David Fallis, Music Director and Conductor
| Soprano Joanne Chapin Dawn Bailey Meghan Roberts Elizabeth Anderson Gisele Kulak Teri Dunn |
Alto/ Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta Diane English Loralie Kirkpatrick Colleen Renihan Alison Roy Claudia Lemke |
Tenor Bud Roach Jamie Tuttle Charles Davidson Rob Teehan Michael Carty Michael Sawarna |
Bass David Yung Graham Robinson Neil Aronoff* Craig Morash Bryan Martin Mike Follert |
Conductor David Fallis has led critically-acclaimed productions of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, The Coronation of Poppea, The Return of Ulysses, as well as operas by Purcell, Handel and Charpentier, for Toronto’s Opera Atelier. He has conducted for Houston Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera, Wolftrap Theatre, Utah Opera, Singapore Festival, Festival Vancouver, Seoul Arts Centre and in major opera houses in Japan. As Artistic Director of the Toronto Consort, Canada’s leading ensemble specializing in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, he has toured extensively in North America and Europe and has led the ensemble in nine CDs. Mr. Fallis is the producer and conductor of historical music for the acclaimed TV series The Tudors.
Elizabeth Anderson is a member of the Exultate Chamber Singers and has sung with the Elora Festival Singers. She assists John Tuttle as organist and conductor at Saint Thomas's Anglican Church, where the music of Jonathan Harvey can be heard. Her role as associate organist and conductor will bring her to the cathedrals of St. Paul's and Salisbury, UK, this summer, where Saint Thomas's choirs will sing daily Evensong. Elizabeth collaborates with Cantores Fabularum, having conducted them for two CD's, for Christmas fundraisers in support of the YWCA, and a concert celebrating the music of Derek Holman.
Montreal-born baritone Neil Aronoff is a graduate of McGill University with a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance. He has sung for the Canadian Opera Company, Opera in Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera York, Brampton Lyric Opera, and Opera McGill. He recently performed in the Aradia Ensemble’s celebration of Haydn at Glenn Gould Studios, with the Masterworks of Oakville Chorus and Orchestra as soloist in their concert of Beethoven Symphony No.9, and with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in Handel’s Israel in Egypt at Koerner Hall.
Dawn Bailey, soprano
Soprano Dawn Bailey was born in Edmonton, Alberta and attended the University of Alberta studying flute and voice. She transferred to the University of Toronto where she finished her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance with Professor Lorna MacDonald. Dawn sings regularly with the Toronto Consort, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Opera Erratica, Capella Intima, the Toronto Continuo Collective, and the Toronto Masque Theatre, among others.
Michael Carty is regularly invited to perform in recital and on the opera and concert stage and is also sought after for his refined choral singing. Michael is a featured soloist with the Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys under the direction of Matthew Larkin. Highlights include Handel’s Messiah, Stainer’s The Crucifixion and J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion. He has also toured extensively with the Festivalensemble Stuttgart under Helmut Rilling. For Ottawa Pocket Opera, Michael’s credits include Gallantry and Die Zauberflöte. He has appeared in Madama Butterfly and La Serva Padrona with Pellegrini Opera. Michael is an alumnus of Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Opera Studio.
Joanne Chapin, soprano
Joanne is originally from Calgary, and is a graduate of the vocal performance program at the University of Calgary. Since moving to Toronto she has been a featured soloist and chorister with Toronto Masque Theatre, Kaus Borealis, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Elora Festival Singers and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. She has played the role of Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls and an Angel and a Witch in the world premiere of the Soundstreams/ Luminato production of R. Murray Schafer’s The Children’s Crusade.
Charles Davidson, tenor
Charles Davidson previously appeared with Soundstreams in R. Murray Schafer's The Children's Crusade as a Royal Courtier. He is a member of the Elora Festival Singers (winter series and with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir) and sang as a soloist with TMC in the Grand Opening of Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory. He is a lead tenor at Metropolitan United Church and Beth Tzedec Synagogue. Upcoming performances include Marriage of Figaro with Opera Atelier. He earned an Honours BA (Musical Theatre) at the Guildford School of Acting, UK. Theatre credits include Les Miserables (Thousand Islands Playhouse) and West Side Story (Peterborough Showplace).
Teri Dunn has been heard on stages in the US, England and locally with some of Canada’s finest ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Bach Consort, New Music Concerts, Soundstreams, Opera in Concert, Toronto Masque Theatre, and Aradia. She has appeared in the Guelph Spring Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and Festival Vancouver. She has premiered many new works by James Rolfe, John Hawkins, Micheline Roi, Abigail Richardson, and Jeff Ryan, and has recorded works by George Crumb, Gloria Coates, Osvaldo Golijov, John Beckwith and Harry Somers.
Diane English is originally from Vancouver, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Music History at the University of British Columbia. Diane earned a Master of Arts Degree in Music from the University of Toronto. In Vancouver she sang under Jon Washburn, Cortland Hultberg and James Fankhauser. In Toronto, she has sung with the Elora Festival Singers, Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, Consort Caritatis, Exultate Chamber Singers, The Choir of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and Toronto Masque Theatre. Diane also works in public policy for Parks and Recreation Ontario, a non-profit association.
Currently completing graduate work in sociology, Mike Follert is something of an itinerant singer on the Toronto music scene. In recent years Mike has sung with the Elora Festival Singers, the Canadian Chamber Choir, and the Toronto Chamber Choir. Mike also previously enjoyed participating in a number of Soundstreams projects during his tenure with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. Equal to his interest in the nexus of early music and new music, Mike enjoys collaborating on projects that blur the boundaries between art and pop, as most recently in Toronto and New York performances of the indie rock opera The Rat King.
Wallis Giunta, mezzo-soprano
Hailed by critics as a “talented and artistically mature” performer with a “voice of satin purity” that is “strong, supple and…utterly beautiful”, mezzo Wallis Giunta has begun a diverse and vibrant musical career. At age 24, her roles include Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Mercédès in Carmen, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Upcoming engagements include main stage roles in Death in Venice, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, covering Angelina in La Cenerentola and Nancy Mao in Nixon in China with The Canadian Opera Company as a member of their Ensemble Studio, and her debuts with Toronto’s Opera Atelier as Cherubino in Figaro and with The Ravinia Fesitval in Chicago.
Loralie performed with Soundstreams last season in R. Murray Schafer’s The Children’s Crusade as an Angel/Witch. Other recent engagements include the role of Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota and the creation of the role of Eliabeth D’Aulnières in the world premier of Kamouraska with Opera in Concert. Loralie’s choral credits include performances with the Aradia Ensemble, the Larkin Singers, the Tallis Choir, St. Thomas’s Anglican Church choir and Christ Church Deer Park’s choir where she is currently a section lead.
Gisele Kulak is one of Canada’s most versatile sopranos. She is a frequent chorister, recitalist and soloist in the Toronto area, and in performances from coast to coast, Gisele is at home on the opera or concert stage. She has performed a variety of roles, from the tortured refugee, Anna Gomez, in The Consul, to the innocent country girl Micaela, in Carmen. Gisele is also known for her compelling solos in oratorios such as the Requiems of Fauré and Mozart, and Haydn’s Creation. Currently, Gisele teaches singing, and is a member of the Elmer Iseler Singers.
Claudia Lemcke studied Piano and Voice in her native Germany. Having moved to Canada in 2006 she has since established herself as a versatile mezzo-soprano, home in art song and oratorio. She appears as a soloist and in several professional ensembles: Tafelmusik, Elmer Eiseler Singers, and Aradia. She tours and performs every summer in Germany with the German professional choir Vocalensemble Rastatt under the baton of Holger Speck with whom she recorded frequently for CARUS.
Bryan Martin is active as a performer and researcher of early music. He is a founding member of the Sine Nomine Ensemble for Medieval Music, which has performed and recorded in Canada, the U.S. and England, and has been featured on CBC Radio and NPR in the U.S. Occasionally, Bryan can be heard performing with other groups in the GTA; most recently, he participated in the Aldeburgh Connection's annual Schubertiad. He spends most days at the Music Library at the University of Toronto, where he catalogues recordings and serves as the resident early music and computer geek.
Craig made his choral debut many, many years ago with the Woodlawn United Church Junior Choir in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Since then he has sung for 7 seasons with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and 4 seasons with Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. He has also sung in the choruses of the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier and Vancouver Opera. In his daytime life, Craig is the Director of Finance & Operations for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.
Mezzo-soprano Colleen Renihan has appeared in concert with the Istanbul and Romanian Symphony Orchestras, Brampton Symphony, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and Vancouver Philharmonic. Operatic credits include Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Puccini’s Suor Angelica among others. She sang the role of Mamma in Estacio’s Filumena at the Banff Centre. Last year she was in the Soundstreams/ Luminato production of R. Murray Schafer’s The Children’s Crusade. Colleen is currently completing a Ph.D. in Musicology at the University of Toronto.
Canadian tenor Bud Roach began his musical career as an oboist, performing frequently with the numerous reputable orchestras including the Canadian Opera Company and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 he joined the Elmer Iseler Singers and since that time has sung throughout Canada, the United States, Israel, and Italy, performing with the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier, the Toronto Consort and others. He earned critical acclaim for his 2008 premiere performance of the “Trickster” in Melissa Hui’s Cree opera The Journey presented by Soundstreams Canada. In 2008 Bud formed the ensemble Capella Intima, which specializes in the performance of sacred music of the 17th century.
Meghan Roberts, soprano, is delighted to be singing with David Fallis as a member of Choir 21. She has enjoyed an enriching musical experience since moving to Toronto to study music and psychology at the University of Toronto. Working as a Policy Advisor for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture by day, Meghan enjoys filling her evenings with choral music. She currently sings with the Exultate Chamber Singers and the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and in the past has performed with such groups as the Arbor Oak Trio, Elmer Iseler Singers, Aradia Ensemble, Hart House Chorus, and St. Thomas’s Anglican Church Choir.
Graham Robinson, a young ambitious bass-baritone hailing from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, is a newly acquired asset to Toronto’s arts community. Receiving his Bachelors of Music in Voice at the University of Victoria, Mr. Robinson studied under Dr. Bruce More, Alexandra Browning, and Susan Young. A sought after soloist during his time in B.C. this young artist was a featured performer for most notably the University of Victoria Chorus, the University of Victoria Chamber Singers, the Victoria Chamber Orchestra as well as many others. In addition to his role as a soloist Mr. Robinson has managed a vocal studio and has provided vocal coaching to the Cantiamo Youth Choir, enthusiastically sharing his philosophy and technique to another generation of singers.
Alison Roy is a mezzo soprano who loves to sing choral music. Alison has sung with professional choirs such as the Montreal Opera Company Chorus, the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Elora Festival Singers and as soloist with the Ensemble St. Germain, the Elmer Iseler Singers, Amadeus Choir, Metropolitan United Church Choir and the Burlington Civic Chorale. She also works as a Vocal Itinerant with the Toronto District School Board working with homeroom teachers and their students to develop music programs in the classroom.
A busy freelance choral singer and tuba player, Rob Teehan is also one of Canada’s leading young composers, appointed composer-in-residence to the Colours of Music Festival (2010) and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2009). Commissions include the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, Young New Yorker’s Chorus, Silver Birch String Quartet, and many others. Rob is a lead tenor at the Church of the Redeemer and sang in the chorus of Soundstreams Canada’s 2009 production of R. Murray Schafer’s The Children’s Crusade. Rob studied tuba and composition at Indiana University and the University of Toronto.
James Tuttle began as a boy chorister under the helm of Dr. Derek Holman at the church of St. Simon-the-Apostle, Toronto, while also studying with Anthony St. Pierre. As a teen he sang at All Saints' Kingsway in Etobicoke with Clement Carelse, giving him many solo opportunities. He later joined the Men and Boys of Toronto's Cathedral church of St. James, under the direction of Chris Dawes and Matthew Larkin. James sings in the CBC award-winning choirs of St. Thomas's Anglican Church, under Dr. John Tuttle. He was a founding member of a Male quintet called Les Cinq, and a male trio called Saint Blaise.
David Yung, bass
David is a longtime member of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. He has sung with the Elmer Iseler Singers and sang on their recording of Togni's Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae. David is in his first season as soloist with the Etobicoke Centennial Choir, a regular bass section lead at Humbercrest United Church, and has substituted other Toronto churches. David studied voice with Darryl Edwards at the University of Western and was a member of the Faculty Singers. He has sung with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Young Players' Repertoire Company and as a child was a member of the Canadian Children's Opera Company.