Jean-Sébastien Vallée is a renowned Canadian-American conductor, scholar, and pedagogue known for his expertise in vocal, choral, and orchestral repertoires. With a career spanning over several decades, Vallée has conducted numerous ensembles across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has prepared choruses for some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Chicago and Toronto...
Rick is currently a busy music writer and reviewer, lecturer, panel moderator, consultant, musical tour guide, artistic director and concert host. He’s often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno Awards, and is the author of “The Essential Classical Recordings – 101 CDs” published by McClelland & Stewart. He leads a variety...
One of Canada’s foremost organists and church musicians, Matthew Larkin has forged a successful career in many musical forums, including as choral and orchestral conductor, composer and arranger, accompanist, and recording artist. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Caelis Academy Ensemble, Ottawa, Music Director of the Anglican Chorale of Ottawa, Principal Family Conductor of...
As artistic director of Citadel + Compagnie for nearly two decades, Laurence Lemieux has established herself as a leader within Toronto’s dance community. Her multi-faceted experience as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and presenter has guided the company’s mandate of community outreach and engagement and given rise to C+C’s distinctive artistic voice. Born in Québec City, Lemieux studied dance at L’École Supérieure...
Alastair Boyd studied music at the University of Toronto and at the Guildhall School of Music in London (England). His principal composition teachers were Lothar Klein and Derek Holman (Toronto) and Francis Shaw (London). He lives in Toronto, where for 10 years he served as head of the University of Toronto Central Library cataloguing department,...
Known for her attentive arrangements and immersive world-building, Hannah Kendall’s music looks beyond the boundaries of composition. Her work bridges gaps between different musical cultures, both honouring and questioning the contemporary tradition while telling new stories through it. Contrasting fine detail with limitless abandon, she has become renowned both as a composer and a storyteller,...
Dr. Duke Redbird is an elder, poet, activist, educator, and artist. With a legacy stretching back to the 1960s, he is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada and has practiced a number of art disciplines including poetry, painting, theatre, and film. Duke Redbird reads two of his poems and is in conversation with...
Of Cree descent, Winnipeg-based composer Andrew Balfour is an innovative composer, conductor, singer, and sound designer with a large body of choral, instrumental, and orchestral works, including Mamachimowin, commissioned by the TMC. Andrew is also the founder and Artistic Director of the innovative, 14-member vocal group Camerata Nova in Winnipeg. With Camerata Nova, Andrew specializes...
Supriya Nayak is an Odissi dancer from New Delhi, based in Toronto since 2015. Odissi is a dance form from the state of Odisha in eastern India that draws its movement and repertoire from sculpture, painting, literature, theatre, and ritual practices. Supriya’s work has been built upon years of training, first under Kiran Segal (1992-96,...