PAM BIRRELL, soprano

Pamela was born and bred in Peterborough, the youngest in a family where five older brothers towered over her. High school at PCVS was followed by a scholarship to Trent University, where Pam studied business and did very well at it. But though she was top of the class and on the Dean's List, assisting profs in their marking and tutorials, her academic interest was elsewhere, The Royal Conservatory of Music to be precise, where she was taking singing lessons. Travelling this scholarly road led to an Honours degree from Trent, with several offers from prestigious firms to pursue a career in business, and a first class honours Performers Associateship Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. Guess which one she chose. Oh, along the way, she married her music theory teacher and accompanist, one Syd Birrell, presently writing this.

So instead of enriching the bottom line of clients and companies, Pamela has made a career of enriching the hearts of listeners, for it is not possible to hear Pam sing without being touched deeply by the beauty of her voice. The ongoing marvel is that her gift of song has not been stifled by her own fight as a young mother with breast cancer, nor by the staggering loss of her young son James to cancer, but has emerged even more beautiful, powerful, compelling, and comforting. Pamela's deep understanding of both the technique and the emotion of singing, along with her extraordinary skills as a communicator, helped establish her reputation as a gifted vocal teacher.

Pam's world does not stop at music. She has become friend and mentor to many women facing breast cancer, and is an active advocate for families facing childhood cancer. She has worked hard to help bring about a ban on cosmetic pesticides in Peterborough, and is deeply involved in the James Fund and in its quest for a cure for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. Pamela was recently inducted into the Peterborough Walkway of Fame in recognition of her many contributions to the City of Peterborough.

ADAM BISHOP, tenor
An avid performer since the age of four, Adam has entertained audiences throughout Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Austria. Adam is a graduate of Lakefield College School. While a student there, he studied instrumental music under the direction of John Kraus and vocal music under the direction of Arlene Gray and Fr. Paul Massel. During his high school years, Adam was a member of The Peterborough Singers. Recently, his highlights have included the roles of Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. In addition, Adam has participated in numerous concerts and recitals, both in choirs and as a guest soloist. Adam has been a featured performer and a backup performer on a number of CD recordings. In the summers of 2007 and 2008, Adam worked with Canadian Tenor Richard Margison.

More recently, Adam performed the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Glenn Gould School, under Maestro Mario Bernardi. According to music critic Joseph So, Adam sang the part “with a sweet lyric sound, ideal in the lighter Mozart roles. His ‘Un’aura amorosa’ was well sung ... he also acted very well --- arguably the funniest guy onstage!”

Adam will complete his final year of the Artists Diploma program at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto in 2011. There, he is studying with renowned soprano Monica Whicher and coaching with Peter Tiefenbach. Former teachers include Carol-Lynn Reifel at Queen’s University and Fr. Paul Massel. Adam is a resident of Bancroft, ON, a graduate of Lakefield College School, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (Performance) from Queen’s University, Kingston. Adam is a resident of Bancroft, ON, and he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (Performance) from Queen’s University, Kingston. Handel's Messiah is one of Adam's favourites to perform, and he is thrilled to be returning to perform with The Peterborough Singers.

DANIEL LICHTI, bass
Acclaimed as one of Canada’s finest concert and oratorio singers, Daniel Lichti continues to build on his successes with major North American symphonic, choral and concert organizations, his activity extending to the concert halls of Europe, Japan, South America, and Israel. He has bowed at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, L’Opéra de Montréal, Opéra de Québec, Opera Atelier, and Opera Ontario after beginning his career with the Stratford Festival and the Canadian Opera Company. He has been heard frequently with Toronto’s Opera in Concert, at many North American Festivals, and his performances have been heard on the CBC, BBC, and the NPR network. Since 1998 Mr. Lichti has been Associate Professor with the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.

IAN SADLER
Ian Sadler is a Canadian concert organist and choral director. Since taking first Prize in the USA's International Organ Playing Competition in Syracuse in 1986, Ian has devoted himself to the concert platform with organ recitals in Britain (Westminster Abbey, King's College Chapel, Cambridge), France (Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris), USA, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, and Denmark. In Canada, he has performed in inaugural series on new concert hall organs, including in Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, Calgary's Jack Singer Hall, and the Winspeare Centre in Edmonton. As a regular performer in the North American International Liszt Festival, Ian has performed the complete organ works of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Reubke. In 1999, he represented Canada as the first Canadian member of the International Jury for the Liszt Organ Playing Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Ian has performed concertos with The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, The Hamilton Philharmonic, and The Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Timmins and North Bay Symphony Orchestras. Ian's discography is extensive with a series of CD's on major organs in Toronto (Thomson Hall, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, and St. James' Cathedral), a CD from Stratford of organ recital favourites entitled The Sadler Selection and a CD devoted to the music of Mozart for the 250th Anniversary Celebrations. In 1999, Ian won a Juno Award. He has further recorded many programmes for the CBC and was featured last year on BBC's Radio 2 performing the organ music of Vaughan Williams. Ian's CD Romantic Music for Organ Vol. I, which was recorded at St. James' Cathedral in Toronto, was released in February 2008. In March of that year, he recorded a further CD on the fine historic Casavant organ of St. John's Cathedral, Newfoundland.

Born in England, Ian began his musical training as a boy chorister for five years at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He attended The King's School, Canterbury from where he won the Organ Scholarship to Bristol University. During postgraduate study at London University, Ian was Organ Scholar at St. Paul's Cathedral for two years. Before moving to Canada, his final engagement in the UK was to play the organ in the movie Chariots of Fire. In 1980, Ian moved to Canada following his appointment as Director of Music at Toronto's Grace Church on-the-Hill and Choral Director at Upper Canada College.

Ian is Artistic Director of the Stratford Concert Choir, founder and conductor of the Stratford Children's Concert Choir, and Director of the Cathedral Singers of Ontario.

For his dedication to promoting the organ and Canadian music, both at home and abroad, The Royal Canadian College of Organists honoured Ian in 2007 with their highest award, “Fellow of The Royal Canadian College of Organists.”

PAUL OTWAY

Paul pursued musical studies at the University of Western Ontario where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Music in Performance (1994) and a Masters in Music Performance and Literature (1996). He has toured North America with the musicals South Pacific and Chicago, The Musical, and he toured the United States with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Paul has held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Sudbury Symphony, the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra (Toronto), the Scarborough Philharmonic, the University of Western Ontario Symphony Orchestra, and the London Youth Symphony. Paul has also been a member of Brass Rings (a brass quintet), the Intrada Brass Band, and Brassroots, a ten-piece brass ensemble. He currently heads up his own group, The Paul Otway Brass.

Freelance playing has allowed Paul the opportunity to perform with other groups, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Shaw Festival, Hannaford Street Silver Band, Niagara Symphony, North York Symphony, North Bay Symphony, Peterborough Symphony, National Academy Orchestra, Toronto Lyric Sinfonietta, Etobicoke Symphony, Toronto Wind Ensemble, and the Trillium Brass Quintet. He has also performed in chamber music settings and in numerous musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, Camelot, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, and The Music Man; productions of Wonderful Town and "Follies - in Concert" at the Shaw Festival; and the Mirvish productions of Wicked, Les Miserables, Nicholas Nickleby and The Phantom of the Opera.

As a soloist, Paul has performed with the Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Brampton Symphony, Etobicoke Centennial Choir, Brass Rings Brass Quintet, Windsor Symphony Brass Quintet, Bells of Bowmanville, Durham Youth Orchestra, London Youth Symphony, Caledon Concert Band, at charity events, and in recitals. He currently freelances and teaches privately in South Central Ontario and also finds time to compose and arrange a variety of music.

Paul's playing has been recorded on CD and broadcast on CBC Radio with a variety of different ensembles, and he can be seen in the movie Fever Pitch (look for the trumpet player!). He has performed for live audiences in 36 states and 7 provinces.