Toronto Artists

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Ruth Howard

Ruth Howard is the founding Artistic Director of Jumblies. With Jumblies, she has created and led a series of multi-year Toronto residencies involving hundreds of people, and resulting in large-scale performances and other participatory projects that combine visual imagery, performance, music, movement, oral history and community arts practice. She and Jumblies have produced two previous Canada-wide tours: Train of Thought (2015), and Four Lands (2016-18).

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Adrienne Marcus Raja

Adrienne Marcus Raja is a multidisciplinary artist whose practices blend painting, audio, installation, moving images and photography. She enjoys working with miniature worlds, interweaving voices of personal stories and puppetry. A Malaysian artist with Kelabit and Hainan ancestry currently is living in Toronto, her works have been presented nationally and internationally. Adrienne is Jumblies’ Media and Project Manager.

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Ahmed Hegazy

Ahmed Hegazy is a cultural worker originally from Cairo, Egypt. He has worked on community engaged projects with the Toronto International Film Festival, Paprika Festival, Toronto Ward Museum and Community Arts Guild. He is interested in exploring the ways that technology could be used as a tool to support community engagement and art making amidst the global pandemic.

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Arie Verheul van de Ven

Arie Verheul van de Ven is a Composer and Violist living between Toronto and The Hague. He grew up as a Suzuki violinist while also studying Klezmer and Canadian fiddle styles and has is fascinated with the scratches, squeaks, and other unpitched noises strings can make. Arie is a member of improvisation ensemble HARP+ and has performed in concerts presented by Soundstreams and NUMUS. He regularly collaborates with Jumblies and the Gather Round Singers in Toronto.

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Catherine Moeller

Catherine Moeller is a multidisciplinary artist. She facilitates art activities with seniors at the Weston-King Neighbourhood Centre. Catherine's work is infused by her passion for photography, puppetry and social justice. She dances as a form of expression, is a member of Jumblies choir, and works for Jumblies in other community outreach and engagement roles.

Caroline Hollway

Caroline has spent the best part of 35 years in the arts in UK and Canada, including large parades with boats, cars and bicycles made of sticky tape; giant puppets in Portugal; events in soggy fields; touring Scottish Highlands; operas with elephants; Luminato Festival productions; illuminated walks in Canadian National Parks; Multiple choirs on a pond, and community connected work with Jumblies. She has one simple but passionate aim: to introduce people, especially young people, to live arts as creators and participants as well as spectators.

Christen Kong

Christen Kong is a social worker and audio artist. She has worked alongside MABELLEarts. Learning about community arts fostered her interest in human resilience, diaspora communities and storytelling as an avenue for community building. She continues to seek intersections between mental health and art-based mediums to improve social determinants of health. She holds a Master of Social Work at the University of Toronto focusing on ethnic pluralism and trauma informed practices.

Conner Bustamante

After two years of Covid uncertainty, Conner is absolutely thrilled to be joining the wonderful artists at Jumblies Theatre + Arts. After Graduating from Humber College, Conner has worked as a Stage Manager for several companies in Toronto, Hamilton, and around the GTA. When he’s not in the rehearsal hall, Conner can be found experiencing live theatre in its many forms.

Hodan Ibrahim

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Hussein Janmohamed

Hussein Janmohamed is a choral director, composer, and performer, renowned for his work in intercultural and inter-faith dialogue through music. Hussein’s work builds on the principles of unity in diversity through spiritual connection that he brings to professional, community, educational, and faith-based settings. He is co-founder of The Awaaz Ensemble and a doctoral candidate in Music Education at UofT.

Jesse Wabegijig

Jesse is an Ojibway from Wiikemikoong Anishnaabek Territory, Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Jesse is a playwright, performer, director and puppet maker, passionately involved in the preservation of native cultural heritage. Jesse has worked with many companies, including: Debajehmujig Storytellers, Shadowland Theatre, Clay and Paper Theatre, the National Arts Centre, Paprika Festival, Jumblies Theatre, Community Arts Guild and MABELLEarts.

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Karis Jones-Pard

Karis Jones-Pard (Moakpi’ksiiakkii) is a native 2-spirit/gender-fluid queer artist based in Toronto. They desire to create and offer art-making as a form of self-care, boundaryless expression and dismantling the idea that art must be perfect/profitable. Currently leading The Joy Project, Karis is a graduate of Humber College Theatre Production and has been working in Theatre and Community Arts, including puppetry, stilting, jewelry-making, poetry, drawing, painting and fabric arts, for almost a decade.

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Lisette Cogdell

Lisette Cogdell is a veteran of the Toronto music scene. As a solo singer and back-up vocalist, she performed at The Horseshoe, El Mocambo, Harbourfront, Lula Lounge and Roy Thompson Hall. She has appeared Lisette’s vocals are featured on numerous recordings as a soloist and back-up vocalist, in the TV series “Queer as Folk” and the Canadian production of “Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang”.

Liza Konovalov

Liza Konovalov is a multi-disciplinary artist with a primary focus on sculpture, ceramics, and collage. She graduated from OCADU in the Sculpture and Installation program in 2020. Her artistic practice is centred around maximalism, nostalgia, and the sentimentality we ascribe to the objects we keep in our lives. She is an artist facilitator at Arts4All.

Malika Daya

Malika Daya (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist. Most recently, she worked abroad in Malawi with the Art and Global Health Centre Africa. A third generation, South Asian-East African-Canadian, Malika is fascinated by stories of the diaspora. She is inspired by her experiences working on various productions like 'We are Proud to Present' with Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, 'The Shell' with Nikki Shaffeeullah, and directing 'This is War' by Hannah Moscovitch.

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Marianne Alas

Marianne Alas is a textile artist, educator and culinary nutritionist. She has been making costumes, textile art and good food for many years with organizations including Jumblies, Community Arts Guild, Arts4All and MABELLEarts. She has worked on costumes with the Canadian Opera Company, Video Cabaret and Luminato Festival. When not cooking or sewing she can be found growing vegetables in her backyard.

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Martin van de Ven

Martin van de Ven is a composer, clarinettist and musical director and educator. A mainstay of the Canadian Klezmer scene, he performs and tours with Beyond The Pale. He has published two instructional volumes of Klezmer transcriptions and composed and performed music for film, television, theatre, and dance productions. In 2017 with Jumblies, he composed the multi movement cantata, Under The Concrete.

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Michelle Silagy

Michelle Silagy is a contemporary dance artist and teacher. She is a Master DanceAbility facilitator; director of The Young Dancers’ Program at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre; and instigator of WE Dance in partnership with the School of TDT and Canada’s National Ballet School. Michelle co-created Flying Hearts, for children who are differently abled; and is currently developing The Reverie Duets, an inclusive multi-generational dance event.

Monica Olvera

Monica Olevera is a Queer Toronto-based Art producer and project manager, originally from Mexico. Monica collaborates with Arts4All as a graphic designer and community arts facilitator. Their art practice includes artists networking and visual arts (drawing & painting), embroidery, writing, film, editing and photography.

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Natalie Fasheh

Natalie Fasheh is a Palestinian-Jordanian singer, poet, community-engaged artist, choral conductor, and composer. She leads vocal ensemble experiences rooted in empowerment, cultural awareness, and artivism. She is the co-founder of Mosaic Music Collective: joining newcomers and long-standing residents through multicultural song. Natalie writes poetry on themes of cultural identity, nature, and humanity.

Pesch Nepoose

Pesch Nepoose is a Cree artist from Edmonton, currently residing in Toronto. A graduate of the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, she has acted in many projects, including the film By These Presents with Ange Loft, and Hunger which premiered at the ImagiNative Film Festival. Pesch enjoys working with Clay and Paper Theatre, Jumblies, the Encounters Collective and many others. She formed a collective with two classmates creating the play S.O.S. Saving Our Sovereignty, and is writing her own one woman show.

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Rafia Salam

Rafia Salam is an ambitious recent graduate from York University in International Development. Rafia is a proud Bengali Canadian born and raised in Toronto, she is interested in exploring the South Asian diaspora and how we navigate through spaces. Community Arts holds a special place in her heart, she is currently Youth Mobilizer at MABELLEarts.

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Rakefet Arieli

Rakefet Arieli is a visual artist focused on collage and dioramas. Rakefet participated in group exhibitions in Toronto and Tel Aviv, her works were published in “Making The Cut Vol 1: The World’s Best Collage Artists”. As an immigrant she experienced the complexity of rebuilding life and identity in a new country, which is expressed in her Canadian themed artwork, and her interest in finding ways to create a sense of community.

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Ruedi Narowski-Vesely

Ruedi Narowski-Vesely is a dancer and choreographer. She is a graduate of Concordia University in Contemporary Dance and a prospective student in the Dance Movement Psychotherapy program at the University of Roehampton in London. She is passionate about making dance and movement more accessible, and has volunteered with DanceABILITIES, Dancing with Parkinson’s and Jumblies.

Sharada Eswar

Sharada is a playwright, storyteller, singer, arts educator, and multi disciplinary artist. She studied Carnatic Music (south Indian classical music) as well as other musical styles. While maintaining her Veena studies, her interest shifted to the voice and storytelling. Since moving to Canada, she has been performing and teaching in Toronto and internationally, drawing on her own South Asian ancestry and heritage. A published children’s author, Sharada has recently been OAC’s Cultural Animato in Mississauga/Peel Region, and is currently the Assistant Artistic Director of Jumblies.

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Shifra Cooper

Shifra Cooper is a community artist, choral director and educator. She is the founding director of The Gather Round Singers community choir. She worked at MABELLEarts for five years including as Assistant Artistic Director, and has collaborated on community arts projects across Canada. She holds a Masters of Teaching at OISE (University of Toronto) with a speciality in intergenerational singing, and currently teaches with the Toronto District School Board.

Shlomit Segal

Shlomit Segal is a visual artist and graphic designer. She does mixed media work and printmaking and also writes poetry and sketch comedy. Shlomit has been an activist for many social justice struggles: workers’, women’s and LGBT rights, Palestinian solidarity and environmental issues. During the pandemic, she's enjoyed cooking, reading, walking and biking. She lives in the West end of Toronto with her partner and teenage daughter, who first participated in a Jumblies event when she was two.

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SlowPitchSound (Cheldon Paterson)

SlowPitchSound/Cheldon Paterson is an experimental artist with over 20 years of experience in live composition and multi-disciplinary performance. With a passion for depth and detail in his work, he is heavily inspired by environmental awareness and dystopian sci-fi. A master turntablist, seasoned educator and visionary artist, his hypnotizing performances have been featured at world-renowned electronic Canadian and international festivals.

Steafan Hannigan

Steafan Hannigan is a Swiss army knife of theatre, with credits including technical director, lighting designer, sound designer, musician, livestreamer, audio technician, set builder, painter, actor. He has worked with Jumblies, Thinking Rock, Aanmitaagzi, Spiderwoman Theatre, Sol Express, 4th Line Theatre, Toronto Fringe, Nuit Blanche, Soulpepper, Education Arts Canada, TaDa Festival, National Arts Centre, Driftwood Theatre, Weesageechak Festival, Prince Edward County Players, Come from Away, and others.

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Tamyka Bullen

Tamyka Bullen is a social justice activist, working and volunteering for different women’s organizations for many years. She also does presentations on Deaf rights at universities and colleges. Tamyka is also a poetry performer and a storyteller, she acted for the Deaf That! show at Sound Off festival and Buddies in Bad Times theatre, and After the Blackout at The Distillery Historic District in 2018. She is a resident artist at Theatre Passe Muraille.

Áine Schryer-O’Gorman

Áine Schryer-O'Gorman grew up enveloped by the non-profit arts sector and is delighted to be venturing deeper into community arts work as they continue their own career as an artist and musician. Áine has most recently worked for Jumblies Theatre & Arts as a programming assistant, and for World on a String as a fiddle teacher. They have engaged with communities through their work as a fiddle player for over 12 years and have worked with and learned from Thinking Rock Community Arts for over 6 years. They have also been heavily involved with and impacted by AlgomaTrad. 

Tasmeen Syed

My name is Tasmeen Syed and I am a university student at Ryerson, who has been working with the Gather Round Singers for the last 5 years, and with Jumblies and MABELLEarts for the last 15 years! I grew up with community arts and continue to contribute as much as I can. Grounds for Goodness is a project that I wholeheartedly love and am proud to be a part of. It lets me see that humans do amazingly nice things, even if it's not always shown.

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Tijana Spasic

Tijana Spasic is a Toronto-based community engaged theatre artist, director, producer and installation artist. She is the Artistic Director of Arts4All, working closely with a team of artists and many community members. She enjoys working in public space with communities, with young people in a peer-to-peer relationship, and with all forms of collective devising. Her projects often explore the city’s economic disparity, the suburban-downtown divide and questions of belonging, home and memory. Tijana speaks Serbian and Russian.

Tuyaara Fedorova

Tuyaara Fedorova is a new Canadian and emerging arts manager with a diploma in Business Administration and Financial Planning from Seneca College, and a desire to work in the arts and non-profit sector. She has been working with Arts4All for the past year as community arts facilitator and financial coordinator. She is receiving mentorship in non-profit management and offshoot organizations and has an independent arts practice in painting and jewelry making.

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Abir Abouel Saadat

Abir has a background in Visual Arts and studied Arts Administration and Cultural Management at Humber College. She is currently a Community Story Coordinator with Arts Etobicoke, a Workshop Assistant with MABELLEarts, and has recently joined Jumblies as an Arabic Cultural Interpreter and a Project Coordinator.

Afsenah Zamani

Afsaneh is an award-winning director, puppeteer and performer with a B.A. in Dramatic Arts and Puppetry, and M.A. in Research Arts. She has created and performed numerous interactive theatre and puppetry works that focus on Iranian rituals and folk stories, and performed in international festivals across Asia, Europe and beyond. Since arriving in Canada, Afsaneh has performed in Tirgan Festival with Concrete Cabaret, MABELLEarts’ Iftar Nights, a puppet video series “Tirgan Kids Time", and Jumblies’ Ground for Goodness.

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Faten Toubasi

Faten Toubasi is a visual artist and community arts instructor. She has worked on many projects with MABELLEarts and Jumblies and Arts Etobicoke. Living in Palestine most of her life and graduating from Repins’ Academy of Arts in St.Petersburg, Russia, she has worked as an art instructor at The Early Childhood Resource Center in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and at UNRWA’s Ramallah Women’s Training College.

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Hanan Zou AlGhina

Although Hanan worked as a lawyer, the arts are her passion. She graduated from an art academy in Syria, and taught arts and crafts to children. Since moving to Canada two years ago, she started to sew and design clothes, and hopes to find work in the arts, believing that arts in all forms are an elegant international human language.

The Gather Round Singers

The Gather Round Singers is a Toronto-based radically inclusive community choir that creates and performs new musical works in collaboration with arts and community partners. The choir is made up of singers of mixed ages, abilities and backgrounds, and upholds core values of inclusion and access by eschewing auditions, learning music by ear, and offering extensive supports to enable participation and enjoyment for all who wish to join.

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Bryna Berezowska

Bryna Berezowska holds a Master’s degree from North Park University in vocal performance and pedagogy. She has worked extensively in music and opera as a performer, teacher, educator, mentor, administrator and artistic director. Currently, she is the Artistic Director of the Nai Children’s Choir, teaches voice techniques to trans youth, and is composing and performing an opera for babies titled The Music Box, with the University of Toronto Tempo Lab.

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Esmaeel Abofalker

Esmaeel Abofakher is a Syrian Canadian father, musician, songwriter, theatre artist, community-engaged artist, and composer. He is a key musician with the Nai Children Choir, and founder of Syeatre (a Syrian theatre group). Its goal is to empower newcomers and raise awareness about the Syrian Crisis. He is writing a musical play with a group of Canadian artists.

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Miguel Brito-Lopez

Miguel Brito-Lopez is the Nai Kids Choir staff pianist. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, he moved to Canada to pursue his musical studies and works now as a pianist collaborating mostly with opera artists and teaching piano at the University Settlement School of Music and at the Kennedy Piano Studio.

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Raneem Barakat

Raneem Barakat is a Syrian performer and teacher, and also a pharmacist. She has worked with many orchestras and institutions in Syria and with Nai children choir in Toronto. Raneem loves mixing different music genres to create something new. She is currently continuing her music studies in voice performance at the University of Toronto.

 

Kevin Ormsby

founder/ artistic director/ dancer

Artistic Director of KasheDance, Kevin A. Ormsby works as a dancer/choreographer and Arts Strategies Consultant. He is the Program Manager for Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO), Professor of Dance Performance at Centennial College and an Adjunct Artist with Dance Exchange in Washington, D.C.

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Jillia Cato

Dancer

Jillia Cato has danced since she was 18, sharing stages with Maroon 5, Chris Brown, Wyclef, Pitbull, Machel Montano and Kes The Band Dancer, and appearing in numerous music videos and films. Trained in Caribbean Folk, Contemporary, Ballet, Indian Classical, Dancehall and more, graduating as Valedictorian from her BFA in Performing Arts, she is a dance teacher, choreographer, performer, singer and stage manager, now studying with KasheDance.

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Micheal Mortley

Dancer

Micheal Mortley graduated from the University of Trinidad and Tobago with a BFA in Performing Arts and specialization in Dance, and trained for over fifteen years in folk, contemporary and ballet. He has crafted his career with his certification from La Danse Caraibe performing and choreographing in Trinidad and Tobago, and at Beijing Dance Academy, and now studies with KasheDance.

Cheryl Chan

Dancer

Cheryl Chan is a graduate of the George Brown Dance Performance Studies Program and has studied at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She is currently in her sixth season with KasheDance, has toured multiple works throughout the Caribbean, Canada & the US, and has performed for the Pan Am Games, SummerWorks Festival & Nuit Blanche and with various other companies like Little Pear Garden Dance Company, The Chimera Project, and Impromptu Movements.

 

Elina Valtonen

Dancer

Elina Valtonen is a dance artist of Finnish background. She graduated as a professional contemporary dancer from Dance Educational, Copenhagen in 2013. She has worked and performed in 13 different countries, as well as with many companies in Finland. Elina has been dancing in KasheDance since 2015. Besides Europe, she has been touring extensively in North America and the Caribbean. She enjoys sharing her passion through teaching and by creating her own works.

Orin T. McRey

Dancer

Orin, born and raised in Vancouver BC, is an interdisciplinary performer, trained in Salsa, Afro Cuban, Afro Brazilian Dance and Capoeira. She graduated from The Dance Initiative in Vancouver, and has musical theatre training from Arts Umbrella and the Arts Club Musical Theatre Intensive. Orin has performed across Canada and internationally. With the arts collective, Her Tribal Roots, she has developed new work, dance and choreography for music videos. Recently she moved to Toronto and is thrilled to join the KasheDance family.

Derek Thorne

Musician

Derek Thorne was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1991 he began teaching himself congas while earning his bachelor’s in English Literature at McGill. He later studied latin and Caribbean percussion with Cuban legend Changuito and Toronto salsa doyen Luis Orbegoso, and traditional percussion in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Derek has become a staple percussionist in Toronto’s music scene: in many styles from calypso to classical. Derek has many studio recording credits, ouring commitments include countless stages throughout Canada, the USA, Europe, West Africa and Malaysia.

Walter MacLean

Musician

Walter Maclean grew up in Germany & Ghana & started to play percussion in the 70’s.He has been a professional Musician since the age of 17, and has studied with master’s of Rhythm such as Adja Addy,Nippy Noya & Rick Gratton. Walter has lived in Toronto since 1996, playing traditional Music for Ballet Creole, Coba,Lua Shayenne Dance Company, Newton Moreas, Alpha Rhythm Roots, and Amadou Kienou, as well as more contemporary style’s (Jazz,Blues,Calypso,R&B etc.) Walter has also collaborated with the “Wind in the Leaves Collectives “on numerous projects.

 

Paul Ohonsi

Videographer

Paul Ohonsi is a creative artist, living in Toronto since the age of 11. At 18, Inspired by the city's culture and the memory of his homeland Nigeria, he creates performance pieces through theatre and film that tell stories about the nature of human consciousness. He has developed his craft of film-making alongside his ability to perform, and worked with various organizations both asperformer and as videographer. In 2018 his film played in a Cineplex as part of Nuit Blanche Scarborough.

 

Centennial College Theatre Students

 
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Celēs Emmerson

Celēs Emmerson is a twenty-something currently enrolled in the Theatre Arts & Performance program at Centennial College (graduating in 2022). She founded her own theatre company, Fable Project, in her first year of studies with some of her dearest friends. She has played many parts both on and off stage, as her love for the performing arts extends to a passion for leadership behind the scenes. Celēs believes that nurturing active imaginations nurtures innovation.

Deval Soni

Hello Everyone, my name is Deval Soni. I am a multidisciplinary international artist from India. I mainly work as an actor for Film & TV, but theatre is what keeps my soul alive. I have been trained for many different theatre styles but my favourite is impulsive physical acting. I also love storytelling through different mediums like music, poetry, cyanotype printings & vlogs. I see myself as a successful Actor for Film/TV/Theatre globally within a few years.

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Paige Mehmet

Paige Mehmet is a 20 year old actor, writer, director and producer based in Toronto. She grew up obsessed with storytelling, and fantasy worlds, co-founding her own theatre company and co-wroting her first play at age 19. She is studying at Centennial College, in the Theatre Arts and Performance program (graduating in 2022). She is excited to continue to grow as a performer and have the opportunity to tell stories that stay exciting and engaging.

Rhys Lourie

Rhys Lourie is a 19-year-old aspiring trans actor, artist, and writer. He dreams of acting both on stage and screen, but also hopes to write worlds that people can enjoy. Rhys is currently in his last year of college for Theatre Arts (graduating in 2022). His main goal in life is to inspire others and to create a community where trans actors can be themselves both in and out of the spotlight.

 
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RJ Mayo

RJ Mayo is a non-binary actor with from Ottawa and student of Centennial College's Theatre Arts and Performance program (graduating in 2022). Recent credits include Ganymede in Crunch (Centennial College), Nikothiki in Lysistrata (Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company). They've been they’ve been assistant director and performer with Rag and Bone’s Summer Shakespeare Camp, and, during non-plague summers, work at a camp teaching Shakespeare to kids aged 10-18.

 

Continuum Contemporary Music

 
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Christina Volpini

Composer

Christina Volpini is a Hamilton-based composer whose work explores gradual unfolding through time, found objects, and musical textures. Her music has been performed and commissioned by Esprit Orchestra, Array Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music, and others. An avid arts administrator, Christina was a core organizer of the Montreal Contemporary Music Lab (LMCML) and Toronto Creative Music Lab (TCML).

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Matti Pulkki

Accordion

Matti Pulkki is a Finnish accordionist currently based in Toronto. He performs frequently around the world with groups and ensembles and enjoys working on projects ranging from interdisciplinary productions to music theatre and opera. Although often focusing on classical contemporary repertoire, Pulkki performs music from a wide range of styles and genres. He holds a Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Toronto.

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Robert Fleitz

Composer

Pianist and composer Robert Fleitz curates idiosyncratic artistic experiences. Robert actively performs new and old repertoire in North America and Europe and made his debut in Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in 2021. Robert's compositions explore themes of agency and vulnerability. Recent commissions include Metropolis Ensemble (NYC) and Hilary Easton Dance Company (NYC). Robert received degrees from The Juilliard School. Born and raised in Florida and later a long-time resident of New York City, he currently lives in Rīga, Latvia with his husband, the composer Krists Auznieks.

Ryan Scott

Percussion

Dr. Ryan Scott is a marimba and multi-percussion soloist who has performed extensively in contemporary music festivals, orchestras and chamber groups around the globe, and over 400 world premieres in Toronto. In addition to his work as a regular guest artist with NEXUS, Principal Percussionist of the Esprit Orchestra and Percussionist in the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra since 1996, he is also a faculty member at the NYOC, a core member of Continuum Contemporary Music, and the organization's Artistic Director.

 

Paul Widner

Cello

Cellist Paul Widner has appeared throughout Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada. Since 1985, he has been the assistant principal cellist with the Canadian Opera Company orchestra. He is a founding member of the Amadeus Ensemble, on the faculty of the Glenn Gould School and the University of Toronto, principal cellist with the Esprit orchestra since 1985, founding member of the Continuum ensemble, performs regularly with New Music Concerts, Arraymusic and Soundstreams, and records with CBC records and other independent labels and. has performed at various international festivals.

Carolyn Blackwell

Viola

Originally from Calgary, Carolyn Blackwell has shared the stage with esteemed artists such as Martin Beaver, Alicia Weilerstein, Daniel Phillips and Mayumi Seiler. She is guest violist with the Artists of The Royal Conservatory and the Art of Time Ensemble, and has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The National Ballet of Canada, The Canadian Opera Company, The English National Opera and the Tokai String Quartet, and at the Cervo Chamber Music Festival (Italy), Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove (UK) and Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland).

Carol Fujino

Violin

Carol Lynn Fujino joined the TSO in 1991 and made her solo début with the Orchestra two years later. Prior to joining the TSO, she served as Assistant Concertmaster for the National Ballet of Canada orchestra. Carol has concertized throughout North America, Europe and Asia, has been heard on CBC Radio as a soloist with Esprit Orchestra and is an active chamber musician, performing regularly as a member of the Accordes String Quartet and Continuum Contemporary Ensemble.