AARON SCHWEBEL

Canadian Violinist Aaron Schwebel currently holds the positions of Concertmaster with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster with the Canadian Opera Company. He also performs regularly as a member of the Rosebud String Quartet, and is the founder and director of Echo Chamber, a Toronto-based series that intertwines chamber music and contemporary dance (www.echochambertoronto.com).

Aaron has performed as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Lanaudière, Esprit Orchestra, Scarborough Philharmonic, and Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. As a guest Concertmaster, Aaron has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Les Violons Du Roy, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Aaron has taught masterclasses at the University of Toronto, Taylor Academy, Mount Allison University, and is currently on faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Domaine Forget, and the Toronto Summer Music Festival Community Academy.

Aaron did his studies at McGill and Indiana universities. As a student, Aaron was a member of the Roddick String Quartet, representing Canada at the 2009 London International String Quartet Competition, and the Kuttner Quartet at Indiana University. Upon graduation from McGill, Aaron was awarded the Schulich School of Musicʼs Golden Violin Award.

THOMAS BURTON

Raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Thomas Burton is Artistic Director of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, Artistic Director of Durham Region’s RESOUND Choir, and Co-Conductor of the Halifax-based Borealis Chamber Choir. He is a member of the choral faculty at the University of Toronto, where he instructs undergraduate choral conducting and directs the Faculty of Music’s Tenor/Bass choir. Praised for his innovative and eclectic programming as well as his dynamic presence on the podium, Thomas is in-demand nationally as a guest conductor, clinician and educator. Thomas is passionate about inspiring excellence in performers of all ages and abilities. He regularly commissions new pieces by Canadian and international composers, and has conducted many Canadian and world premieres of rarely heard choral works. An accomplished choral singer, Thomas has sung with some of Canada’s finest choral ensembles including the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers, V oces Boreales, and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. He will make his European debut in 2027 conducting the Orquestra Simfònica Del Vallès in Barcelona, Spain, with MidAmerica Productions International.  Thomas is a recipient of the Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship, the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Award, and is the inaugural recipient of the Iwan Edwards Scholarship for Young Choral Conductors awarded by Jeunesses Musicales. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Trombone Performance from McGill University and a master’s degree in Choral Conductingfrom the University of Michigan where he studied with Dr. Jerry Blackstone and Dr. Eugene Rogers.

REBEKAH MAXNER

Rebekah Maxner is an imaginative composer whose piano music evokes pictures, stories and emotions. Her music is a mixture of styles, blending the influences of Impressionist, jazz, Baroque and popular music, and the folk music of her childhood in Nova Scotia. Her piano solos are listed and published in the UK by the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and London College of Music Examinations (LCM), by the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) in the USA, and in Canada by the Canadian National Conservatory of Music (CNCM) and The Royal Conservatory (RCM). Rebekah has been featured in Tim Topham’s TopMusicSheets in Australia and Nicola Cantan’s Concept series in Ireland. Rebekah loves connecting with other musicians young and young at heart as a blogger, clinician and adjudicator. Website: rebekah.maxner.ca

ROBERT MCLEOD

Robert McLeod lived and worked in Vancouver as a freelance trombonist and music educator for over 40 years after returning to Canada from London, England where he was a student of Denis Wick, principal trombonist of the London Symphony Orchestra. He holds a Master of Music degree in trombone performance from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Music degree with a Certificate for Excellence in Performance from Mount Allison University, and a teaching degree from Simon Fraser University. As a professional trombonist, he has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, and internationally in such major centres as New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brisbane, Bombay, including a debut recital in Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, USSR. He was an active freelance trombonist in Vancouver, and regularly performed with such ensembles as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony. Rob has extensive experience as a conductor and adjudicator, having worked at major music festivals across Canada, and has been a frequent presenter and clinician at music conferences both Provincially and Nationally. He has over 25 years of experience as a music educator and band director working in both in public education, and at the College and University levels. Under his direction, his ensembles have won acclaim both provincially and nationally.

A proud Maritimer, Rob recently moved home to New Brunswick. Now retired from the world of public education, he is thrilled to be able to dedicate more time to his growing family, his love of music, and the family farm in Sackville.

DAKOTA SCOTT-DIGOUT

Canadian pianist Dakota Scott-Digout has been heard across North America and Europe as both a collaborator and soloist, gaining praise particularly for his performances of chamber music and art song. Dakota serves on the artistic team of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the VOCA Chorus of Toronto, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and enjoys frequent collaborations with many of Canada’s top musicians and music organizations, including Opera Atelier, Elmer Iseler singers, and Echo Chamber Toronto. Additionally, Dakota has been a featured artist in many festivals and concert series across Canada. Recent appearances include Ritornello Festival, Xenia Concerts, Under the Spire Festival, Festival of the Sound, Toronto Summer Music, Luminato Festival, Ottawa ChamberFest, and Debut Atlantic. Dakota holds degrees in piano performance from Université de Montréal and Mount Allison University. He was named the 2020 winner of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying, awarded to the top collaborative pianist at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. He has further refined his skills at the Orford Music Academy,

Barachois Summer Music Festival, Musique sur Mer with pianist Susan Manoff, and was an Art of Song Fellow as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. His principal teachers have included Stephen Runge, Jimmy Brière, and Steven Philcox. Currently based in Toronto, Dakota is highly sought after as a teacher, pianist, and clinician. He serves as a coach and pianist for performance classes at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School.

IRMA MULHERIN

Irma Mulherin resides in Grand Falls, New Brunswick where she owns and operates Broadway Productions, a theatre company and music studio. The company currently offers private instruction in voice, piano and flute and runs a community show choir for adults of all ages. Each year Broadway Productions produces an original dinner theatre that tours Northern New Brunswick. As a performer, Irma’s abilities are varied. She is an established mezzo-soprano with a passion for German lieder and Musical Theatre, as well as a pianist and multi-instrumentalist who enjoys performing, writing, costume design and all aspects of the arts. Irma is frequently hired as soloist, festival adjudicator and workshop clinician who brings with her more than 25 years of teaching experience. As a writer, Irma has penned 25 original dinner theatre scripts, all of which her company has produced and some of which have gone on to win awards and be produced across Canada. She is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades in both music and business. Most importantly, Irma is passionate about accessible music education. Her goal is to create opportunities (educational, therapeutic and entertainment) for all ages in the private studio, community and school settings. Irma also works as an English Additional Language mentor, teaching students from around the world in a diverse and culturally rich setting and serves as the music director of her church. When given the chance, Irma enjoys crafting, gardening, reading and spending every possible moment with her husband Scott and their 2 adult children, all of whom are passionate about music and the arts.

MARCEL D’ENTREMONT

Canadian tenor Marcel d’Entremont has performed widely across Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Europe, earning praise in both operatic and concert settings. His solo recitals have been broadcast nationally on CBC Radio, and he starred as Rodolfo in La bohème with Against the Grain Theatre, Canada’s first professionally livestreamed opera production featured on CBC Gem.   Soloist highlights include Elijah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, A Little Night Music at Koerner Hall, Messiah with Orchestre classique de Montréal, and the Three Tenors Plus One series in The Villages, Florida. He has performed with leading opera companies including the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Tapestry Opera, Opéra Royal de Versailles, and Opéra de Rouen, and has toured with Debut Atlantic, Pacific Opera Victoria, and Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He has also been a resident artist at

the National Arts Centre, Toronto Summer Music, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, and the Banff Centre, where he created the role of Zacarias in Silent Light by Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek. He later trained as an Equilibrium Young Artist after being personally selected by soprano Barbara Hannigan. In addition to performing, d’Entremont is active as an educator, adjudicator, and interdisciplinary creator. He has led voice masterclasses in Mexico and at Dalhousie University and Mount Allison University and has been a guest lecturer at Acadia University and the University of Saskatchewan. He has adjudicated voice and musical theatre at Canada’s National Music Festival, where he previously received both First Place in V oice and the Grand Award, presented to the top performer across all disciplines nationwide. Additional honours include the Atlantic Young Artist Competition, the HAL Leonard International V ocal Competition, the St. Andrews Aria Competition, and the Wirth V ocal Prize, one of the top music prizes awarded by a Canadian university. In 2020, CBC Music named him one of Canada’s 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30.  Marcel is also the creator and co-producer of A World Transformed, an interdisciplinary production combining music spanning Tchaikovsky, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, and Simon & Garfunkel with dance and spoken word to tell the story of Matthew and Judy Shepard. Created in collaboration with Echo Chamber, the production has been presented across Canada.

AMY SIMON

Amy Simon is a clarinetist, woodwind specialist and music scholar. She is currently Instructor of Clarinet and Woodwind Techniques at the University of Prince Edward Island. She holds Masters degree in Music (Clarinet Performance) from the University of Victoria, and a PhD in Music (Ethnomusicology) from York University in Toronto. She toured for several years throughout Europe and North America as principal clarinetist in a classical dance show and currently plays clarinet and bass clarinet with the PEI Symphony Orchestra and Luminos Chamber Orchestra. She is a Teaching Artist with the PEI Symphony Orchestra Academy and was honoured to be selected as the 2024 Teacher of Distinction for the Atlantic region by the Royal Conservatory of Music.