Renée Huynh Barabash, pianist
Originally from Toronto, Renée is happy to call the City of Burlington her home.
Renée is the founder and artistic director of The Living Room Project. She completed a Masters Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Midori Koga. Previously, she studied piano and harpsichord at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia. She is active as a teacher and performer, most recently performing in the inaugural Lowville Festival in July 2015.
Allison Angelo, soprano
www.allisonangelo.ca
Hailed as “a fabulous discovery” by the Toronto Star, Canadian soprano Allison Angelo debuts this season with Voicebox: Opera In Concert's presentation of Salieri’s Falstaff with the Aradia Ensemble, and will be heard in recital with the Off-Centre Music Salon. She returns to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia this summer to recreate the role of Mabel Hubbard Bell in The Bells Of Baddeck after its hugely successful premiere in 2015. Her 2013-14 season included debuts with the Victoria and Kingston Symphonies, the Scotia Festival of Music where she sang the Villa Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5 and a return appearance with Calgary's Mountainview Concert Series.
Ms. Angelo has recently appeared with the Toronto, Edmonton, Niagara, Winnipeg and Vancouver Symphonies, Symphony Nova Scotia, as well as the Boston POPS, the Tangelwood Festival Orchestra, the Elora Festival and Toronto’s Luminato Festival. A grant recipient of the Canada Council of the Arts, she has been heard on CBC Radio and Bravo!Canada. This fall she released her first professional CD, titled Moon Loves Its Light.
Laurissa Chitty, violinist
Heralding from the West Coast, violinist Laurissa Chitty obtained a Master of Music from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Music at Wilfrid Laurier. Laurissa was formerly the second violinist of the Saint John String Quartet and Symphony New Brunswick. She currently teaches with Sistema Toronto
and freelances throughout the GTA.
Bryan Holt, cellist
Known for his artistic versatility, cellist Bryan Holt has performed on three continents and appeared in numerous alternative venues. He has been described as “…a rising young cellist imbued with passion, daring and a faultless technique. Not to be missed!” As a chamber musician Bryan appears regularly with Pocket Concerts, Uccello and the Thin Edge New Music Collective. He has recently performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Soundstreams Canada, Continuum, Contact Contemporary Music and the Group of 27 as well as numerous other ensembles in Ontario. Bryan is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Music in Cello Performance at the University of Toronto. He is highly sought after as a teacher and maintains a private studio in the downtown core of Toronto while also visiting several schools as a guest coach.
Markéta Ornova, pianist
Canadian based, Czech-born pianist Markéta Ornova is praised for her sensitivity of tone and innovative concert programing. As a doctoral student, Marketa is interested in alternative approaches to performance, inter-arts performance, and contemporary music performance. As a performer, she has performed in recitals throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. A passionate chamber musician, she has given collaborative performances at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2010), at Toronto's Arts and Letters Club (2011-2015), on Italian television, and in the Czech Republic and Austria.
Ms. Ornova frequently performs in master classes for such artists as Leon Fleisher, Menaham Pressler, Anton Kuerti, Lee Kum-Sing, Andre Laplante, the Tokyo String Quartet and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Additionally, Ms. Ornova has attended numerous summer performance festivals, such as the Orford Arts Center in Quebec, the Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine, the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival and Orvieto Musica in Italy.
In addition to her extensive musical training, Ms. Ornova holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and has pursued graduate studies in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her primary teachers include John Perry and David Louie at The Glenn Gould School and Marietta Orlov at the University of Toronto, where Ms. Ornova is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
Lisa Tahara, pianist
Canadian pianist Lisa Tahara is a soloist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist and teacher who just completed her doctoral studies at the University of Toronto in piano performance and pedagogy. Since making her orchestral debut with the Burnaby Symphony Orchestra at fifteen, Lisa has performed with esteemed orchestras across Canada, such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Further, as the winner of several concerto competitions, she has performed Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and also with the University of Victoria Orchestra. In 2013, Lisa performed Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with both the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and the Westben Festival Orchestra. Next Spring, she will perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Georgian Bay Symphony Orchestra.
Lisa has won numerous top prizes in festivals and competitions at the local, provincial and national level, including the Canadian Registered Music Teachers’ Association Competition, the Canadian Concerto Competition, the Canadian Music Competition and the Shean Piano Competition.
As a chamber musician, Lisa is a founding member of the Amarok Ensemble with Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh and Bryan Holt. In 2014, they performed at Integral House with violist, Rory McLeod. Most recently, the Amarok Ensemble attended the St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar (in Stanford, California) and performed in the international showcase concert in Bing Recital Hall.
Andres Nicolas Tucci Clarke, cellist
Canadian of Uruguayan and English descent, cellist Andres Tucci Clarke grew up in Toronto and began his cello studies at the Dixon Hall Community Centre. He completed a Master’s of Music Degree with Paul Marleyn at the University of Ottawa in 2009. Since then Andres has been teaching and freelancing in the Greater Toronto Area (and sometimes farther afield).
Jialiang Zhu, pianist
A native from China, Jialiang Zhu arrived in Canada in 2007. The multi-culture of the country and open-mindedness of its people has allowed Jialiang to discover her own identity and express her own ideas.
Currently, Jialiang is active as a performer and as a teacher. Praised by Chinese-American composer Chen Yi as “a pianist with great technique and high spirit”, Jialiang has given many performances in different cities, including Beijing, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, New York, and Murrhardt, Germany.