Irene Ilic

Soprano Irene Ilic is originally from upstate New York and moved to Canada soon after completing her Master=s Degree in Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has performed a variety of operatic and musical theatre roles in the U.S. and Canada, and sung as a guest soloist with many Canadian choirs and orchestras, including the Kingston Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, the ConcertSingers, the Tallis Choir and more. She has performed as soprano soloist in CARMINA BURANA, KING ARTHUR, THE CREATION, THE MESSIAH, the Faure REQUIEM, the Brahms REQUIEM, the Durufle REQUIEM, the Rutter REQUIEM and Bach=s ST. JOHN PASSION.

Irene currently has a thriving private teaching practice in Newmarket. In addition to being an O.R.M.T.A. member, she is also a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (N.A.T.S.) and the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicator=s Association (C.M.F.A.A.). She has adjudicated the Kiwanis Fraser Valley Music Festival in B.C., the Midwestern Ontario Rotary Music Festival, The Stratford Kiwanis Festival, the Pickering Rotary Festival, the Sunderland Lions Music Festival and others. This spring, she will be adjudicating festivals in Sault Ste. Marie, Milton and Woodstock. Irene is the founder and director of the Newmarket Voice Festival, an annual event since 1996. She has extensive experience as a teacher and clinician. For seven years, she was a regular voice instructor for CAMMAC, a summer music camp for adults. She has partnered with the historic Sharon Temple to create a successful concert series for several summers. She has designed and taught cantor, lector and choral workshops for the Liturgical Musicians Association and is presently a cantor at St. John=s Chrysostom Church.

Her love of both classical and musical theatre repertoire has certainly been reflected in her teaching. She is very proud that many of her students choose to pursue music at the university level and as a career path. Her students have gone on to star in the Toronto casts of The Sound of Music, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion King, Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You and in several productions of Opera Atelier. Recently, her student John-Michael Scapin won CBC=s show Triple Sensation and was awarded a $150,000 scholarship. Three of her students have won the Silver Medal for the highest voice RCM exam mark in Ontario. A total of sixteen of her students have won major bursaries in the York Region Celebration of the Arts since it began in 2001.

Irene is very active in the arts community and regularly produces concerts and shows. She is founder and director of Vivace!, the award-winning triple trio who perform at community events and have released a wonderful CD. Recently, she has explored her creative writing skills by scripting and directing two musical revues (AMusical Mayhem@ and AMore Musical Mayhem@) at Theatre Aurora.

KEVIN POWER - BIOGRAPHY

Allison Wiebe

Allison Wiebe holds a Masters of Music in Piano Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario, studying with James Anagnoson. She completed her Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree at Brandon University in Manitoba and the Solo Piano Performer's ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Allison is currently on the piano faculty at the University of Western Ontario, and maintains a private studio in Toronto. As a member of the College of Examiners at the RCM in Toronto she also recorded components of the new Perspectives compact disc recordings launched Winter 2008. Allison enjoys adjudicating in music festivals around the GTA and the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects Contemporary Showcase competitions.

She specializes in the study and performance of 20th Century music and received a grant from the Canada Council of the Arts to perform as a semi-finalist in the 24th Annual Eckhardt-Gramatte National Music Competition for the Performance of Canadian Music held in May 2001. As an active performer, she is a recipient of many awards and scholarships, and was honoured to perform in the inaugural 'monster' concert of the opening of Toyich International Institute for Music Performance and Pedagogy held in Rome, Italy August 2003.

Allison is the pianist for CONTACT contemporary music ensemble, which is dedicated to the creation, production and presentation of contemporary music, with a focus on Canadian music, representing and recognizing diverse socio-cultural communities.

By collaborating with many of Canada's established and emerging composers, CONTACT has commissioned and premiered works by Jordan Nobles, Jeff Herriott, Ann Southam, John Burke, Wende Bartley, Deirdre Piper, Marci Rabe as well as presenting Canadian premieres of works by international composers including Eve Beglarian, Gareth Farr with an upcoming tour of David Lang's Elevated in Spring 2009.

Michael Bloss

 An international prizewinner, Michael Bloss’s extensive solo career has included solo venues in Europe, Japan, and throughout Canada, including appearances in the USA at the Cadet Chapel, West Point, the Cleveland Museum of Art, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Detroit and Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church. In addition, Mr. Bloss has been featured on CBC Radio and Television, National Public Radio and Swiss Radio.

As Director of Music Ministry at Dublin Street United Church in Guelph, Michael Bloss continues a distinguished tradition of pastoral music ministry which over 30 years has included tenures at the Cathedral Church of St. James’ in Toronto, First (Park) Congregational Church, Grand Rapids, MI and Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto.

As a collaborative musician he has appeared with major choral ensembles including the Elora Singers with whom he has recorded several CD’s. 

Michael has been widely regarded as an adjudicator. His expertise in organ, piano and choral music has been recognized at music festivals and workshops across the country including, Peel, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton and St. John’s Kiwanis Festivals. 

Michael Bloss also indulges in his other passion of aviation through his work as a flight instructor and pilot at Toronto Airways, Buttonville Municipal Airport, Toronto.

Sonia Klimasko

Sonia Klimasko began her study of the violin at the age of 4 and her earliest memories are of the wonderful times she spent performing in a violin quartet with her sisters. She has devoted the past 35 years of her life to performing, teaching and sharing her love and knowledge of music with audiences, children and aspiring violinists across Canada, the United States, Europe and Mexico.

Ms Klimasko's career extends from performing in the Imperial Room of the Royal York with Tony Bennet, James Brown and the Bob Hope Orchestra to Concertmaster for famed tenor Jan Pearce's Fiddler on the Roof. Her freelance career includes positions as assistant Concertmaster of Wizard of Oz and Anne of Green Gables at the Elgin Theater, performing with PEI's production of Anne of Green Gables, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Scarborough Philharmonic, New Toronto Chamber Players, Thunder Bay Symphony, Toronto Lyric Theater Orchestra , Kingston Symphony, Niagara Symphony, Toronto Pops Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Esprit, Atlantic Symphony, Toronto Philharmonic, Oshawa Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Orchestra. She recently performed 2 seasons with the Northern Lights Music Festival in Ajijic, Mexico and is an alumnae of the National Youth Orchestra and Ontario Youth Concert Band. For the past 35 years, she has played first violin with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

Sonia Klimasko has held the positions of string instructor at the Bishop Strachan School and string consultant with the York Region Board of Education. She has presented workshops for the National Film Board, was a founding artist with the Inner City Angels, was on faculty for both the National String Academy in Ottawa and CAMMAC and recorded for CBC on Murray Schafer Epic RA for Centerdisc.

Ms Klimasko is a graduate of the University of Toronto, holding a degree in Performance. Her teachers have included John Moskalyk, David Mankovitz of the American String Quartet & Victor Martin, Concertmaster of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. Her many scholarships and awards include an RCM Provincial Medal and the Chamber of Commerce Award for Excellence in the Arts which was awarded to Ms Klimasko in 2004.

Sonia Klimasko is an avid fan of pedagogical ideology and an enthusiastic and popular adjudicator and clinician. While maintaining an active performance career and teaching studio she always manages to find time for her passion for writing and is an award winning gardener. You can read her blogs on the National Ballet website.

Sharon Kahan

SHARON KAHAN is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, where she became a faculty member at the Regina Conservatory of Music and principal flutist of the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. After leaving Saskatchewan, she attended the University of Western Ontario, where she earned a Master of Music in Literature and Performance. Concurrently, she studied with a number of distinguished artists, such as Jeanne Baxtresser, formerly of the New York Philharmonic, and Timothy Hutchins of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kahan performs regularly with orchestras and ensembles throughout Ontario, including Orchestra London and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with many orchestras, including the International Symphony, the Stratford Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London (Celtic Pops). She was a faculty member at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Music for twenty years. In addition, she has been heard in recital and in chamber performances throughout Canada and in Western Europe. Currently active as a teacher, clinician, and adjudicator, she is principal flutist of the Stratford Shakespearian Festival Orchestra.