged by Trey, was premiered by Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. 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. Numerous media outlets have featured Trey, including a recital recorded for Deutsche Welle during the Covid lockdown. As an ambassador of UNICEF Hong Kong, he shared the stage with Yoko Ono and Hugh Jackman at the UN General Assembly Hall to promote children’s rights in launching The IMAGINE Project.

  • Described by Gramophone critic Ivan Moody as “a tremendous player”, cellist Blair Lofgren’s career is a marriage of extensive performing and dedication to his teaching. Holding the post of Violoncelle solo of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec since the age of 24, Blair’s musical vitality sees him dividing his time to include teaching at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, performing with the orchestra, collaborating in various chamber music ensembles, teaching masterclasses, appearing as guest principal cello of various orchestras and recording (most recently for the acclaimed “Horizon Forbidden West” video game soundtrack).

    As a soloist, Blair performs regularly with orchestras across Canada. His career has seen him collaborate with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Joseph Kalichstein, Lynn Harrell, Marc-André Hamelin and Mark O’Connor.

    Blair is the founder and artistic director of the chamber music festival Vibrances in Québec City. He also co-founded the already successful cello octet Élément 8, comprised of cellists from the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, as well as prominent cellists from the area.

  • Joe Phillips is one of Canada’s most versatile double bassists. He performs with Toronto’s genre-defying Art of Time Ensemble, reimagines folk traditions learned from field recordings with banjoist Jayme Stone’s Folklife, struts his stuff with Payadora Tango Ensemble, performs annually at Sweetwater Music Weekend with some of the best chamber musicians in the world, and plays principal bass in the London Symphonia. Equally at home in a concert hall or at a folk festival, Joe has appeared as guest principal bass with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, has performed at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and toured Canada with chamber music supergroup, Octagon.

    He teaches double bass at Western University.

    When not touring, Joe lives in London Ontario with his partner and their two children.

  • Taiwanese-born Canadian flutist Jack Chen lives and performs in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jack’s love of chamber music has brought him to the stages of concert series all across the Maritimes, and he has premiered works by many Canadian composers. He appears frequently with Symphony Nova Scotia, Scotia Chamber Players as well as Inner Space Concerts, a chamber concert series he founded in 2014.

    Jack earned his degrees in flute and early music performance from Indiana University and the University of British Columbia. He has shared the stage with artists such as Jeanne Lamon, Bobby McFerrin, and Sir James Galway and has also appeared in numerous PBS television music specials and tours.

    In addition to performing, Jack is the Artistic Director of Inner Space Concerts, is on the faculty at the Acadia University School of Music, and is the General Manager of the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. While not playing the flute or teaching, Jack can be spotted enjoying the great outdoors of the East Coast kayaking, biking and skiing!

  • Canadian oboist Aleh Remezau is renowned for his “sensuous and exuberant” performances (The Millbrook Independent) and “incredibly expressive” playing
    (Vancouver Sun). Having established himself as a sought-after orchestral musician, he
    has performed in major Canadian venues as well as concert halls in the United States, Austria and the United Kingdom. He has appeared with the New York Philharmonic,
    Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony as well as guest Principal Oboe with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He appears regularly with the Esprit Orchestra, performing as both Principal Oboist and solo English horn.

    After joining the Hamilton Philharmonic in 2020 as Principal Oboe, Mr. Remezau’s playing has been highlighted in major works such as Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite and Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade. During his first season, he was a featured musician on the orchestra’s video broadcasts of Mozart’s Oboe Quartet and Tomasi’s Evocations for Solo Oboe. In the upcoming 2023-24 season, he is thrilled to perform the Concerto for Oboe and Strings by Ralph Vaughan Williams as soloist with the Hamilton Philharmonic.

    Mr. Remezau was an inaugural member of The Orchestra Now (TON) – a training orchestra based at Bard College, New York. With TON, he was a frequent performer at Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum, and Carnegie Hall. In 2018, he was one of select few musicians invited to perform at the renowned Grafenegg Festival in Austria. While living in New York City, he has performed numerous times on oboe and English horn with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of world class conductors including Jaap van Zweden, Manfred Honeck, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Neeme Jarvi and others. With Alan Gilbert, the New York Philharmonic’s music director at the time, Mr. Remezau can be heard on their 2017 Grammy nominated recording of Christopher Rouse’s Symphony No. 4.

    Mr. Remezau also extensively performs outside of the orchestra, seeking out different ways to connect and share his art with audiences. As an active chamber musician, he has performed in festivals including the Scotia Festival, Sweetwater Music Festival and Big Lake Festival. As a member of The Happenstancers, an adventurous Toronto-based chamber ensemble featuring “an obscene amount of talent” (TheWholeNote), Mr. Remezau has brought “considerable virtuosity” to works for oboe and English horn by Oliver Knussen and Elliott Carter, presenting concerts hailed as “bizarrely eclectic, ...very intriguing and rewarding” (John Gilks, operaramblings). He has also performed as a pit musician on Broadway’s musical Wicked, as well as the Shaw Festival.

    Aleh Remezau began his musical studies on piano, and his study of the oboe at fifteen. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music. He is an alumnus of The Music Academy of the West and Domaine Forget.

  • Principal clarinetist with the Canadian Opera Company orchestra, Dominic Desautels is one of the most sought-after wind instrumentalists in Canada as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He made his debut as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2003 at the age of 21 — being invited the same season as acting principal clarinetist (and youngest player to be hired in this position) with the TSO. He has since been a guest soloist with several orchestras in Canada and abroad, including Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke, Sinfonia Lanaudière, Orchestre de la Francophonie and Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal. Dominic appears as a guest artist and faculty in several music festivals across the country and beyond, notably since 2013 at Scotia Festival of Music with its fine history of clarinet artists, initiated with Robert Marcellus in the 1980s. As co-artistic director of The Parcival Project chamber ensemble, he has toured in Canada and South America. Other tours include 40 recitals presented by Jeunesses Musicales of Canada during their 2012-2013 season.

    Before his position as principal clarinetist at the COC since 2017, he also held the principal clarinet chair at the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil (2008-2012), Symphony Nova Scotia (2012-2017) and Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (2018-2022). Dominic started playing the clarinet at age 15 and studied mainly with JeanFrançois Normand, Robert Riseling and Joaquin Valdepeñas. More recently, he has received guidance from François Benda and James Campbell. After studies at several institutions such as the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and the Glenn Gould School, he graduated from the Université de Montréal in 2007.

    The winner of several competitions, he was the first clarinetist to ever win a top prize at the 33rd edition of the prestigious International Stepping Stone at the Canadian Music Competition. He is now in demand as an adjudicator at institutions such as the Glenn Gould School, University of Toronto, the Concours at the Conservatoires de Musique du Québec, the national finals of the Canadian Music Competition and many more. He has taught at Dalhousie and Acadia Universities, and from 2019 to 2022 was the adjunct professor of clarinet at the University of Toronto.

    Dominic Desautels plays on Schwenk & Seggelke clarinets made of mopane wood and handcrafted in Bamberg, Germany, and is an Endorsing Artist for companies Légère Reeds and Silverstein ligatures.

  • Marlène Ngalissamy is the newly appointed principal bassoon of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, commencing at the start of the 2025-2026 season. She has been the principal bassoon of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec since 2022.

    Marlène has been invited to perform as guest principal bassoon with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,  the Toronto symphony orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Chineke! Orchestra in London, England. She also played with the sections of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

    She studied with Mathieu Harel and Stéphane Lévesque at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, before completing a post-graduate diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Daniel Matsukawa.

    Marlene is an alumna of the Domaine Forget, Orford, and Marlboro Music Festival programs, as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. Marlène has given master classes at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, and the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec, and since 2023 she is on faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

  • Florence Rousseau was appointed Third Horn of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in 2022.

    She has played as a guest principal with many ensembles such as the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, les Violons du Roy, and the Canadian National Brass Project, among others. She also enjoys being a guest member of the True North Brass Quintet.

    Florence completed her Bachelor’s degree in Orchestral Performance at the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied primarily with Simon Rayner and Tim Jones. She then returned to her hometown of Montreal to complete her Master’s of Music degree at McGill University under the guidance of Nadia Coté before concluding her studies with an Artist Diploma specialising in Orchestral Excerpts from the Université de Montréal with Louis-Philippe Marsolais.

  • As a concert pianist, Peter Allen is well known and loved by audiences in the Maritimes and throughout Canada for his captivating interpretations. He regularly performs solo recitals, concertos with orchestra, and chamber music. He has recorded two solo piano compact discs for CBC, one featuring some of his own very popular Bagatelles, another an all-Haydn disc, and numerous duo CDs with flautist Patricia Creighton.

    For many years he has been a regular performer with local concert presenters such as “Music on the Hill” Concert Series at UNB Fredericton, the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music, the Antigonish Performing Arts Series, Cecilia Concerts, and the Kincardine Music Festival in Ontario. Peter has also performed multiple times with the PEI Symphony and Symphony New Brunswick as well as performing over a dozen concerto appearances with Symphony Nova Scotia. Peter has performed as solo recitalist in most communities in the Maritimes, to rave reviews and standing ovations.

    Peter is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts, a post he has held since 2005. Peter has a B. Mus from Mount Allison University, and a Master of Music in Performance from Yale University.

  • Renowned for his “pianist-painter” artistry that transforms musical ideas into vivid color (La Presse), Philip Chiu is celebrated as one of Canada’s leading pianists, lauded for his brilliant technique, intuitive musicality, and engaging stage presence. Winner of the 2023 JUNO Award for Best Classical Solo Album and the first-ever Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer recipient, Philip captivates audiences through his expressive interpretations and heartfelt dedication to creating meaningful connections through music.

    A sought-after soloist and chamber musician, Philip has performed extensively in major venues across Canada, the United States, Japan, and France. His dynamic collaborations have included performances with distinguished artists such as James Ehnes, Emmanuel Pahud, Régis Pasquier, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bomsori Kim, Johannes Moser, and the New Orford String Quartet. As part of a longstanding duo with violinist Jonathan Crow, Philip's performances have become cherished by chamber music lovers. An accomplished touring artist with Prairie Debut, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Debut Atlantic, Philip has completed over 14 cross-Canada tours, bringing his music to communities nationwide.

    Philip's recent album Voyages (ATMA) pays tribute to his birthplace of Hong Kong, following his JUNO-winning album Fables (ATMA), the second release in an ambitious triptych project that blends commissioned works by composers such as Anishinaabekwe artist Barbara Assiginaak and Chinese-Canadian Alice Ping Yee Ho with pieces by Ravel and Debussy. His recordings have established him as a champion of Canadian composers and contemporary music, including projects such as 24 Preludes for Solo Piano by John Burge (Centrediscs), Tapeo (ATMA) with cellist Cameron Crozman, and Night Light (Leaf Music) with flautist Lara Deutsch. His collaboration with Pentaèdre to honor Jacques Hétu’s music further showcases his dedication to cultural storytelling.

    Philip’s recordings for labels like ATMA Classique, Warner Music, Analekta, Leaf Music, and Centrediscs are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 3, France Musique, ICI Musique, and CBC Music. With a distinctive approach that emphasizes authenticity and connection, Philip Chiu continues to enchant audiences worldwide, establishing himself as a true ambassador of piano artistry and Canadian music.

  • Australian-born pianist Simon Docking has appeared as a soloist for Toronto’s Soundstreams, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music, Symphony Nova Scotia, Acadia University’s Shattering the Silence, Australia’s Aurora Festival, the new music group Stroma in New Zealand, and MATA Festival in New York. Active as a chamber musician, Simon has been a founding member of several ensembles, including the Toronto-based group Toca Loca, which has been presented by nearly every new music series in Canada from St John’s to Vancouver, as well as appearances in New York, California and at the C3 Festival at Berlin’s legendary Berghain. Toca Loca have released two CDs: P*P (2009) and SHED (2010). Simon studied piano in Australia with Ransford Elsley, and holds a doctorate in piano performance from SUNY Stony Brook, where he worked with Gilbert Kalish, and upon graduation was awarded New York State’s Thayer Fellowship for the Arts. In October 2011 Simon received an Established Artist Recognition Award from the province of Nova Scotia. Simon lives in Halifax, where he is Managing and Artistic Director of Scotia Festival of Music.

  • Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham are the two members of SHHH!! Ensemble, a duo carving a space for themselves as electrifying performers of new music. With a keen ear for experimentation and exploration, SHHH!! has been deemed “truly virtuosic and intense” by Toronto’s Confluence Concerts and called “a beautiful discovery” following their debut with the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.

    Formed in 2017, SHHH!! Ensemble began developing their signature “avant-accessible” style through residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Canadian Music Centre. Since then, SHHH!! has continued to develop innovative repertoire for their ensemble by commissioning and premiering new works by Kelly-Marie Murphy, John Beckwith, Harry Stafylakis, Jocelyn Morlock, and Monica Pearce, among many others. 

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s provocative “Spirits” program, premiered in January 2020 at the Canadian Music Centre, has since toured at concert series and festivals across Canada, including the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, LUMINA, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec’s Montreal New Music Festival.  Featuring music by J.S. Bach, Andy Akiho, Jocelyn Morlock, Monica Pearce, Micheline Roi, and others, “Spirits” is a journey through composers’ reflections on the nature of creativity, meditation, Scotch whisky, and The Beyond. 

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s creativity and vitality were especially notable through the pandemic with one critic commenting “This virtuoso duo are so agile and inventive… I doubt anything short of a geological cataclysm will shut them down” (The WholeNote). 2020-2022 saw major highlights such as the duo’s acceptance into the prestigious Evolution: Classical career development residency at the Banff Centre, a National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms concert, the world-premiere of JUNO-winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s Spirit Gradient with the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival in Newfoundland, and a nationally broadcast recital on the CBC Radio 2 program “In Concert”. 

    In February 2023 SHHH!! Ensemble “enthralled” (Winnipeg Free Press) in their debut as soloists in the world premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s concerto Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. A repeat performance of that concerto the following week with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra was met with a standing ovation. 

    As co-Artistic Directors of the Ottawa New Music Creators, Zac and Edana take pride in their role as presenters of weird and wonderful new sounds in the National Capital Region, curating programs known for cutting-edge invention drawing from local and international artists.

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s debut album Meanwhile (Analekta) was released in October 2022 to critical acclaim, reaching top positions on Apple Music and Spotify playlists, as well as being nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards. The title track, Meanwhile, was the first piece written for SHHH!! by composer John Beckwith.

    The duo’s sophomore album, a large-scale commissioned work by Frank Horvat entitled An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene (Leaf Music), released on October 20, 2023. La Scena Musicale gave the recording 5 stars, calling it a “masterpiece” and “a much needed reminder of the healthy world we are all working toward”.

  • A graduate of the Juilliard School, Winnipeg-born pianist David Moroz enjoys a career as one of Canada’s most versatile artists. As a soloist he has performed in every major Canadian city, and as a collaborative artist he appears regularly in recital with Canada’s most distinguished musicians. A gifted and dedicated teacher, he was guest instructor at The Banff Centre’s Special Studies for Young Musicians in the mid-1990’s, and in 1999 was appointed to the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, where he serves as Chair of the Piano Faculty, teaching piano, piano repertoire and chamber music. In 2000, he began his long and rewarding association with The Morningside Music Bridge as coordinator of its Piano Department; his work alongside the early core members of the MMB Faculty made significant contributions to the development and success of this elite program through its first 20 years.

    David Moroz was awarded a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Montréal, and holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the celebrated Juilliard School in New York City. Twice nominated for Manitoba’s Artist of the Year, he is a frequent guest of CBC Radio and is a veteran performer at Canada’s most important music festivals. Artistic Director of The Winnipeg Chamber Music Society since 1987, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Government of Canada, in recognition of his contribution to the Arts.

  • Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham are the two members of SHHH!! Ensemble, a duo carving a space for themselves as electrifying performers of new music. With a keen ear for experimentation and exploration, SHHH!! has been deemed “truly virtuosic and intense” by Toronto’s Confluence Concerts and called “a beautiful discovery” following their debut with the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.

    Formed in 2017, SHHH!! Ensemble began developing their signature “avant-accessible” style through residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Canadian Music Centre. Since then, SHHH!! has continued to develop innovative repertoire for their ensemble by commissioning and premiering new works by Kelly-Marie Murphy, John Beckwith, Harry Stafylakis, Jocelyn Morlock, and Monica Pearce, among many others. 

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s provocative “Spirits” program, premiered in January 2020 at the Canadian Music Centre, has since toured at concert series and festivals across Canada, including the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, LUMINA, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec’s Montreal New Music Festival.  Featuring music by J.S. Bach, Andy Akiho, Jocelyn Morlock, Monica Pearce, Micheline Roi, and others, “Spirits” is a journey through composers’ reflections on the nature of creativity, meditation, Scotch whisky, and The Beyond. 

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s creativity and vitality were especially notable through the pandemic with one critic commenting “This virtuoso duo are so agile and inventive… I doubt anything short of a geological cataclysm will shut them down” (The WholeNote). 2020-2022 saw major highlights such as the duo’s acceptance into the prestigious Evolution: Classical career development residency at the Banff Centre, a National Arts Centre #CanadaPerforms concert, the world-premiere of JUNO-winning composer Jocelyn Morlock’s Spirit Gradient with the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival in Newfoundland, and a nationally broadcast recital on the CBC Radio 2 program “In Concert”. 

    In February 2023 SHHH!! Ensemble “enthralled” (Winnipeg Free Press) in their debut as soloists in the world premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s concerto Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. A repeat performance of that concerto the following week with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra was met with a standing ovation. 

    As co-Artistic Directors of the Ottawa New Music Creators, Zac and Edana take pride in their role as presenters of weird and wonderful new sounds in the National Capital Region, curating programs known for cutting-edge invention drawing from local and international artists.

    SHHH!! Ensemble’s debut album Meanwhile (Analekta) was released in October 2022 to critical acclaim, reaching top positions on Apple Music and Spotify playlists, as well as being nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards. The title track, Meanwhile, was the first piece written for SHHH!! by composer John Beckwith.

    The duo’s sophomore album, a large-scale commissioned work by Frank Horvat entitled An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene (Leaf Music), released on October 20, 2023. La Scena Musicale gave the recording 5 stars, calling it a “masterpiece” and “a much needed reminder of the healthy world we are all working toward”.

  • Jeff Reilly is a musician with a broad and extensive scope of work. A twice Juno-nominated bass clarinetist as well as a composer, conductor, improviser, and producer, Jeff has appeared a soloist with the Elora Singers, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Elmer Iseler Singers, I Musici de Montreal, the Canadian Chamber Choir, Calgary’s Luminous Voices, Ottawa’s 13 Strings and across Canada, USA, Europe and Asia in the groundbreaking trio

    Sanctuary. His approach to music blurs any simple distinctions between improvisation and composition, and he strives to do it with such integrity that we are reminded that these

    distinctions are moot.

    Jeff has recorded and performed with Jerry Granelli, Ben Caplan, Barry Guy, Maya Homburger, John Potter, Peter Togni, Suzie Leblanc and Tom Allen. He is active in many musical projects including the Blackwood Duo, New Hermitage, Upstream Music and with James Shaw’s Vesuvius Big Band. As a soloist on the famous ECM New Series label, his virtuosic performance of Peter-Anthony Togni’s Lamentations of Jeremiah was praised by the British critic Norman Lebrecht as “extending across the history of sound, from monotony to modernism, in a performance that is dominant and often hypnotic”

    A long-time music producer with the Canadian Broadcasting corporation, he has produced hundreds of concert recordings of classical, jazz, world and contemporary music, hundreds of studio sessions and over 25 CD’s of Canadian jazz and classical music. Over the years 6 of his CD productions have received Juno nominations.

    Jeff has composed dozens of works for orchestra, big band, jazz composer’s orchestras, bass clarinet ensembles, chamber jazz groups and for his duo Blackwood with long-time collaborator Peter-Anthony Togni. His most recent composition “Unfathomable Presence” for solo harp and orchestra was premiered by Ellen Gibling and Symphony Nova Scotia conducted by Karl Hirzer in January of 2024.

    Jeff is the regular conductor of the Upstream Orchestra, a jazz composer’s orchestra based in Halifax.

  • As Director of Music at King’s College in Halifax, Gabriel (he/him) directs the King’s Chapel Choir and the King’s Chorus, and oversees other musical activities in the chapel and on campus.

    Gabriel grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making music in and around Kings. As a child, he sang weekly Evensong services in the King’s Chapel as a chorister in Capella Regalis Men & Boys choir. In high school, he took up the organ and served as the Sunday Morning Organist in the Chapel. Shortly thereafter, he became Assistant Artistic Director and Probationers Programme Director of Capella Regalis, with responsibility for the junior choir. Gabriel studied at King’s, where he served as Organ Scholar and later Assistant Director of the King’s Chorus. He graduated from King’s and the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Music degree specializing in Organ and Composition.

    Outside of King’s, Gabriel held organ scholarships in Halifax at the Cathedral Church of All Saints, St. George’s Round Church, and St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, and in Ottawa at Dominion Chalmers United Church.

    After graduating from King’s, Gabriel spent two years living in York, England before returning to Halifax. In York, he served as Director of Music for two churches in the historic city centre, All Saints, Pavement and St Helen’s, where he directed the parish choir and choral & organ scholars. He also worked as a Duty Manager at the National Centre for Early Music.