Dr. Mark Ramsay is Assistant Professor in Music Education and Coordinator of Choral Activities at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University. In addition to his teaching duties at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, he is the conductor of Western University Singers. He is also Artistic Director of Toronto’s award-winning Exultate Chamber Singers, co-chaired PODIUM 2022: Canada’s national choral conference and festival, and is co-writer of the Choral Connections column in the Canadian Music Educator journal.

He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from University of Toronto where he was a student of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. His doctoral thesis focused on Canadian choral repertoire written specifically for tenor/bass voices. He was a recipient of an Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in Choral Conducting, as well as multiple U of T Fellowships and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. He holds a Master of Music from U of T and a Bachelor of Music Education from University of Prince Edward Island.

Dr. Ramsay has previously been a conducting fellow with the Canadian Chamber Choir and worked as assistant producer on their album, Seasons of Life and Landscape. In addition, he was the conductor of the U of T Tenor/Bass Choir, the U of T Scarborough Concert Choir, and the MNjcc Community Choir. He worked for ten years as a high school music teacher and curriculum specialist in Summerside, PEI, where he was also music director at Trinity United Church and conductor of the Summerside Community Choir.

In demand as an educator, lecturer and adjudicator, pianist Charles Lin’s commitment of excellence in the field of piano pedagogy has led to local and international recognitions through his students’ performances. In addition to giving workshops and masterclass, he is an active member with The Royal Conservatory of Music’s College of Examiners, instructs Applied Music of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Toronto, and serves as the Director of the University of Toronto Piano Pedagogy Program (UTPPP). In his position at the UTPPP, Charles oversees the creation of a well-rounded musical experience for young beginners and provides graduate students with the opportunity to teach both group and private lessons. He maintains a successful studio with students as young as four years old.

Charles holds his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Toronto, under the tutelage of Marietta Orlov and Midori Koga; further studies in children’s piano pedagogy with Irina Gorin through The Gorin Institute. His early years studies were with Alexandra Munn at the Alberta College Conservatory of Music, and Janet Scott-Hoyt at the University of Alberta. He is the recipient of The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Grant, The University of Toronto Fellowship, and The Winspear Fund for Advanced Classical Music Studies.

Performance highlights include appearances at the 14th World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Canadian Chopin Festival, and the Academy at Centre d'arts Orford. He has performed as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Concordia University College Orchestra.

Described as possessing a “bright, round and supple sound,” (Kitchener-Waterloo Record) soprano Bethany Hörst has quickly established herself on the stage in both opera and concert. Hörst has appeared in numerous productions with opera companies across Canada, France and the Netherlands. Her roles include multiple Baroque operas, many Classical works, as well as 20th/21st Century repertoire. Equally comfortable in concert, Hörst has sung oratorio works with orchestras and major choirs across Canada.

Hörst has won several international competitions including the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She was twice honoured as a District Winner and Regional Finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions. She has received the Encouragement Award at the Met Regional Finals and also the Palm Beach International Opera Competition.

Hörst is a recipient of the prestigious Canadian Opera Grant, the Jacqueline Desmarais Award. She has placed first at NATSAA (Chicago and Indianapolis), the NYCO Mozart Competition, the International Aria Competition, the Opera Lyra Ottawa Studio Competition and Conservatory Canada’s Vocal Competition, as well as 2nd at the Brian Law Opera Competition in Ottawa. She has been honoured with Western University’s Board of Governor’s Award, the A. E. Rose Award, the Doris E. Tanton Award and the Abner Martin Music Scholarship.

Hörst holds a Master of Music degree in Literature and Performance from Western University, where she currently teaches voice. She is a frequent guest instructor at The Singers Theatre and offers workshops on ornamentation and belt across Ontario. Hörst is in high demand for masterclasses and adjudicating throughout Canada. Hörst Studio students frequently appear with Mirvish, Drayton Entertainment and the Stratford Festival.

Amanda Brunk (BacMusPerf, MA/Community Music) is a PAVA-Recognized Vocologist and Designated Linklater Teacher specializing in contemporary voice technique and voice habilitation. Amanda teaches voice for singers at Wilfrid Laurier University and periodically coaches actors at Sheridan College/University of Toronto. She also maintains a successful private studio in Waterloo, Ontario. Her voice students have gone on to perform throughout Canada, on North American tours and in Broadway shows. As conductor of the Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir for eight years, Amanda led the choir to win competitions nationally and internationally, and to perform with grammy-winning recording artists and rock groups.

A passionate advocate for the education and inspiration of young artists, she was the Founder and Music Director of the Music Theatre Academy at Laurier, an intensive three-week performance program for pre-professional emerging artists. Amanda is also the Founder and Artistic Director of The Singer's Theatre, a summer music theatre training program that attracts singers from across North America since 2002, and has served as vocal director for various cruise lines. She is the proud recipient of two Professional Development Grants from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Amanda adjudicates regularly for classical, choral, pop and music theatre categories, from coast to coast. She is vice-president of the Ontario chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and is a published author for the NATS Journal of Singing and VASTA Voice and Speech Review.

Gail Hakala has led an active professional career as a singer, actor, educator, clinician and adjudicator from coast to coast. Gail holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Voice Performance and Literature from the University of Toronto.

Equally at home in all genres of voice, her passion is evident in her fearless and playful approach to her adjudications. Gail was a member of the Shaw Festival Theatre Company for nine years and 20 productions. Favourite roles at Shaw include Minerva in Mr. Cinders, Bonnie in Anything Goes, Tinkerbell in Peter Pan and Netta Lake in Cavalcade. Other favourite roles: Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera (Pantages Theatre and the Canadian tour), Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show (Bathurst Street Theatre), Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Sudbury Theatre Centre), and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (Stage West Calgary).

Gail has also starred on the concert stage with Patty LuPone, Betty Buckley and Mandy Patinkin in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Pantages Theatre). Most recently, Gail was seen as Mavis in Church Basement Ladies (Victoria Playhouse Petrolia), Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man (Capitol Theatre), Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady and Aunt Eller in Oklahoma (Drayton Entertainment), Mrs. Barry/Mrs. Blewett in Anne of Green Gables (Charlottetown Festival) and Widow Corney in Oliver (Centaur Theatre).

Gail was the former Head of Music Theatre and Vocal Discipline at Sheridan College in the Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance Program. She has also been the Resident Voice Coach at the Shaw and Charlottetown Festivals and Artistic Director and Advisor of The Toronto Youth Music Theatre Company. Gail is an active member of Canadian Actors Equity, ACTRA, CMFAA and NATS.

Gail is thrilled to back at the Peel Music Festival doing what she loves best, adjudicating music theatre.

Marion Abbott is a proud graduate of the Musical Theatre Performance Program at Sheridan College. Upon graduating, she was immediately hired to teach for the program and was later named one of the top twenty graduates of the program. She has her Grade 10 Voice and A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance from The Royal Conservatory of Music.

Marion has produced over 400 productions in Toronto and other cities. Of the many (many!) shows Marion has worked on, some of her favourites include The Scarlet Pimpernel, All Shook Up, Anne And Maud, No Safe Harbour, Ragtime, Streetcar Named Desire and Passion. As a private teacher, Marion has taught voice, piano and acting for 34 years to students of all ages. From festivals to recitals to performing in Disney World, Marion cherishes her memories of her time with her students dearly.

Many of her former students now work in the arts full time. Marion is now in demand as a director-music director, consultant, adjudicator and private coach. She has also uploaded over 1000 accompaniment tracks on her YouTube Channel for Singers and Voice Teachers to utilize: www.youtube.com/c/MarionAbbott

As a Dramatist, Marion has created No Safe Harbour, The Blue Castle, A Kindred Spirit Christmas, Conversations with the Ladies of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne and Maud and All About Anne. Marion has written a musical about the true life story of Lucy Maud Montgomery entitled Upward Climb: A Musical. More recently she has completed writing Artsy Girls: A Revue for young Artists to perform. Her podcast is about living and working as an Artist. Marion LOVES Walt Disney and would live in Walt Disney World if that were possible.

Versatile as both a soloist and collaborative artist, Elaine Lau has performed as keyboardist and soloist with numerous orchestras, and broadcast on CBC Radio 2, National Public Radio (USA) and Rondo Classic (Finland). She has also performed with the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Array Ensemble, Contact Contemporary Music and was a featured solo recitalist on the Canadian Opera Company’s Piano Virtuoso and Canadian Music Centre’s On the 13th! piano series.

In addition to her interest in the standard literature, Elaine regularly premieres new works for toy, solo and duo piano, and is a founding member of junctQín, a Toronto-based contemporary keyboard collective. As duo pianist with Joseph Ferretti, Elaine has performed across North America and recorded for Capstone Records.

Recent projects include reTHINK, a CD of contemporary piano music for six hands (Redshift Records), funded by FACTOR and the Canada Council for the Arts; a recording collaboration with Quatuor Bozzini, and the upcoming première of six-hand works by Canadians Nicole Lizée and Vincent Ho in May 2024.

Elaine was coach/repetiteur for the Opera Theatre of Lucca (Italy) and for several years, collaborative pianist/instructor for the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts (USA). Active nationally as an adjudicator and Senior Examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music, she also received the Contribution to Teaching Award from the ORMTA. A member of the piano faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University since 2003, Ms. Lau has served as keyboard faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Renée is a vibrant performing arts professional with twenty-five years of diverse performing, teaching,writing, and directing experience from the stage to film and television. Creative opportunities as a performer, teacher, and director have taken Renée all over the UK, London’s West End and off West-End, Europe, Canada, Korea, Central Asia, and many other inspiring places.

As a dual citizen of UK and Canada, Renée spent most of her early years as a professional performer in the UK (D’Oyly Carte, English Touring Opera, Arcola Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Canterbury Cathedral) while also maintaining a position on the voice faculty at Canterbury Christ Church University; where she taught and coached on both the classical and musical theatre/CCM music degree programs.

Projects during the pandemic saw Renée remotely direct and coach singers situated across the globe in several remotely filmed operas (COSA Canada) and continue to teach her international roster of singers online. In the 2022-23 season she became an RBC Artist Mentor with the Association for Opera in Canada, continued her work as a teaching artist with the Canadian Opera Company, was a guest Choral Clinician to the Durham Girls Choir, coached and offered masterclasses at the National Opera Studio (London, England), Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, University of Toronto, and Hart House Theatre.

Highlights of the 2034-24 season include(d) stage directing the summer intensives at The Singer’s Theatre, returning to teach dramatic integration as a core faculty member and course creator on the Summer Intensive for Emerging Artists at the Canadian Opera Company, staging the Canadian premiere of Catherine Likhuta’s work Scraps from a Madman’s Diary at the University of Toronto, and collaborating on a variety of imminently producible projects.

Dorothy Francis is an active teacher, RCM examiner, and adjudicator. She has taught students from beginner levels to Licentiate levels within the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her students have excelled in their musical studies, with some competing at Provincial levels and receiving Gold Medal awards from the RCM.

Dorothy holds a Masters in Music in Piano Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario under the tutelage of James Anagnoson. She was the recipient of a Western Graduate Research Scholarship during her Masters degree, and she accompanied choirs and collaborated with singers and brass bands. Dorothy also completed a certificate in Early Childhood Music Education focusing on Kodaly, Orff and Dalcroze methodologies to better understand musical education for younger children.

Dorothy enjoys engaging with students of all ages and levels. She combines technical training with musical exploration and imagination. Her aim is to cultivate each child’s appreciation of music while developing their technical and musical ability.

Guitarist Shawn Pickup has been praised for “a technique of the highest level,” and “masterful interpretation” (Lippische Landeszeitung). A multiple national and international prizewinner, Shawn’s recent performance highlights include recitals in Sauble Beach, Hamilton, Iserlohn, Wolfville, Toronto, Brantford, and a live broadcast performance from Cologne, Germany for Radio WDR3.

Born in Halifax,Nova Scotia, Shawn completed his Bachelor of Music Degree at Acadia University with Eugene Cormier. After winning 1^st Prize in guitar and the Grand Award at the FCMF Canadian Nationals, Shawn travelled to Germany and completed his diploma with Prof. Dale Kavanagh in Detmold. He then earned the Master of Music Degree under Prof. Gerhard Reichenbach from the Hochschule für Musik Köln,Wuppertal.

Shawn was a prizewinner in several international guitar competitions in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as 1^st prize winner in the Solistenauswahl Concerto Competition, Wuppertal.

Shawn recently completed the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto under the guidance of Dr.Jeffrey McFadden.

A native of Hamilton, Ontario, with roots in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tanya Charles Iveniuk has performed across North and South America, and the Caribbean. Recipient of the Women’s Art Associate of Canada – Luella McCleary Award, the Gabriella Dory Prize in Music, and the Hamilton Black History Association’s John C Holland Award, Tanya received a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the University of Toronto, and an Artist Diploma (Orchestral Performance) from the Glenn Gould School.

Currently, she is the concertmaster of the Obiora Ensemble and has been since its creation in 2021 and a violinist with the Toronto-based, Odin Quartet. Her former posts include Sinfonia Toronto, as Concertmaster and soloist with the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra (COMF) and the COMF Virtuosi (SC, USA), and Associate Concertmaster of the 2015 Gateways Festival Orchestra (NY, USA).

Tanya is a dedicated educator, and an in-demand string adjudicator and clinician abroad as well as in Ontario. In the Caribbean, for over ten years, Tanya has been instrumental in aiding with the implementation of string-education training in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. She is also on the Education Outreach Team for Ensemble du Monde (Guadeloupe), the Logistics and String Education teams for the All Caribbean Youth Orchestra program (St. Martin/Sint Maarten), and has been a guest instructor for the Centro Regional de Estudios Musicales (Mexico). Tanya is based in Toronto and is on faculty at the University of Toronto – Faculty of Music, and Royal Conservatory of Music (Oscar Peterson Program).

Michele Jacot is a musician with an active schedule of performing, conducting, adjudicating, teaching and concert production.

Besides being in demand for her skills as a clarinetist, Michele is equally at home as a saxophonist and flutist. She regularly performs with symphony orchestras and opera companies, as well as in theatre pit orchestras including Mirvish Productions and the Shaw Festival, and in many chamber ensembles.

Michele was extremely honoured to be the Associate Conductor for Canadian musical icon, Howard Cable, and appeared with him as guest conductor of several Canadian orchestras.

In addition, Michele is a dedicated teacher and is in demand from the elementary to the post-secondary level. She maintains a busy timetable teaching privately, presenting workshops, adjudicating, and designing and leading instructional woodwind clinics for school music teachers.

Michele has been the Artistic Director of Toronto’s Wychwood Clarinet Choir since its inception in 2009. She is proud to be a Yamaha Canada Spotlight Artist, and an Artist at Vandoren, Paris, France.

Born and raised in Toronto, Michele holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music in Performance from Northwestern University in Chicago.

Ms. Tappenden studied Music and French Literature at the University of Toronto. Over the course of her career, she has examined for the Royal Conservatory of Music and adjudicated in French, and adjudicated Speech Arts in English. For some years she taught French in the public school system, and then taught Music in French at the Toronto French School for almost 20 years. She has built up an extensive repertoire of solo, choral, and children’s French Songs.

In her personal life, Ms. Tappenden raised her children in French; they attended the Toronto French School, and now have careers which specialize in or incorporate the French language. Her grandchildren continue the tradition, attending a French school and always communicating with their grand-maman in their first language.

“La parole expressive, quelle que soit la langue, est une des richesses de la vie, un art qui combine la beauté de la voix elle-même avec di divers genres de la littérature – et est une de mes passions personnelles! Je vous encourage de poursuivre et de perfectionner vos études de la langue franҫaise. Il sera un plaisir et un privilège de vous écouter au Festival.”

Bijan Sepanji is a Canadian-Iranian violinist and educator who is based in Toronto, Canada.

Currently, Bijan is the concertmaster of the Canadian Golha Orchestra, an orchestra that specializes in performing the highly ornamental style of classical orchestral music from Iran. As a violinist, Bijan has toured across Canada, as well as in China, Turkey, Iran, Italy and the USA, performing concerts and offering masterclasses with his string quartet - The Ton Beau - at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, University of Toronto, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee as well as privately in Chicago, Illinois. He frequently performs with local Toronto orchestras such as the Toronto Concert Orchestra, Esprit, and Sinfonia Toronto.

Bijan studied violin at Indiana and McGill universities under the tutelage of Ellen Jewett, Mark Fewer, and Mark Kaplan, as well as at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Mayumi Seiler and Erica Raum. Bijan is also the conductor of the Mooredale Youth Orchestra, conducting and coaching the young string players and preparing them for three diversely-programmed concerts each year. Bijan's instrument was made in 2009 by the celebrated Canadian luthier, Mark Schurr.