Hailing from Hong Kong, Sarah Maria Leung is known for her gentle yet commanding music direction. Sarah is currently Music Director at the Newman Centre at U of T. She is also Assistant Conductor at Pax Christi Chorale and the project-based group Incontra Vocal Ensemble. Sarah holds an MMus in choral conducting from the University of...
Archives: Profiles
Ann Chen
Born in Taichung, Taiwan, Ann Chen obtained her Bachelor of Music in Piano from the University of British Columbia in 2013 and Bachelor of Education in 2014. She is currently studying MM in Choral Music at University of Southern California. Ann is a pianist, a vocalist, and a conductor. She was selected to perform in...
Matt Taylor
Matt Taylor is a DMA student at the University of Georgia, currently pursuing his degree in Choral Conducting on a Hoveland Choral Fellowship. Before moving to Athens, Georgia, Matt was an associate choral director at Wando High School in Charleston, SC, where he directed the intermediate and advanced treble choirs. Matt has served as a...
Joshua Boggs
Joshua Boggs is Assistant Professor of Choral and Vocal Studies at Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia, and Founding Artistic Director of AppOpera. He is most interested in the scholarship and performance of early and new music, and maintains an active profile as a countertenor. Boggs’ dissertation focuses on Craig Hella Johnson’s oratorio Considering...
Rena Roussin
Rena Roussin is a doctoral candidate in musicology at the University of Toronto and an incoming (2025-2027) Postdoctoral Associate at Western University. Her research focuses on Western classical music’s historic and current relationships to issues of social justice and activism. She is currently working on a book manuscript on contemporary opera in Canada. As a reconnecting...
Brett Polegato
Brett Polegato‘s artistic sensibility has earned him the highest praise from audiences and critics: “his is a serious and seductive voice” says The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times has praised him for his “burnished, well-focused voice” which he uses with “considerable intelligence and nuance.” The Italian-Canadian baritone appears regularly on the world’s...
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor is the Founder, Artistic Director and conductor of The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada’s first professional chamber choir dedicated to the creation and performance of Afrocentric music of all styles. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, Mr. Blyden-Taylor immigrated to Canada in 1973. He founded The Chorale in 1998, in response to a musical void...
Jonelle Sills
Canadian Soprano Jonelle Sills has been praised for her “… warm, full, elastic tone” (Schmopera, Greg Finney). Jonelle was named one of CBC Music’s classical “30 under 30” performers for 2020. Looking to the fall of 2021, Jonelle will perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at Koerner Hall with Stewart Goodyear and the Penderecki String Quartet. In...
Irene Gregorio
Irene Gregorio enjoys a diverse and active musical life as a pianist, educator, and music director. As a pianist and chamber musician, she has collaborated with members of the LA Phil and San Francisco Symphonies. She has served as pianist for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, LA Opera Education and Outreach, and the University of Southern...