Ottawa Chamber Music Society

Artist Bios

Louis Lortie - piano

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has been praised for the fresh perspective and individuality he brings to a deliberately broad spectrum of the keyboard canon. He studied in Montréal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of French pianist, Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with the Beethoven specialist, Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher, among others. Mr. Lortie has performed the complete works of Ravel in London and Montréal for the BBC and CBC, and is also known for his interpretation of Chopin. Following a recital of Chopin’s complete Etudes in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Financial Times wrote: “Better Chopin playing than this is not to be heard, not anywhere.” Mr. Lortie has also performed a series devoted to the keyboard, chamber, and vocal music of Brahms and Schumann for CBC. Recently Mr. Lortie has performed works of such contemporary composers as Kurtag (a Bach/Kurtag program at Columbia University), Carter, and Ades.

Also celebrated for his interpretation of works by Beethoven, Mr. Lortie has performed the complete Beethoven sonatas in London’s Wigmore Hall, Toronto’s Ford Center, Berlin Philharmonie, and the Sala Grande del Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. In Berlin, Die Welt called his performances “possibly the most beautiful Beethoven since the times of Wilhelm Kempff.” With the Montreal Symphony, he performed and conducted all five Beethoven Piano Concertos. In the Beethoven Plus Festival, Mr. Lortie performed Beethoven’s 32 sonatas for piano; ten sonatas for violin and Piano/five sonatas for cello and piano; and six trios for piano, violin and cello with violinist James Ehnes and cellist Jan Vogler.

In September, 2004, Louis Lortie opened the Bonn Beethoven Festival playing Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto with Kurt Masur conducting, and was immediately re-engaged for September, 2005. He performs again with Mr. Masur next season with the New York Philharmonic and in Paris. Over four seasons Mr. Lortie plays and conducts the 27 Mozart Piano Concertos with the Montreal Symphony, culminating in 2006, the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Recent notable concerts include performances at the London Proms, at Lincoln Center with Osmo Vanska and the Lahti Symphony, a return recital in Carnegie Hall, and performances with Charles Dutoit and the New York Philharmonic. In 2005-2006 Mr. Lortie begins a Liszt/Wagner series in Florence, Italy and in London’s Wigmore Hall, performs recitals in Sydney, Ann Arbor, Atlanta and Washington DC, and returns to the Dallas Symphony and the Sydney Symphony among many other major international engagements.

Mr. Lortie has made over 30 recordings on the Chandos label, ranging from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of Beethoven’s Eroica Variations won the Edison Award, and his disc of Schumann’s Bunte Blatter and other works by Schumann and Brahms was named one of the best CDs of the year by BBC Music Magazine. He has recorded Ravel’s complete works for piano and has almost completed the 32 Beethoven sonatas. His recording of the complete Chopin Etudes, opp. 10 and 25, has been cited by BBC Music Magazine’s special Piano Issue as one of “50 Recordings by Superlative Pianists”. Mr. Lortie’s most recent CD release is the final recording in his three-CD series of Liszt’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. It was immediately named “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone Magazine. In addition to the current Liszt recordings, other recent releases include To the Distant Beloved, with works by Beethoven, Schumann and Liszt, and Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the BBC Symphony.

Born in Montréal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montréal Symphony at the age of thirteen and the Toronto Symphony three years later, which as a result engaged him for an historic tour of the People’s Republic of China and Japan. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and was a prize-winner at the Leeds Competition. In 1992 he was named Officer of the Order of Cnada, and received both the Order of Quebec aned an honorary doctorate from Laval University. As his schedule permits, he teaches at Italy’s renowned piano institute at Imola. Mr. Lortie has lived in Berlin since 1997 but also has a home in Canada.

master list of artists

Les Voix Humaines

Susie Napper and Margaret Little have been thrilling audiences with their performances of exotic masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries for the past twenty years. Les Voix Humaines are renowned for their spectacular arrangements of a wide variety of music for two viols and their brilliant performances of contemporary music commissioned by the duo. Their Montreal concert season offers a unique opportunity for an international array of instrumentalists and singers to explore unusual repertoire that includes virtuoso viols. The duo is regularly joined by some of Montreal’s finest young gambists to form the Voix Humaines Consort specializing in the vast 17th-century repertoire for viol consort.

Les Voix Humaines has recorded over 20 CDs on the ATMA, Naxos, and CBC Records labels, several of which have received critical acclaim and prizes. They include the complete Poeticall Musicke of Tobias Hume, The 4 Seasons of Christopher Simpson, the complete Le Nymphe di Rheno of Johannes Schenck (Diapason d’Or), several discs with soprano Suzie LeBlanc and countertenor Daniel Taylor, and a Telemann disc with renowned Belgian flutist Barthold Kuijken. Their recording of the complete Concerts a deux violes esgales by Sainte-Colombe (4 double CDs) is a world premiere.

The duo has performed at many of the most important music festivals in North America, Mexico, and Europe including the Boston Early Music Festival, Early Music Vancouver, the Festival Internacional Cervantino, Mexico, the Brighton International Music Festival, England, the Festival Oude Musiek, Holland, and the Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague. Touring regularly in Europe and North America, they made their debut in Australia and in New-Zealand in 2005.

master list of artists

David Jalbert – piano

Pianist David Jalbert is one of the most firebrand talents of the new generation. With his personal style, incomparable stage presence and refined ear, he has convinced audiences and critics everywhere in North America : “a deeply musical pianist” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), “an important talent” (The Montreal Gazette), “Jalbert dazzles with skill, style and taste… with all the exuberance and finesse a listener could want” (The Toronto Star). His first solo disc, dedicated to the works of Corigliano and Rzewski, was launched to great applause on Endeavour in 2004, and is now followed up in 2006 by a new recording of Fauré’s complete Nocturnes. David Jalbert has also recorded two cello and piano discs with his long-standing musical partner Denise Djokic, the first for Sony Classical in 2002, and the second for Endeavour in 2005 (Folklore, nominated for a Juno Award). Mr. Jalbert also performs with his dynamic piano trio (with violinist Jasper Wood and cellist Yegor Dyachkov) under the name “Triple Forte”. Other collaborations have included the Quatuor Alcan as well as pianists Anton Kuerti and Naida Cole.

David Jalbert has been a guest soloist with many great orchestras, such as the Montreal Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the CBC Radio Orchestra and the National Symphony of Ireland, and has collaborated with conductors like Skitch Henderson, Bramwell Tovey, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jacques Lacombe, Marc David, Dmitry Liss and Mario Bernardi. He has performed in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe ; his vast repertoire stretches from Bach to Ligeti in solo as well as in chamber music. Mr. Jalbert’s interests in litterature, cinema, rock n’roll and blues shine through his musical selections, which can be heard regularly on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada broadcasts.

David Jalbert holds two « Artist Diplomas » ; one from the Juilliard School in New York, the other from the Glenn Gould Professional School in Toronto. He received his Masters Degree from the Université de Montréal at age 21, along with the Gold Medal of the Governor General for the highest results of all of the University’s graduate students. His main teachers have been Jerome Lowenthal, Marc Durand, André Laplante and Pauline Charron. He has also worked with Leon Fleisher, John Perry, Claude Frank, Gilbert Kalish and Marylin Engle.

master list of artists

James Campbell – clarinet

James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award for Stolen Gems [Marquis Records], a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year and the Order of Canada. Most recently, Campbell received The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal. This was given on the occasion of the fiftieth Anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty the Queen to the Throne. Called by the Toronto Star “Canada's pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist”, James Campbell has performed in most of the world's major concert halls and with over 50 orchestras including the London Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Russian Philharmonic. During the 2003-2004 season he performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops in the premiere of Dreaming of the Masters, a jazz concerto by Allan Gilliland, commissioned by the Edmonton Symphony and written for James Campbell. Campbell has collaborated and performed with many of the world's great musicians including the late Glenn Gould and Aaron Copland; as well as chamber music tours with over 30 string quartets including the legendary Amadeus String Quartet, the Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, St Lawrence, Fine Arts, and Allegri String Quartets.

Currently, Mr. Campbell tours with Trio Mosaique (clarinet, viola and piano), the New Zealand Quartet, and with jazz pianist Gene DiNovi. Of Campbell's extensive discography many have won international acclaim. Most recent releases include the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with the Allegri Quartet, voted "Top Choice" by BBC Radio 3, the world premiere recording of Brahms [orchestrated Berio] Sonata Op. 120 No. 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra (both on Cala Records) ; and the Sony Classical re-release of the Debussy Première Rhapsodie with Glenn Gould. Campbell is the subject of numerous features and cover stories in Clarinet Magazine (USA), Clarinet and Sax (UK), Piper Magazine (Japan), Gramophone, and in the book Clarinet Virtuosi of Today, by British author and clarinet authority Pamela Weston. In 1984, James Campbell was named Artistic Director of the summer chamber music festival, The Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, ON. As Artistic Director, Mr. Campbell has taken the Festival to England on three occasions and it has been the subject of documentaries by BBC Television, CBC Television and TV Ontario. In 2003 Festival of the Sound opened its very own 500 seat concert hall, the Charles W Stockey Festival Performance Hall. Since 1989, James Campbell makes Bloomington, Indiana his base during the academic year as Professor of Music at the prestigious Music School of Indiana University.

master list of artists

Nina Brickman – french horn

Nina Brickman, a native of Montreal, played with the Kitchener - Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble from 1975 to 2005.. She studied horn at McGill University (L.Mus.) and the Manhattan School of Music in New York City (B.Mus.) and has been a member of the music faculty of Wilfrid Laurier University since 1978, where she has recently been appointed “Musician-in-Residence” . She also has been coordinating the Windfest Workshop at WLU since 1995 and maintains a serious interest in chamber music in the area. Nina plays regularly as extra with the Toronto Symphony and is a member of the Elora Festival Orchestra and the orchestra for the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

master list of artists

David Greenberg – violin

Canadian-American violinist David Greenberg enjoys a busy career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and folk fiddler. He is recognized as a master Cape Breton fiddler, and he co-authored the definitive treatise on the music from that legendary Nova Scotian island near his Halifax home. Since the 1990s Mr. Greenberg has specialized in Scottish baroque-folk music, first with his group Puirt A Baroque and currently with the trio Ferintosh and Glasgow's Concerto Caledonia. As a baroque violinist, Mr. Greenberg has performed and recorded with many of the best North American early music ensembles, including Toronto's Tafelmusik, Montreal's Les Voix Humaines, Cleveland's Apollo's Fire, and Seattle Baroque. Many critically acclaimed recordings have resulted from these classical and folk music collaborations. In addition, Mr. Greenberg performs with modern orchestras, both as a guest director and as violin soloist in works such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

master list of artists

Kyoko Hashimoto – piano

Kyoko Hashimoto was born in Tokyo and began to study the piano at the age of three. The first piano performance on the radio was at the age of five, and as a soloist with the orchestra for the TV was at the age of seven. After graduating from the Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, she studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy, Indiana University and the Juilliard School. She received full scholarships from the Menuhin Academy and the Juilliard School. Among her teachers were György Sebök, Menahem Pressler, György Janzer, William Masselos, György Sandor, Felix Galimir, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados.

She has been regularly performing throughout the world, so far in more than 25 countries, including many major cities and halls such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Lincoln Center and the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, etc. She has been invited to many important festivals including the Prague Spring Festival, the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival and the Saito Kinen Festival. Besides performing Solo recitals and Concertos with distinguished orchestras such as the Prague Chamber philharmonic Orchestra and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed many duo recitals with Ruggiero Ricci(Vn), Thomas Zehetmair(Vn) and Antonio Meneses(Vc), and duo and chamber music concerts with artists such as Sandor Vegh(Vn), Mischa Maisky(Vc), Jean-Jacque Kantorow(Vn), Aaron Rosand(Vn), Ralph Kirshbaum(Vc), Steven Isserlis(Vc), András Adorján(Fl), Patrick Gallois(Fl), Maurice Bourgue(Ob), Hansjörg Schellenberger(Ob), Barry Tuckwell(Hr), Atar Arad(Va), Anthony Marwood(Vn), Nobuko Imai(Va) Sergio Azzolini(Fg), Isabelle van Keulen(Vn), Chantal Juillet(Vn), Hermann Baumann(Hr), Regis Pasquier(Vn) and Bruno Giuranna(Va).

Ms. Hashimoto was awarded numerous prizes such as the 1st grand prize and the public prize at the Concours International de Musique Française, the top prize at the Concours Musical de France, and the special prizes at the Budapest International Music Competition and at the Spohr International Competition. She has recorded many times for TV and radio all over the world including a series of 20 works by Beethoven for Dutch radio. She has also made more than a dozen CD-recordings, including the early piano pieces (all the Preludes+4 pieces) by Messiaen, 34 piano pieces by Schumann, and 24 Preludes by Scriabin and 24 Preludes by Shostakovich. She is Associate Professor of Piano at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and was on the piano faculty and the chamber music faculty of the Utrecht Conservatory in Holland for 12 years . She has been invited many times as a visiting professor at the European Mozart Academy in Poland and in the Czech Republic and at the International Chamber Music Academy in the Czech Republic. as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Trinity College in London. She has been the Artistic Director of the International Music Workshop in the Czech Republic and in Germany since 2004. She has also given master courses in France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, the Czech Republic, U.S.A. Holland, Germany and Japan.

master list of artists

Laurence Wall – narrator

Laurence Wall is the News Producer for CBC Radio in Ottawa. He prepares and reads on-air 10 newscasts and news updates each weekday afternoon on CBC Radio One and Radio Two.

Laurence was born in Montreal and raised in Winnipeg. He studied piano as a wee lad then took up the cello when he entered Grade 7 and played throughout high school in his school orchestra.

Laurence still plays cello, only now with the Divertimento Orchestra, a community group of 65 musicians under the direction of Gordon Slater.

Laurence is married to She Who Must Be Obeyed. They have 2 terrific daughters, age 19 and 15.

master list of artists

Rachel Laurin – organist - composer

Award-winning organist, improviser and composer, Rachel Laurin performed in major cities in Canada, the United States and Europe. She recorded more than eleven CDs on labels Motette, Musicus, Fidelio, Riche Lieu, SRC, DJA, BND and Analekta. She was Associate Organist at St. Joseph’s Oratory, in Montreal, from 1986 to 2002, and Titular Organist at Notre Dame Cathedral, in Ottawa, from 2002 to 2006. Highlights of recent seasons include the performance of Louis Vierne’s Six Symphonies in three recitals, in 2000 at St. Joseph’s Oratory, and 2001, at Notre Dame Cathedral, one of a small number of organists to have realised such an achievment in a concert setting. In 2002, she premiered the Jacques Hétu’s Organ Concerto with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra under Mario Bernardi at the inauguration of ther Winspear Centre’s organ. Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, since 1989, Rachel Laurin has composed around fifty works for solo instruments and various ensembles. These works are frequently performed on radio, Cds or concerts. ATMA label has released recently a complete CD devoted to a part of her chamber music (“Festivals”, ACD2 2295). Her involvement as a composer and a performer in prestigious events these next months will bring her, among others, to Calgary, Colfax (NC), Salt Lake City, Baltimore, etc.

master list of artists

John Wong – percussion

The recipient of the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra Bursary in 2002, John Wong appeared as a soloist with the orchestra performing Ney Rosauro’s Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra. John has completed a Bachelor of Music degree at McGill University in Montreal studying with Pierre Beluse, D’Arcy Philip Gray and Andrei Malashenko. He has also completed an Artist Diploma at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto studying with John Rudolph and David Kent. He has been a member of the National Academy Orchestra program in Hamilton, and has also completed two cross-country tours with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. As an active orchestral percussionist, John can often be seen performing with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Recently, John began performing in the NAC’s ‘Music in the Schools’ program as a member of the percussion duo “Bangers and Smash”.

master list of artists

Chris Norman Ensemble

Chris Norman – flutes, pipes, vocals
James Blachley – bass, viola da gamba, vocals
Nick Halley – percussion, keyboards vocals
Andy Thurston – guitars, mandola, vocals

The Chris Norman Ensemble brings to life the energetic traditional dance music of Maritime Canada, Scotland, & Ireland with an emphasis on exploring points of contact with the music's roots in 16th-19th century Europe. The Ensemble's programs combine originality, intelligence, fun, and sheer mastery that have won them respect from audiences, presenters, and colleagues alike in North America, Europe and Asia.

At the heart of the group is Chris Norman, who's brilliant and imaginative flute playing has contributed to groups as diverse as the The Baltimore Consort, Skyedance, Helicon, Chatham Baroque, Concerto Caledonia, as well as Hollywood soundtracks and seven solo recordings. His influential work as a performer, composer, recording artist, educator, and director of the Boxwood Festival & Workshop has played a significant role in reviving the flute in traditional Scottish and Canadian music.

The Ensemble's extraordinary range runs the gamut from dynamic performances headlining international folk festivals to programs for some of North America's most prestigious chamber and early music societies and universities. With flutes, pipes, guitar, mandolin, mandola, harmonium, bass, percussion, drums & vocals, the Ensemble reaches across five centuries of traditional, renaissance and baroque music with a range of energetic programs. Education and public service is at the core of the group's values, and they regularly incorporate workshops, school programs, and community outreach into their tours.

Chris Norman’s influential work as a performer, composer, recording artist and teacher has brought the simple wooden flute to the forefront as an alternative voice to the modern orchestral instrument. Born in Halifax Nova Scotia, he began his musical studies at the age of ten. His busy performing schedule includes solo engagements and concerts with a variety of ensembles, appearing frequently as soloist with orchestra and touring with his own Chris Norman Ensemble. In years past Chris has also appeared worldwide as a member of the international folk trio, Helicon, and the all-star Celtic fusion group, Skyedance, and the acclaimed early music group, The Baltimore Consort and across Europe with Concerto Caledonia. Norman’s flute playing can be heard featured in the Oscar winning soundtrack of Titanic as well as the 1998 Hollywood film, Soldier. His solo CD releases have received unanimous praise from critics and audiences alike. As a composer Chris is the recipient of numerous grants and commissions, and recently premiered Out of Orkney, a tone poem for flute, harp, and string orchestra. His compositions been featured on National Public Radio, the CBC in Canada and the BBC, as well as concert halls in Europe, North America Australia and New Zealand. Chris regularly teaches master classes and has conducted symposia at many schools of music around the world. He has inspired thousands of musicians both young and old as the founder and director of the Boxwood Festival and Workshop in Lunenburg, NS.

James Blachly - A performer since the age of five with the New York City Opera, the American Ballet Theater, and both on and off Broadway, Mr. Blachly attended the Oberlin Conservatory and College, and holds Master of Music in Composition from the Mannes College of Music in New York. He’s active as full-time as a bassist, gambist, and male alto, primarily with the Chris Norman Ensemble—with whom he has recorded three critically acclaimed albums and toured throughout North America and Scotland—and the St. Michael’s Choir under the direction of Nicholas White. As a composer he has also recently completed commissions for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, the Tradewinds Wind Quintet, and numerous other instrumental and vocal ensembles. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Bertelsmann World of Expression $10,000 first place scholarship for composition in 1998 and the Frank McCourt prize for Literature, also in 1998. James is a co-founder of the Pharos Music Project, a group dedicated to supporting and performing excellent new works for the voice.

Nick Halley grew up at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where his father, Paul Halley was Director of Music. He has studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, The New School University’s jazz and contemporary music program majoring in jazz and classical percussion and independently in Brazil where he spent a year immersed in the great tradition of Brazilian rhythm, studying with Márçio Bahia, Pedro Lima, Oscar Bolão, and playing with Viradouro, one of Rio’s top samba schools. Nick currently bases himself out of Massachusetts’ beautiful Berkshire Hills. He tours and records with groups ranging in style from traditional Scottish and Irish to gospel, jazz, Brazilian and popular music. When not on the road, Nick teaches private lessons and directs workshops in Brazilian, North African, and South Indian rhythm. Nick is also assistant choir director conducting the choirs of Joyful Noise in CT.

Andy Thurston is a mainstay in the East Coast traditional music scene and has accompanied many of the area's most renowned musicians. Andy has a BA in classical guitar from Towson State University and has taught guitar at Catonsville Community College for 25 years. Well versed in a variety of styles, he infuses elements of jazz and swing guitar into the music of Ireland, Scotland, Quebec & Maritime Canada, and plays music of the 18th century on the wire strung baroque guitar: the citarre battente.

master list of artists

Steven Dann - viola

From 1977 to 2000, Steven Dann was successively principal viola of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Zurich's Tonhalle, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, the Vancouver Symphony and Toronto Symphony. He performed as soloist with these orchestras under eminent conductors, and as guest principal with other prominent orchestras including, in performance and recordings, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Harnoncourt, Berglund and Boulez conducting. Upcoming engagements include the world premiere of a Hatzis concerto and joining the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra as guest principal for Wagner's Ring Cycle in the opening season of Toronto's Four Seasons Opera House. A member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players since 1990 and the Axelrod String Quartet in Washington DC, he has been featured performer on award-winning Smithsonian recordings. He has commissioned and recorded many new works from composers such as R. Murray Shafer, Alexina Louie and Christos Hatzis. He appears regularly participates in major festivals, and teaches viola and chamber music at the Glenn Gould Professional School in Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music.

master list of artists

Lucie Laneville - recorder

Originally from Rivière-du-Loup, Lucie Laneville holds a degree in recorder performance from l’Université de Montréal and pursued additional studies at the Conservatory of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Ms. Laneville is regularly heard as a solo performer, yet it is in small ensembles where she particularly enjoys making music. A founding member of the trio Girigonza, she has also been heard with Grupetto Baroque Ensemble of Ottawa, l’Ensemble Claude Gervaise, l’Orchestre Baroque de Montréal and le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, l'Orchestre de Chambre de Hull and compagnie musicale La Nef. She has also been heard in numerous cities throughout Eastern Canada in the context of concert series and festivals such as the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Festival Canada, Concert aux beaux-arts, Le festival d’été de Québec and the Festival international de musique baroque de Lamèque in New Bunswick.

Her performances are broadcast regularly on both the CBC English and French radio networks. In 1996, Girigonza produced a CD recording under the CanSona label, consisting both of works commissioned for the ensemble and arrangements for the trio of recorders, guitar, and soprano.

Lucie Laneville teaches recorder pedagogy at the University of Ottawa, and is regularly invited to teach master classes and sight-reading sessions in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Kingston for CAMMAC, TEMPO and the Société de flûte à bec de Montréal.

master list of artists

Talisker Players

with guest artists Heidi Klann and Vilma Indra Vitols

Talisker Players is unique in Ontario as a group of instrumentalists who specialize in vocal/instrumental collaboration. Their innovative concert series at Trinity St. Paul’s in Toronto explores the art of words and music and features exciting stars of the Canadian vocal scene. They also perform with a wide variety of choirs throughout southern Ontario, and have earned a well-deserved reputation for passionate and stylish choral accompanying. Talisker Players is led in performance by concertmaster Valerie Sylvester, and behind the scenes by artistic director Mary McGeer.

Soprano Heidi Klann, an active concert and recital artist, is equally at home in opera, oratorio and recital, and in repertoire ranging from early baroque to contemporary. She has performed extensively across North America and Europe and has been heard on CBC Radio Two. Heidi also holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in viola, and has studied composition with Violet Archer and Donald Stevens.

Mezzo-soprano Vilma Indra Vitols, one of the rising stars of a new generation, is praised for her performances in everything from Baroque to cabaret to avant garde music. She was First Prize winner at the 22nd Annual Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition for Voice 1999, and has been featured across Canada in opera, oratorio and concert productions.

The Talisker Players performance at OCMF also features pianist Peter Longworth, long-time associate and frequent performer with the ensemble, and the acclaimed actor Stewart Arnott as reader.

master list of artists