Artists

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  Conductor Jeannette Sorrell

  

  Conductor Jeannette Sorrell

  GRAMMY-winning conductor Jeannette Sorrell is recognized internationally as one of today’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and Classical repertoire. She is the subject of the 2019 documentary by Oscar-winning director Allan Miller, titled Playing with Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting.

  Bridging the period-instrument and symphonic worlds from a young age, Sorrell studied conducting at the Aspen and the Tanglewood music festivals under Leonard Bernstein and Roger Norrington, and harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won First Prize in the Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from four continents.

  Sorrell made her New York Philharmonic debut in 2021 and Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2022, both to rave reviews. She has repeatedly conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and New World Symphony, and she has also led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion), the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Opera St. Louis with the St. Louis Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, among others. This spring she also makes her debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain).

  As founder and conductor of Apollo’s Fire, she has led the renowned ensemble at London’s BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, and many international venues. Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire have released 30 commercial CDs, including 11 bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart and a 2019 GRAMMY winner. Her CD recordings of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons have been chosen as best in the field by the London Sunday Times (2020 and 2021). Her Monteverdi Vespers recording was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of “30 Must-Have Recordings for Our Lifetime” (September 2022). With over 12 million views of her YouTube videos, Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming, using contextual and dramatic elements.

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  Soprano Sonya Headlam

  

  Soprano Sonya Headlam

  Soprano Sonya Headlam performs music that spans centuries, from the Baroque era to the present. She has received acclaim as a soloist on prestigious stages across the United States. Notable recent highlights include her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah  and a memorable performance at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, alongside conductor Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo's Fire. Other esteemed ensembles with which Sonya has collaborated include the North Carolina Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, among others. This season, she eagerly anticipates making her solo debuts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and making her Canadian debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

  Sonya's repertoire encompasses ensemble, chamber, opera, concert works, and art songs. She has a passion for collaborating with living composers and bringing their new compositions to life, and she is equally passionate about championing the voices of those historically overlooked in classical music. This season, she will present several solo recitals, including a performance at the 2024 Music Teachers National Association Conference, in Atlanta, Georgia.

  In 2023, Sonya was appointed as the Rohde Family Artist-in-Residence at the Chelsea Music Festival, where she engaged in meaningful collaborations and premiered new works. She has contributed to various innovative contemporary projects throughout her career, including Yaz Lancaster's song cycle ouroboros, produced by Beth Morrison Projects, and several performances of Julia Wolfe's Steel Hammer with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, including at MASS MoCA and Carnegie Hall.

  Sonya is featured on the Raritan Players' latest recording, In the Salon of Madame Brillon: Music and Friendship in Benjamin Franklin’s Paris, and is presently collaborating with them on an album that will feature the music of Ignatius Sancho and premiere new compositions by Trevor Weston.

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  Mezzo-Soprano Georgia Burashko

  

  Mezzo-Soprano Georgia Burashko

  Canadian mezzo-soprano Georgia Burashko has been hailed as “a model of expressiveness” and “emotionally evocative” (Opera Going Toronto). Based in Den Haag, Netherlands, Georgia is a winner of The Dutch Classical Talent, which earned her a solo recital tour of her own curation through The Netherlands in 2023– 2024. This season, Georgia sings Messiah under the baton of Nicholas McGeegan with both the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and makes her debut at The Bach Festival in Leipzig with the Netherlands Bach Society. She also joins the cast of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants, kicking off a global tour of the production, including stops at New York’s Lincoln Centre and Versailles’s Opéra Royal. This past season, she premiered J.S. Bach – The Apocalypse, a joint opera production with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging and Opera2Day which toured the Netherlands. Georgia also recently released her debut album with Italian harpist Michela Amici entitled Dal suono dolcissimo, featuring both 17th-century Italian music and new works for voice and Baroque harp. 

  Operatic credits include Nerone (Agrippina), Juno (Orphée aux Enfers), Tirinto (Imeneo), Zosha (Farewell Auschwitz), Cari Bayar (Lizée and Ivany’s No One's Safe), Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) in which she was praised for her “heartfelt delivery, her luminous voice matching her radiant beauty” (Opera Canada). 

  Georgia was a 2019 Rebanks Family Fellow at the Glenn Gould School, and received a master’s degree in Early Music with Distinction from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, where she attended as a Holland Fellow with full scholarship. Her work at the Koninklijk Conservatorium was celebrated for “possessing a marvelous instrument, placed at the service of musical artistry with the deepest engagement.” 

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  Tenor Lawrence Wiliford

  

  Tenor Lawrence Wiliford

  Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand in concert, opera, and recital repertoire. In 2022–23, he joins both the Houston Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestra for Messiah, returns to Early Music Vancouver for selections by Schütz, and performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s B minor Mass with the Grand Philharmonic Choir. In 2021–22, he appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem with the Calgary Philharmonic, and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

  Lawrence Wiliford’s concert engagements encompass the major symphony orchestras and early music groups in the US and Canada. Additional appearances of note include Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. With the National Arts Centre Orchestra, he has previously sung in J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor and Christmas Oratorio, Mozart's Requiem, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass.

  His recorded projects appear on several labels and include a GRAMMY-nominated and JUNO Award–winning recording of music by Vaughan Williams with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Peter Oundjian (Chandos); J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion under the direction of Alex Weimann (ATMA Classique); a program of late works for tenor and harp by Benjamin Britten (ATMA Classique); and sacred songs by Edmund Rubbra, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst (Stone Records). He is also a featured soloist on the 2020 JUNO Award–nominated recording of Zachary Wadsworth’s oratorio When There is Peace by Chor Leoni Men’s Choir. In addition to his performing schedule, Lawrence Wiliford is co-artistic director of the Canadian Art Song Project.

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  Bass-Baritone Kevin Deas

  

  Bass-Baritone Kevin Deas

  Kevin Deas has gained international renown as one of America’s leading bass-baritones. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having performed it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Pacific Symphony, as well as with the most illustrious orchestras on the North American continent, and at the Ravinia, Vail, and Saratoga festivals. 

  Kevin Deas’s 2023–2024 season includes performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Mobile Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the North Carolina Symphony, Washington National Cathedral, Houston Symphony, and NAC Orchestra. Other notable performances in the season include a Gershwin program with the Oregon Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Pacific Symphony, and Brahms’s German Requiem with Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He will also be performing the role of Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Boston Baroque, as well as the role of Dick Hallorann in Paul Moravec’s critically acclaimed opera The Shining with Opera Atlanta.

  A proponent of contemporary music, Kevin Deas has performed Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, Derek Bermel’s The Good Life with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Hannibal Lokumbe’s Dear Mrs. Parks with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoyed a 20-year collaboration with the late jazz legend Dave Brubeck.

  Kevin Deas has recorded Wagner’s Die Meistersinger (Decca/London) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti and Varèse’s Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under Riccardo Chailly. Other releases include Bach’s Mass in B minor and Handel’s Acis and Galatea (Vox Classics); Dave Brubeck’s To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society (Telarc); Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Boston Baroque (Linn Records); and Dvořák in America (Naxos).

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  Choir Cantata Singers of Ottawa

  

  Choir Cantata Singers of Ottawa

  The Cantata Singers of Ottawa (CSO) is well known regionally and across Canada. Founded in 1964, this choir of approximately 40 voices has distinguished itself in performance of music of many styles and musical periods, from early music to minimalism, both a capella and with orchestras and small ensembles.

  The choir aspires to perform choral music to the highest standards, promotes choral music in Ottawa, and supports Canadian musical talent by commissioning Canadian composers, engaging Canadian musicians, and offering scholarships to young Canadian singers. Under Artistic Director Andrew McAnerney, CSO presents an annual concert series, with programs spanning a wide-ranging repertoire both in time and style. In every season, the choir includes works composed by women and Canadians.

  CSO has been an invited guest artist almost since its formation. With the exception of the COVID period, it has performed annually with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) and under the baton of every NACO artistic director since the opening of the NAC in 1969. In addition, the choir has sung NACO concerts led by other internationally renowned guest conductors. CSO performed on NACO’s 2019 JUNO-nominated recording New Worlds, singing Ana Sokolović’s composition Golden slumbers kiss your eyes.

  CSO has sung in major Canadian music festivals such as Festival de Lanaudière and Festival of the Sound and has partnered with well-known Canadian choirs, such as Pro Coro Canada of Edmonton, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and St. Lawrence Choir to present joint concerts. Thanks to numerous CBC and Radio Canada broadcasts, the choir is well known across Canada.

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  Choir Capital Chamber Choir

  

  Choir Capital Chamber Choir

   The Capital Chamber Choir is an auditioned ensemble of advanced singers from the National Capital Region. The choir and Artistic Director, Jamie Loback, are committed to bringing a diverse range of choral music—in particular, modern, Canadian, and local works—to audiences through high-caliber and engaging performances. Founded in 2009 by Dr. Sara Brooks, the choir is a true collaboration, emphasizing the importance of collegiality in generating an integrated choral sound. 

  For the past 10 years, Artistic Director Jamie Loback has guided the choir through increasingly ambitious seasons and projects. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Ottawa and is a sought-after conductor and music director for several organizations in the city. He is dedicated to fostering inspiration, enthusiasm, and creativity in the next generation of choral musicians, and is a passionate advocate for contemporary choral music.

  Each season, CCC presents its own concert series in addition to undertaking collaborative projects with other musicians. The choir has collaborated with notable ensembles including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Elmer Iseler Singers, and Canadian Chamber Choir and has hosted masterclasses or performances with composers including John Rutter, Morten Lauridsen, Ola Gjeilo, and Ēriks Ešenvalds.

  CCC released its all-Canadian debut album, The Delight of Paradise, in April 2017. In 2018, the choir performed a Spotlight concert in St. John’s, Newfoundland as part of the Podium Choral Conference & Festival. CCC won second prize in the Mixed-Voice Adult Choirs category of the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs in 2019 and was invited to perform at Rideau Hall for recipients of the Order of Canada.

  Though the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to live performances in 2020 and 2021, CCC took advantage of the break to record two series of video sessions on YouTube. The choir re-emerged on stage in Fall 2021 looking forward to a full season programme including Canadian premieres of innovative international works and a return to the NAC stage.

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  Featuring NAC Orchestra

  

  Featuring NAC Orchestra

  Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.

  Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.

  Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.

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  Stage Manager Tobi Hunt McCoy

  

  Stage Manager Tobi Hunt McCoy

  Tobi Hunt McCoy is enjoying another year as Season Stage Manager with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. In past seasons, she stage-managed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Christopher Plummer in 2001 and Colm Feore in 2014. For the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra she co-produced the 1940s Pops show On the Air with Jack Everly, a show they had co-produced in 2007 for the NAC Orchestra.

  Last season, Hunt McCoy made her Southam Hall acting debut in the role of Stage Manager in the Magic Circle Mime Co.’s production of Orchestra from Planet X. Additional professional duties have included aiding Susanna and the Countess in schooling the Count and Figaro on the finer points of marital love during The Marriage of Figaro; keeping her eyes open (for the first time ever) during the flying monkey scene in The Wizard of Oz; mistakenly asking Patrick Watson for proof of identity backstage; holding her breath while marvelling at the athletic ability of the cast during Cirque à Broadway; and cheering on Luke and Princess Leia with Charlie Ross, Émilie Fournier, and Erik Ochsner during the Star Wars Pops concert.

  In her spare time, Hunt McCoy is the Head of Arts, English, Drama, and Library at Lisgar Collegiate Institute.

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