Volunteer - The Peterborough Singers

Christine Slevan

Christine Slevan has been singing, teaching, and conducting in Peterborough for over 30 years. She taught music at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School from 1992-2012, where she encouraged and mentored many young singers. Many of these former students have been or are currently members of the Peterborough Singers’ family, with some eventually going on to pursue professional music careers. As a member of All Saints’ Anglican Church, she often conducted the choir for various church services, including these two great works by Vivaldi and Faure.

Recently retired in 2021, Christine was delighted when Director Syd Birrell called her and asked her to be a part of this wonderful event with proceeds going to three worthy organizations. Bringing these two pieces to life with such an enthusiastic and talented group has been an extraordinary experience, and she wishes to thank all the members of the Peterborough Singers for this opportunity.

Shannon McCracken

Shannon McCracken is a singer, actor, voice-over artist and teacher. She has performed across Canada, and is equally at home in plays and musicals, film and television, and on the concert stage.

Favourite stage credits of Shannon’s include Esme in the world premiere of Buying the Farm at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre, Raising the Barn and Living History with Globus Theatre, Galinda in Wicked (CMTP/Toronto Fringe), Amalia in She Loves Me (CMTP), Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Laurier), Eileen in Wonderful Town, and Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music (Capitol Theatre). Her oratorio work includes Handel’s Messiah with the Peterborough Singers, the Grand River Chorus and Wilfrid Laurier University’s chamber choir and orchestra, Vivaldi’s Gloria with Choral Connection, and Bach’s Magnificat in D Major with the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir. As well as frequenting as a guest soloist for choirs and orchestras, Shannon has been featured in cabarets at the Banff Centre, with New Stages, alongside Colm Wilkinson, at the inaugural Women of Musical Theatre Festival in Toronto, and her recital and concert work have taken her across the country.

Shannon is a proud member of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, holds an Honours BMus in Voice Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is an alumnus of the Banff Centre’s Musical Theatre Professional Intensive, the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Advanced Singers Program, and the Theatre 20 Conservatory. When she’s not on stage, set or in the booth, she’s either teaching from her home studio in Peterborough, or walking her dog in the woods.

shannonmccracken.com
@shannonkmccracken

Venabrass

Venabrass is a brass ensemble from Toronto, Ontario. Formed primarily from the Venables family, this brass group displays ensemble virtuosity at its finest. As individuals, members of the Venabrass have travelled around the world as both soloists, conductors and composer both as freelance, professional and through The Salvation Army. The early days of the group was merely family members playing music together. This grew into touring at Christmas time, performing annual concerts, recording, and travelling to Africa. Venabrass now exists beyond just the Venables name with other high caliber musicians included. However, it still maintains its Salvation Army musicianship, to which, they desire to serve God first and foremost through their music and strive towards the highest degree of music excellence in that service.

2020-2021 Season Advertisers

The Singers wish to acknowledge those businesses, services, and individuals who supported us in 2020-2021 through purchasing advertising.

Many of you also donate to our choir and sponsor soloists and concerts. You have our heartfelt thanks:

Megan Murphy

Megan Murphy is a graduate of York University’s Fine Arts program and has worked as an actor in film, television, theatre and radio for more than two decades. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and the Seneca College Documentary Filmmaking Institute.

Most recently she co-created The Verandah Society, a theatrical experience of storytelling and song, with singer/songwriter, Kate Suhr. They premiered their latest show at 4^th Line Theatre in August 2021. She co-hosted a morning radio show on Star 93.3FM for over a decade. Her feature documentary, “Murphy’s Law”, won Best Documentary Film at the Fingal Film Festival in Ireland and her short film, “Towns End” won an audience Choice Award at the Vox Popular Film Festival. She is a public speaker and published writer and can be found at www.murphyslawfilm.com. She is thrilled to be joining the Peterborough Singers once again this year.

Leslie Fagan

Leslie Fagan has delighted audiences and critics alike at Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Bordeaux Opera House, and Roy Thomson Hall and has performed under the batons of such noted conductors as Sir David Willcocks, Hans Graf, Jukke Pekke Saraste, Kent Tritle, Heinz Ferlisch, Victor Borge and Elmer Isler.

Highlights of Fagan’s past engagements include: a solo concert of music of Stravinsky and Debussy with the Bordeaux Aquitaine Symphonie Nationale, France; Bach’s Weinachts Oratorium in Stuttgart, Germany; Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England; Tafelmusik Orchestra and Choir in Toronto, Ontario; and engagement as guest soloist at the International Choral Festival in Gouda, Netherlands. On the opera stage, she has sung the title role in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix; Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Sophie in Massenet’s Werther; Musetta in Puccini’s La Boheme and Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff. At the Aldeburgh Festival in England, she performed the roles of Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Fagan is a proud Canadian, whose performances at home have led her from Massey Hall to the Massey Ferguson Dealership in Exeter and myriad venues between. Her recordings include her debut solo album Le Miroir de Mon Amour, A Song for all Seasons with The Toronto Children’s Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with the Fanshawe Symphonic Chorus, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Chorus London. Her project of promoting Canadian Art Song has come to fruition with two recordings of beautiful compositions from across Canada, “Thread of Winter” and “Halibut Cheeks & Other Love Songs.”

Fagan has performed on CBC radio and television, BBC radio and television, and National Public Radio.

Laura Pudwell

Mezzo-soprano Grammy-nominated Laura Pudwell’s reputation as a superb vocalist has been well-established as a result of her performances in London, Paris, Salzburg, Houston, Vienna and Boston. Her vast repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works. She is equally at home on the opera, oratorio or recital stage, and has received international acclaim for her recordings. A frequent guest of many national and international presenters, she has had the privilege of working with many outstanding conductors, including Hans Graf, Hervé Niquet, Andrew Parott, Ivars Taurens, David Fallis, Brian Jackson, John Sinclair, Bernard Labadie, Lydia Adams, Howard Dyck and Robert Cooper.

On the opera stage, Pudwell has performed across Canada with such companies as Opera Atelier, the Calgary Opera, Vancouver Early Music and Festival Vancouver, as well as with the Houston Grand Opera and the Cleveland Opera. Her many roles include Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Marcelina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nerone and Arnalta (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) Mrs. Quickly (Falstaff), and Dido/Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), which also was an award-winning recording performed by Pudwell in Paris. She is a regular participant in many festivals, including Festival Vancouver, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Summer Festival, the Elora Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Grand River Baroque Festival, and the WinterPark Bach Festival in Orlando. She appears regularly with the Toronto Consort, and is a frequent guest soloist with Tafelmusik, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toronto Chamber Choir, Symphony Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence Choir, Le Concert Spirituel, Chorus Niagara and the Menno Singers.

Pudwell lives in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario with her husband and two children.

Jonathan Liebich

Jonathan Liebich is known for a rich and expressive voice and has enjoyed performing in Canada and Europe. He is particularly passionate about the oratorio repertoire and audiences have been riveted by his commanding performances of repertoire including Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mass in C, Ninth Symphony, numerous of Bach’s Cantatas as well as St. John’s Passion, Brahms’ German Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, and the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré and Duruflé with numerous orchestras and choirs including the Elmer Iseler Singers, Stuttgart Music Festival under the baton of Helmuth Rilling, the Vancouver Bach Choir, Vancouver Symphony and Kingston Symphony. He has been recorded and aired on CBC Radio2 several times.

He has also navigated many operatic stages in roles such as Count Almaviva and Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Papageno in The Magic Flute, The 4 Villains in Tales of Hoffmann, Belcore in Elixir of Love, Sam in A Masked Ball, El Dancairo in Carmen, and Baron Douphol in La Traviata.

Liebich is an alumnus of the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble, with whom he performed Mozart’s Magic Flute in over 200 schools throughout his home province of British Columbia. He has been on two European tours performing The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro with his wife, Sasha.

Since 2011, Liebich has shared his love and passion of choral music through his direction of the New Song Chancel Choir in Port Perry, where he currently resides with his wife, two terrific teenage sons and a beautiful daughter. In his spare time, he is a Project Manager with the Toronto Transit Commission.

Ernesto Ramirez

Mexican tenor Ernesto Ramirez is garnering rave reviews for his distinctive Italianate sound, “wonderfully fluid line and brilliant high notes,” combined with his “suave, nuanced lyricism.” He has performed to great acclaim for audiences in France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Operatic roles for Ernesto include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Palacio de Bellas Artes, Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Teatro del Bicentenario in Mexico, and with the Rossini in Wildbad Belcanto Opera Festival in Germany. In Canada, Ramirez starred as Nadir in Les Pêcheurs des Perles with Opera Hamilton, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Pacific Opera Victoria. He sang a “touching and radiant” Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore with Opéra de Angers-Nantes, and with Festival Folies D’Ô Montpellier. He starred in the title role of Verdi’s Stiffelio with Toronto’s Voicebox: Opera in Concert, Raoul in the Canadian Premiere of Meyerbeer’s Les Huegenots, Arturo in I Puritani, and sang Alfredo in La Traviata with the Sarasota Opera.

Ramirez was “the revelation of the evening… a true Italianate tenor with endless lung power and heroic tone” in the role of Javier in Luisa Fernanda with Toronto Operetta Theatre. His “resplendent tenor” has been heard in performances of Verdi’s Requiem with Brott Music Festival, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Niagara Symphony and Kingston Symphony. Opera companies in Zurich, Quebec, Montreal, Tel-Aviv and Mexico City have welcomed him as a guest artist in their Opera Galas. He also performed at The 150th Anniversary of Puccini, a gala hosted by Simonetta Puccini.

Ramirez earned a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the University of Guadalajara in Mexico, and graduated from Boston University’s Opera Institute.

Ian Sadler

Ian Sadler began his musical training as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England. He was a music scholar at The King’s School, Canterbury; an organ scholar at Bristol University; and he then held the Organ Scholarship back at St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1978–80. In 1980, Ian played the organ in the movie Chariots of Fire. He moved to Canada following appointments in Toronto as Director of Music at Grace Church on-the-Hill and Choral Director at Upper Canada College.

In 1985, Ian took first prize in the Syracuse International Organ Playing Competition. He has since given recitals in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, England, the United States, and across Canada. He has conducted the 100-voice Stratford Concert Choir since 1989. Ian is also Conductor of The Cathedral Singers of Ontario, which he founded in 1999. This choir sang last summer for a week at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. This season Ian will present organ recitals in Finland, Jamaica, and at Coventry Cathedral in England.

In 2000, Ian was presented with a Juno Award for a choral CD by his Burlington chamber choir, Pro Musica. 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 a “Fellowship of The Royal Canadian College of Organists.”

Alex Mathews

Baritone Alex Mathews performed solo and chorus roles with the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, Canadian Opera Company, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra from the age of 6 to 18 in performance venues around Toronto. Alex attended high school at St Michael’s Choir School in Toronto. At Western University, Alex was an active member of the opera program throughout his undergraduate and master’s degrees.

He is currently pursuing his Diploma in Operatic Performance at the University of Toronto, under the tutelage of Wendy Nielsen. Most recently, he performed the role of Elviro in Händel’s Serse at Chautauqua Summer Music Festival, Count Gil in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna at the University of Toronto, and took part in the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Opera in the 21st Century program.

David Walsh

David Walsh, a native of Toronto, is currently going into his first year of Opera Performance at the University of Toronto after finishing a Bachelor of Music in Performance there earlier this year. He started classical vocal training in his last year of high school, began his studies in Music Education at the University of Toronto, and then auditioned successfully for voice performance two years later to follow his true passion.

From there David has participated in a wide range of vocal performances. Recently he became a part of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto as a Sidgwick Scholar and a highlight at the beginning of this year was when he placed as a prize winner in the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition. At U of T Opera this past season, he made his debut in Le Nozze di Figaro as Don Curzio. He was asked to perform as part of the chorus for Opera Atelier’s production of Idomeneo in 2019. He was asked back to the Opera Atelier Chorus for this season for their production of Don Giovanni. In the spring of 2018 he was invited to perform with the Against the Grain Theatre as a chorus soloist for the opera Orphée et Eurydice. In May 2017, he was an opera chorus member in the critically acclaimed Oksana G, a new Canadian opera premiered by Tapestry Opera, where he had the honour of working with many esteemed artists. He is part of the Cor Unum Ensemble, an ensemble run by young adults from across Toronto.

As well as an avid singer, David is an avid biker. This form of transportation is the way he practices a lot of his repertoire. So, if you ever see a blur of red hair and hear some Fauré on the downtown streets of Toronto, you have most likely encountered David Walsh.

Simona Genga

Named one of the CBC’s “30 hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” Mezzo-Soprano Simona Genga, is known for her” vocal plushness, amplitude and range which are mature beyond her years”(Opera Canada). In the 19/20 season, Ms.Genga graduated from the Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio after winning both First Prize and Audience Choice Awards at their Centre Stage Competition in 2017. During her time with the COC, Ms. Genga has debuted the roles of Berta in il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gertrude in the OYA Hansel and Gretel, Second Maid in Elektra, premiered the role of Cindy in Wow Factor: A Cinderella Story, and was preparing the High Priestess in Aida and the role of Mrs. Macaroni in Ian Cusson’s new opera Fanstasma which has now been postponed.

Simona’s training includes working with Highlands Opera Studio, the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, The Franz Schubert Institut, the Chautauqua Institute, a Masters in Opera at the University of Toronto and most notably returning as a Gerdine Young Artist, to sing Annina in Patricia Racettes’ directing debut of La Traviata at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Simona is a grateful recipient of a 2019 Sullivan Foundation Career Development Grant, the 2017 Norcop Song Recital Prize, Career Grants from the Hnatyshyn Foundation, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, multiple Ruby Mercer Awards, the Christina and Louis Quilico Competition, where she won third prize in 2019 and with OTSL’s 2018 Barbara and Stanley Richman Award for demonstrating “exceptional potential for a significant career.

Midori Marsh

Soprano Midori Marsh was recently named by the CBC as one of Canada’s hot classical musicians under 30. Past engagements include Sarah Thorpe in No One’s Safe and Johan’s Mother in Silent Light (Banff Centre); Frasquita in Carmen (Waterloo Symphony); Arminda in La finta giardiniera, Rose Maurrant in
Street Scene, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park (UofT Opera); Annina in La Traviata (Cambridge Symphony Orchestra); Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Portland Summer Opera Workshop); Laurie Moss in The Tender Land and Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann (Opera Laurier). In October 2019 she took home both the first prize and the audience choice award at the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition, and is currently a member of the COC’s young artist ensemble for the 2020-2021 season.

Beau Dixon

Beau Dixon is an award-winning actor, musician, playwright, music director and sound designer.

As an actor, Beau has performed on many reputable theatre stages throughout Canada. NOW magazine and Toronto Star have listed him among Toronto’s top ten theatre actors, multiple years in a row.

As a playwright, Beau has had his plays commissioned, performed and produced across the country. His award-winning play, Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story (recently published by Scirocco Drama Books), garnered him a Calgary Critic’s Award for Best Individual Performance and two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Best New Play and Best Individual Performance.

Born in Detroit, the birthplace of Motown, Beau has music in his roots and developed a passion at an early age. After discovering the music of Stevie Wonder in his parents’ record collection, Beau insisted on taking piano lessons at age six. His first music gig was at age twelve, playing piano for his father’s church services in London, Ontario. After high school, he pursued music full time as a multi instrumentalist and lead singer for rock bands, touring in the United States, Canada and Europe. He has written and produced songs for radio and television and has appeared on numerous albums. In 2000, Beau started his own recording studio (Sound Kitchen Studio) in Peterborough, Ontario.

In 2010, Beau co-founded Firebrand Theatre, a touring company whose mission is to bring Canadian stories to life for students and educators in elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools throughout Canada. He has been inducted into Peterborough’s Pathway of Fame and is a K.M. Hunter Award finalist.

As a sound designer, he was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for the production of Rifles at the Shaw Festival and Praxis Theatre. Beau has recently taken on the role of music director for Sheridan College and Lakefield College School, and in summer of 2021 he was curator and music director for the Stratford Festival’s production of Freedom: The Spirit and Legacy of Black Music.

As an artist of mixed race, Beau proudly carves the legacy of his ancestors into all of his work and publicly advocates racial inclusion.

Doug Sutherland

Doug Sutherland is a pharmacist who played trumpet throughout high school and continued in university with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. He then packed his trumpet away for 25 years, only bringing it out to serenade his kids during their (suddenly shortened) baths. He now plays regularly to be ready to meet the high musical standards required of Syd Birrell and others.

Rob Phillips

Rob Phillips has been performing on the piano in the Peterborough area for the past thirty years. At age six, he began classical piano studies and soon, with the encouragement of his piano teacher, fell in love with boogie woogie piano. In high school, he started up his first pop/rock/soul groups and also began jazz piano studies with the great Brian Bowne. After studies at Trent University, Phillips was awarded a scholarship to the University of Alabama to study jazz and classical piano. After formal studies, Phillips began teaching, performing, and recording with many local musicians. A six-year stint as one of the musical directors for The Second City theatre company, as well as being musical director for many local groups, has Phillips performing with a variety of well-known musicians. Over the years, he has performed with The Rick Fines Trio, the Chelsey Bennett Band, Beau Dixon, Ada Lee, Bridget Foley, Ronnie Hawkins, The Lemon Sisters, The Weber Brothers, and The Three Martinis comedy improv group. Every Thursday, The Rob Phillips Jazz and Blues Trio plays the The Blackhorse pub.

Curtis Cronkwright

Curtis Cronkwright is a professional drummer and teacher working in the Peterborough area. Curtis received a diploma of music from Mohawk College, majoring in jazz drumming. Throughout his career, Curtis has been lucky enough to have played, and continues to play, with some of the area’s top musicians including, Slips ‘n’ the High Fives, The Lemmon Sisters, Chelsey Bennett, Mike Graham, Beau Dixon, Bridget Foley, The Channel Cats, The Kawartha Jazz Ensemble, the Peterborough Pop Ensemble, Michael Bell, and Rob Phillips. In addition to playing with these great artists, Curtis also teaches drums privately in his home and at Lakefield College School.

Steve McCracken

Steve McCracken has called Peterborough his home for the past twenty-five years. As owner of the local music shop, B Flat Music , he has continued to develop his musical interests by performing, writing, and arranging. As band leader of the Channel Cats, he performs regularly at the Lakefield Jazz Festival alongside Bridget and the Gospel Girls as well as with other local jazz musicians. In 2000, Steve founded the Peterborough Jazz & Blues Workshop, a high school aged jazz-blues combo, which emphasizes improvisation. Many of Steve’s students have developed successful careers in the music world. Steve has written many of the band charts for Beatles III. He is pleased to be performing once again with the Peterborough Singers.

Andrew Affleck

Bassist Andrew Affleck has worked for Juno award-winning musicians Susan Aglukark and George Fox and has toured with bands such as the Good Brothers and Lace. He has performed with comedian and actor Bob Newhart and performed for the Queen, two Canadian prime ministers, and the Prime Minister of France. Andrew has been nominated four times for Canadian Country Bass Player of the Year.

Barry Haggarty

Guitar player par excellence, Barry Haggarty has played with the best in the business. Barry played guitar for the legendary Ronnie Hawkins before forming his own touring band and releasing the single “Come To Me” with Ixtland Records. Barry later joined Bentwood Rocker, releasing an album with Quality Records entitled Take Me to Heaven. Barry released another single with Capital Records “Second Wind.” Barry has co-written a number of songs with fellow Peterborough native Cyril Rawson and has played sessions in Nashville for Lucille Starr and for a then up-and-coming young singer, Shania Twain. After releasing an independent single, “Doesn’t Mean A Thing,” Barry toured with The Family Brown and was the guitar player on the television
series Ronnie and the Brown’s, starring Ronnie Prophet and The Family Brown.

Barry was nominated for three years running from 1990 to 1992 as Guitar Player Of The Year with the Canadian Country Music Association. In 1991, Barry opened his own recording studio, Haggarty Sound Studio, in Peterborough, Ontario.

He has since produced independent artists such as Montana Sky, Mark Ekins, and Danny Bronson. Over one hundred CDs and cassettes have been released by independent artists, companies, and organizations from Haggarty Sound Studio.

The year 1999 marked a milestone for Barry as a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and studio owner with the release of his premiere independent CD, Old Days. “Give Me A Break,” the first single release from this CD has been nationally charted by RPM. Barry has had the pleasure of working with Valdy and Natalie McMaster in the studio.

Recently, Barry has been working very hard on new projects of his own! Haggarty Sound Studios has been given a fresh new look to enhance artists’ recording experience. In September 2013, he was honoured to be inducted into the Peterborough Pathway of Fame!