Denise Williams is an established professional singer, voice teacher, concert producer and music facilitator.  She is a passionate advocate for the performing arts, leveraging her extensive professional experience to promote artistic expression, education, and foster inclusivity. Her international performance career has put her on the concert, opera, and theatre stages.  Her most well-loved self-produced music project is her cross-cultural, Walk Together Children concert program, uniting African Jewish and Muslim cultural music intersections as a commentary on commonalities of forcibly migrant cultures, musical assimilations, and attempts at bridging social gaps. 

As Founding Artistic Director of No Strings Theatre (2005), Denise advocates for  accessible and inclusive artisitic programming. She is currently on the music theatre voice faculty of Sheridan College and operates her Voices of Colour Music (VCM) music studio. She is a certified advanced voice teacher affiliate for the Royal Conservatory of Music and has been an RCM examiner and national vocal adjudicator since 2000.

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Denise continues to advocate, through international performance and community leadership, for addressing cross-cultural sharing of music traditions and equity, diversity, and inclusion, on performance stages. She is honoured to have earned the ORMTA Contribution to Teaching award for 2024 and be on the 2024 list of 100 Black Accomplished Canadian Women Honourees.

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https://www.denisewilliamssoprano.com/

Canadian stage director Rob Herriot’s career has taken him across North America. In the past year, Rob has been very fortunate to have stayed busy. He directed At the Statue and of Venus and Bon Appetite for the Little Opera Company’s I Need Opera…and Dance that premiered in the fall of 2020. Earlier this year he wrote and directed a 6-part series called Opera School for Manitoba Opera. He has directed productions of Madama Butterfly, Lucia de Lammermoor, La Boheme, Carmen, Rigoletto, and Don Pasquale (Manitoba Opera), Barbar of Seville, Don Pasquale (Livermore Valley Opera), La Traviata, Don Pasquale (Opera Hamilton), Carmen, Don Pasquale (Arizona Opera), Don Pasquale (Connecticut Opera, Utah Opera), new productions of Rigoletto (2019), HMS Pinafore (2018), Hansel and Gretel, and Magic Flute. Other productions from Edmonton include Turandot, Pirates of Penzance, La Fille Du Regiment, HMS Pinafore (Edmonton Opera-winner of a Sterling Award for Outstanding Musical of the Season); Tosca, The Mikado, La Cenerentola, all nominated for Sterling Award’s Best Musical Production of their year. For Calgary Opera he has directed productions of Tosca and Barber of Seville, both nominated for Betty Mitchell awards for Best Musical of 2009 and 2018 seasons, as well as La Boheme for the 40th anniversary of the company. Other productions for Calgary include The Magic Flute, Pirates of Penzance and Candide, as well as numerous shows for their Emerging Artists program.

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Cary Denby is a versatile and accomplished accompanist with a wealth of experience in the world of classical and musical theatre performance.

With a career spanning over 40 years she has established a reputation for excellence as a repetiteur and occasional music director, providing vital support to both performers and productions.

Cary has collaborated as repetiteur with esteemed organizations such as Manitoba Opera and Saskatoon Opera, and has served as Music Director for Dry Cold Productions, Little Opera Co, Underground Opera, the University of Manitoba Musical Theatre Department. She has also collaborated with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Rainbow Stage, and professional choirs, the Winnipeg Singers and Canzona. Cary has honed her craft in various musical styles and settings.

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Cary is passionate about nurturing talent and creating a supportive environment for artists.

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Cecilia NguyenTran was born and raised in Regent Park, Toronto, and has been engaged in the musical arts nearly her whole life. Having started playing piano at the age of five, Cecilia continued to hone her skill at the practice well into adulthood, receiving her Bachelor of Music and Opera Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University. Along with studying for her degree, Cecilia was engaged as a répétiteur with Opera Laurier for their productions of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, The Tender Land, Cendrillon, and Little Women, as well as the Opera Excerpts performances.

She has taken part in summer programs such as the Académie de Fourvière in Lyon, France, the Stratford Vocal Academy in Stratford, Ontario, and Opera Nuova in Edmonton, Alberta for their production of Tartuffe. More recently, Cecilia has continued to expand her reach, performing and teaching for schools, festivals, and independent companies. Cecilia performed as a pianist for Eugene Onegin as part

of the independent company Opéra Queens, was an Associate Music Director for Carmen with

Toronto’s No Strings Theatre, and has been on music staff for Suor Angelica with Out of the Box Opera in Minneapolis. In the summer of 2024, Cecilia travelled to Berlin, Germany, where she joined dozens of artists across the world as part of an apprenticeship for the Berlin Opera Academy for their productions of Die Zauberflöte, Gianni Schicchi, and Suor Angelica.

Cecilia is currently enrolled in McGill University, where she is studying for a Master of Music in

Collaborative Piano, and expects to graduate in 2025. In this program, Cecilia has been on music staff for Opera McGill’s productions of Cendrillon, La Sonnambula, Blond Eckbert, Les Dialogues des Carmélites, and The Light in the Piazza. Afterward, Cecilia looks forward to continuing her career in music, performing and expanding her range as an artist, collaborative pianist, and vocal coach.

Meghan Butcher grew up as an interdisciplinary artist and strives to remain as versatile as she can. With a BMus in classical piano from the University of Toronto and extensive Royal Conservatory training, Meg has been immersed in local music theatre, art song and dance accompanying as her main areas of interest. She is a pianist at Canada’s National Ballet School, a private instructor, and has also accompanied for the RCM’s Oscar Peterson School. Described as a sensitive and expressive pianist, Meg continues to hone her craft and share art with others by any means possible. 

Ash was born in Montreal, Quebec and started working at a young age as an actor, getting his first agent at the age of 10. He moved to London, England at the age of 20 to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for 3 years on a scholarship. He graduated with a R.A.D.A. Diploma and a Bachelor’s Degree in Acting from the University of London.

He remained in England acting in various productions before returning to Canada and performing at the Stratford Festival of Canada. Ash has been fortunate to work with some of the most talented artists in the U.K. (Birmingham and London), the U.S.A. (New York), all over Canada, and even Uganda (Kampala).

Ash was nominated for a Dora award as Best Actor (Brothel #9), and as Best Director (Tyson’s Song); for a Critic’s Choice award for Directing (Tragedie of Lear), and a Pauline McGibbon Award in Directing for 2024. His first play, Enkidu and Gilgamesh was work-shopped in London, England (2011) and New York City (2013). He is currently working on a translation and adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac with Pleiades Theatre. He’s been part of numerous new play development workshops, regularly works on directing/teaching Shakespeare workshops, and recently participated in The Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Directing.

He is currently the Artistic Executive Director of Pleiades Theatre.

William Shookhoff is a noted conductor, pianist and vocal coach throughout Canada and abroad. He has served on the music faculties of the Universities of Toronto, Alberta, Wilfrid Laurier, as well as the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Johannesen Summer Institute of Music. He has been on the Music Staff of the Canadian, Netherlands, Edmonton, and Portland (Oregon) Opera Companies. Mr Shookhoff was the Associate Conductor of the inaugural Canadian production of Les Miserables, and of the Canadian Tour and Toronto productions of Phantom of the Opera. He has been a guest Music Director with Neptune Theatre (Halifax), Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon), and Citadel Theatre (Edmonton). Mr. Shookhoff makes frequent appearances in those capacities throughout Western Europe and China, as well as maintaining an active coaching studio in Toronto. He is a regular guest conductor with the Bluebridge Festival and with Opera Kitchener. He has also devoted his efforts to the development and presentation of the Massed Piano or Monster Concert, and has conducted such events at Carnegie Hall, New York; Massey Hall and Nathan Philips Square, Toronto; the White House, Washington, DC; and the Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome. Mr. Shookhoff is Artistic Director Emeritus at Tryptych Productions.

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https://operabyrequest.ca/

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