Orchestral Conducting Academy

Marina Akamatsu is a Japanese-Canadian-American conductor and violist who is deeply passionate about the future and potential of the symphonic setting. Working predominantly within orchestral and chamber settings, she strives to cultivate a unique sense of open collaboration and authenticity in each project. She has held several assistant conductor positions, including with the National Academy Orchestra at the Brott Music Festival in 2026 and the PRISMA Festival in 2025.

Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, Marina began her musical studies at a young age with piano before pivoting to viola. Her involvement and passion within the symphonic setting as a violist soon spread to conducting. In 2021, Marina founded the Cawthon String Orchestra, which remains a flourishing ensemble today. An avid advocate of new music and young composers, she used this setting to commission several new works and has carried this momentum further into her career as she continues to perform and support contemporary music.

As a violist, Marina has embraced chamber and orchestral environments, most recently representing the Canadian Viola Society in a performance of all world premieres at the 50th International Viola Congress in Paris. From 2022 – 2024, she was the violist of the Know Any Piano Quartet in Tallahassee, Florida.

Marina completed her Master’s in orchestral conducting from McGill University in 2026 with Dr. Mélanie Léonard while additionally studying under Matthew Sheppard. Prior to this, she earned her Bachelor’s in viola performance at Florida State University, studying viola under Dr. Pamela Ryan while simultaneously completing conducting studies with Dr. Alexander Jiménez. She is grateful to have such a variety of mentors and teachers in her life, including Tania Miller, Arthur Arnold, Martin MacDonald, and many others. Continuing her development as a conductor, Marina will join the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Conducting Academy in the 2026-28 seasons under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Marina is keen to cultivate environments where instrumentalists feel empowered through collaborative rehearsals, progressive programming, and multi-genre projects. Finding her inspiration among nature, human connection, and long train rides, Marina currently conducts performances in Montréal and plays her viola wherever it takes her.

After earning her college diploma in classical flute at Cégep Marie-Victorin, Laurence Gauvin completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in musicology at the University of Montreal under the supervision of Marie-Hélène Benoit-Otis. She specialized in music historiography and, as part of her research, focused on the influence of labels on our understanding of music history, using the famous designation “Group of Five” as a case study. At the same time, Laurence has always nurtured a genuine passion for orchestral conducting, which led her to study with Dina Gilbert and Alain Cazes before beginning, in September 2025, a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the Montreal Conservatory of Music in the class of Simon Rivard and Jean-Marie Zeitouni.

Since September 2020, Laurence has served as artistic director and conductor of the Université de Montréal Student Symphony Orchestra. This ensemble, made up of students who have chosen a field of study other than music for their university curriculum, is dedicated to making symphonic orchestra performance accessible to as many people as possible. It was at the helm of this ensemble that Laurence acquired a solid foundation in orchestral conducting, which inspired her to pursue this path for her career. She participated in conducting workshops with the Lévis Symphony Orchestra under the supervision of Gilles Auger (2018), as well as with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne under the direction of Jean-Michaël Lavoie (2025). She also participated in the conducting workshop at the International Academy of Music and Dance at Domaine Forget in Charlevoix (2026), where she worked notably with renowned conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kensho Watanabe. As part of this workshop, Laurence conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, as well as the Orchestre Métropolitain.

© Photo credit: Louis Groulx

Igor Martínez is a versatile artist whose career has evolved from instrumental virtuosity to conducting and composition. Trained in Venezuela’s renowned music education program, El Sistema, his career began with the tuba, an instrument on which he quickly demonstrated exceptional, internationally recognized talent, placing six times in prestigious competitions in France (Paris, Antibes), Germany (Markneukirchen, Stuttgart), and Italy (Porcia).

Driven by a desire to broaden his artistic horizons, Igor shifted his career focus to orchestral conducting, earning two master’s degrees from the Haute École de Musique (HEM) in Geneva (Tuba and Orchestral Conducting). He is currently consolidating this transition by pursuing a Doctor of Music (D.Mus.) in orchestral conducting at the University of Montreal (Canada), and, beginning in September 2026, he will join the Orchestre Métropolitain’s conducting academy under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

From the podium, he has conducted various ensembles in concerts and masterclasses, including the FVG Orchestra (Italy), the Constanța Opera Orchestra (Romania), the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (France), and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Canada), among others. He recently made his debut with Orchestre 21, conducting Pierre Boulez’s *Répons*, as well as his debut with the Orchestre des Jardins Musicaux in Switzerland during the summer of 2026.

He has established himself as an assistant conductor in high-profile productions. Of particular note is his participation in the Les Jardins Musicaux festival in 2025, where he collaborated on the recording of the soundtrack for the film *The Mechanic of the General* (Buster Keaton) with the ARTE network, playing a key role in artistic supervision. He has also enriched his artistic vision through a professional immersion with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, participating in the production of the opera repertoire.

A passionate educator, he leads projects such as the educational initiative “Orchestre en papier,” in collaboration with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra between 2024 and 2025. His musical career is complemented by his work as a composer (published by Saker Music) and arranger, notably through symphonic works premiered with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and fusion projects such as symphonic rock and symphonic hip-hop, in collaboration with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra. Igor Martínez is an artist for the Wessex Tubas instrument brand and an international soloist.

Named by the CBC as one of Canada’s 30 most promising young musicians in 2020, Marie Bégin pursues a career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. Driven by a deep passion for leadership in music, she regularly performs as a concertmaster and is currently pursuing this vocation through studies in orchestral conducting.

As a violinist, she has performed in recitals in Canada, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and China. She has been a soloist with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Les Violons du Roy, the Club Musical de Québec, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Orchestre Symphonique de Drummondville, and the Orchestre Symphonique de l’Agora, among others. She is frequently invited as a solo violinist in several ensembles, including Les Violons du Roy, the Montreal International Bach Festival, and the Hulencourt Soloist Chamber Orchestra in Brussels, Milan, and Spain. An accomplished chamber musician, she collaborates with renowned artists such as Charles Richard-Hamelin, Andrew Wan, and Stéphane Tétreault. She was first violinist of the Saguenay Quartet (Alcan) and is concertmaster of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Symphony Orchestra. She has several albums to her credit, including one with pianist Samuel Blanchette-Gagnon, her long-time collaborator, which has received several rave reviews.

Since September 2023, Marie has been a violin professor and chamber music coordinator at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal. She is regularly invited to give master classes at various higher education institutions and festivals.

A graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, she studied with André Azar, Jean Angers, and Darren Lowe. She then went on to further her studies in Europe, notably in Switzerland with the legendary professor Zakhar Bron at his academy, as well as at the Kronberg Academy in Germany and the Mozarteum University in Austria. She received valuable advice and support from several great musicians, including Maxim Vengerov, Pierre Amoyal, Mauricio Fuks, Christian Tetzlaff, Augustin Dumay, Miriam Fried, and Rodney Friend, among many others.

Marie Bégin was selected as one of the 13 semi-finalists for the 2021 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition. She also performed at the legendary Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland. She has won several prizes at various competitions, including the international ROTARY prize of the “Douja d’Or” awarded by Switzerland, France, Germany, and Italy. She is a scholarship recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. She plays a magnificent Carlo Bergonzi 1710-1715 instrument, kindly loaned by CANIMEX INC.

Montreal native Charles-Eric Fontaine is a conductor and oboist with a passion for contemporary music and composer-performer collaboration. Known for his meticulous attention to detail and his devotion to collaborating musicians, he brings a vivid sense of intimacy and clarity to his performances. He has conducted the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Ensemble Court-Circuit, Divertimento Ensemble, Paramirabo, AltreVoci Ensemble, Black House New Music Collective and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. 

He obtained his Master’s degree in conducting from McGill University in 2021 and has studied with Alain Cazes, Guillaume Bourgogne, Lorraine Vaillancourt, Jean Deroyer, Sandro Gorli, Marco Angius and Alain Trudel. He has conducted more than fifty world premieres, recorded three albums, including one with the Milan-based Divertimento Ensemble, and worked alongside Stephen McAdams as part of the ACTOR research program on timbre and orchestration. 

In 2023, he founded Ensemble Éclat, an ensemble of 15 musicians with the mission of fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that connect audiences with hidden gems of the contemporary repertoire. In 2025, the ensemble was invited to participate in a residency at IRCAM (Paris), in order to refine its performance practice of electroacoustic and multimedia repertoires. 

Laureate of the Royaumont Foundation in 2023, he has received grants from the Austrian Society, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Fondation des Jeunesses Musicales, and the Italian Ministry of Culture. During the 2025–27 seasons, Charles-Eric will have the opportunity to benefit from Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s mentorship at the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Conducting Academy. 

Emma C. Tanovich (née Moss) is a Czech-Canadian orchestral conductor and pianist with a firm commitment to making music accessible to audiences. Currently a Doctor of Musical Arts student in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Toronto, her studies are supported by the Victor Feldbrill Orchestral Conducting Award, University of Toronto Graduate Fellowship, and Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada CGS-D Fellowship. Developing her expertise for well over 20 years, Emma has worked and studied with prominent conductors such as Tania Miller, Pinchas Zuckerman, Kenneth Kiesler, Daniel Raiskin, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Martin Macdonald.

In the past two years, Emma has served as Assistant Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Oakville Symphony, University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Pax Christi Chorale, among others. In 2023, she was invited to conduct the Medomak Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2023 RBC Canadian Conductor Showcase. That same year, she served as Apprentice Conductor to Michael Newnham at Orchestra Toronto. In 2024, Emma was named Assistant Conductor to Tania Miller at the Boris Brott Festival, invited to serve as Director of the Kawartha Youth Symphony Orchestra, and admitted on scholarship to the Conducting Program at Domaine Forget de Charlevoix (declined in favor of NAO). During this period, she was also entrusted by the Canada Council for the Arts to act as a Peer Assessor for major awards, including the Virginia Parker Prize. From 2025 to 2027, Emma will join the Fourth Cohort at the prestigious Orchestre Métropolitain Orchestral Conducting Academy under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

An energetic, socially engaged, and perceptive emerging symphonic conductor with a memorable warmth, Emma Tanovich has demonstrated herself to be a flexible, passionate, and active artist, having conducted across genres from symphonic works, opera, and choral-orchestral repertoire to popular music, musical theatre, and historical performance. Emma holds both an Honours Bachelor of Music in Composition & Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Larysa Kuzmenko and Uri Mayer, respectively. She is also an active Junior Fellow at Massey College at the University of Toronto, reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary research in areas such as hypermetric conducting and Russian orchestral music of the mid- to late-19th century. Previously, she earned a Federal SSHRC Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) and the Carol Rapp Bursary for the Arts from Massey College.

David Bui is a 1st prize winner of the Ionel Perlea International Conducting Competition 2021 and has been RBC Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since April 2022 under the direction of chief conductor Otto Tausk.

In 2022 he finished his postgraduate studies with Prof. Ulrich Windfuhr at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, which he completed “with distinction.” He did his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Christian Ehwald and Prof. Hans-Dieter Baum.

In addition to his studies, David Bui has participated in a wide variety of festivals around the world. He has participated in the Bartók Festival in Szombathely, Hungary, the Mendelssohn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, the PRISMA Festival in British Columbia, Canada as assistant conductor, and the Fiskars Festival in Finland, led by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa Pekka Salonen. David Bui has also been hand-picked by Maestro Riccardo Muti from a live audition to study with him at the 2019 edition of the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy.

Since becoming Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, David has conducted more than 30 concerts with the VSO including subscription, education, Christmas, and community concerts. Beyond the orchestra, he serves as an adjudicator for the Jean-Coulthard-Readings, recognizing and supporting exceptional talents in contemporary composition.

In his young career he has already stood at the podiums of the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Brandenburger Symphoniker, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, the Neubrandenburgische Philharmonie, the Heidelberger Philharmoniker, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Moldova Philharmonic Iași, the Sibiu State Philharmonic, the Karlovarský Symfonický Orchestr and the Filharmonia Zielonogórska. In early 2019 he made his debut with the Hamburger Camerata in the world-famous Elbphilharmonie.

A recent invitation in January 2024 led him to the Berlin Philharmonic as off-stage conductor for Kirill
Petrenko

Soo Jin Chung, Korean-Canadian conductor and pianist, is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma at The Juilliard School under the guidance of David Robertson. In New York, Soo Jin regularly works with and conducts the Juilliard Lab Orchestra in performance atAlice Tully Hall and assists notable guest conductors for the Juilliard Orchestra and AXIOM Ensemble.

Last summer, she conducted the Orchestre symphonique de Québec in performance as part of the Domaine Forget International Festival, where she was mentored by Kensho Watanabe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Through various masterclasses, she has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra, l’Orchestre Métropolitain, Berlin Sinfonietta, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra among others. Soo Jin has also served as a cover conductor for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, and the Nationa lArts Centre Orchestra. Soo Jin holds a Master of Music in piano performance from Rice University, where she studied with Jon Kimura Parker

“Her bright, volatile personality, and rich imagination make the orchestra shine. She tells stories full of colors and vivid images. At the same time, she is specific, she can both persistently pursue, and let go.”  — Ruch Muzyczny: The 11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition

Hailed as an artist of “subtle control, careful focus and thorough professionalism” by the Chronical Journal, and as “fiery and dynamic” by The Walleye Magazine, Canadian conductor Maria Fuller demonstrates unparalleled energy and an infectious joy in her music-making. Admired for her diversity and breadth of abilities, she performs internationally as a conductor, pianist, trumpeter, and is also an acclaimed vocal coach and collaborator, award-winning composer, and sought after arranger. 

In November 2023, Maria was a finalist at the 11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition, Poland, garnering her performances last season at the Teatr w Wielki w Łodzi, and this season at Prague State Opera. For the 24/25 season, Maria has accepted a contract as Resident Conductor in Łódź, Poland, where she will conduct operatic and and ballet productions. This season marked Maria’s first year as the founding Music Director of Ammolite Opera, Calgary, and she looks forward to the world premier of her own oratorio “The Return of the Messiah” on December 20th. 

Maria has represented Canada in the inaugural La Maestra International Conducting Competition, Paris; received the prestigious David Effron Conducting Fellowship at the Chautauqua Institute, New York; conducted numerous Canadian orchestras (including NACO, and the Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Kamloops, Kingston, Calgary, Victoria, and Vancouver symphonies, and Pacific Opera Victoria, Manitoba Opera, Manitoba Underground Opera, Saskatoon Opera, and at the Royal Conservatory of Music); was a mentor of Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program; and served as Resident Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony for two years. As an arranger, her holiday arrangements have been endorsed by the American conductor and arranger, Jeff Tyzik, and are performed by orchestras across Canada.

Her degrees include a BMUS in Piano Performance from McGIll University, an MM in Piano Performance, MM in Orchestral Conducting (with Mark Gibson), and an AD in Operatic Coaching from the College-Conservatory of Music 

Hong Kong-born Cheng Xin Ip completed his graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in 2024 under the tutelage of Dr. Jonathan Girard, and has participated in conducting workshops and masterclasses hosted by Martyn Brabbins, Mark Heron, Toby Purser and Clark Rundell. His past conducting teachers and mentors include Ho-man Choi, Mark Heron, Kelvin Ngai and Toby Purser. Ip has performed in venues and concert halls across the globe, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, UK, Germany, USA, Canada, and collaborated with world-famous artists such as Vassily Sinaisky, Antony Hermus, Eric Whitacre, and Twoset Violin, etc.

Ip was named a conducting fellow at the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix 2023 and 2024, where he had the privilege of working with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kensho Watanabe, and assisted in their performances with the Orchestre Métropolitain and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. In 2024, he was invited to participate in the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, working closely with Marin Alsop and Mei-Ann Chen.

Ip is also an accomplished percussionist. He graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, UK, with a Master of Music in Timpani and Orchestral Percussion Performance, where he was awarded the Southern Percussion Prize; He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he was twice awarded the Parsons Music Foundation Scholarship and the Chung Chi Departmental Prize. He was selected as an RTHK Young Music Maker by Radio Television Hong Kong in 2019, making magazine, television, radio appearances and recorded solo performances for TV show and CD release.

Ip is currently a Sessional Lecturer at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches undergraduate Conducting.

Serena Reuten is a German-Canadian conductor currently serving as the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony. Between 2024-2026 she will also join the third cohort of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Orchestral Conducting Academy mentorship program under the guidance of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Recent activities include participating in the 2024 Järvi Conducting Academy in Pärnu, Estonia under the mentorship of Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, and Leonid Grin. She has served as guest assistant conductor for the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestra, as well as guest conductor with the Winnipeg Symphony during their annual Winnipeg New Music Festival. In 2023, she was the inaugural recipient of the Bernhard Gueller Conducting Fellowship with Symphony Nova Scotia as well as one of CBC’s 30 under 30 Classical Musicians. Over the past few summers she has also attended several international conducting masterclasses, studying under such conductors as Alexander Shelley and Cristian Măcelaru. 
 
Serena recently completed her graduate studies in orchestral conducting at the Eastman School of Music with Neil Varon. Also active in Rochester’s broader musical community, she served as the director of the New Horizons String Ensemble at the Eastman Community Music School and worked with ensembles such as OSSIA, the Eastman Chamber Orchestra, and the Eastman Graduate Composers Sinfonietta. Serena holds degrees in flute performance from the University of Ottawa and University of Montreal, and in her spare time enjoys learning languages and dancing.

Armand Birk holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Alberta, where he studied voice with Elizabeth Turnbull and Shannon Hiebert. Hailing from Victoria, Armand had initially enrolled as a biology major. It was only when he began vocal studies with Laurier Fagnan at Campus Saint-Jean in 2014 that he found his love and passion for classical music and conducting.

Recently named a 2023 conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Armand is currently pursuing a career in orchestral conducting and recently finished his graduate studies at the University of British Columbia. His primary mentors have been Petar Dundjerski and his current teacher, Jonathan Girard. He has also had the privilege of studying with James Ross, James Lowe, Yoav Talmi, Daniel Raiskin and other distinguished conductors. In July 2022, Armand was an orchestral conducting fellow at the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, where he had the honour of learning from Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Thomas Rösner in masterclasses with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and Orchestre Métropolitain.

Armand’s current and past work is varied and includes engagements with the UBC Symphony Orchestra, UBC Opera, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, UofA Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Youth Orchestra, UofA Opera, Contempo New Music Ensemble and various choirs. In 2019, Armand founded a pre-professional orchestra in Edmonton, the River City Chamber Orchestra, whose mission is to offer unique opportunities to budding young musicians and develop inter-disciplinary performances that showcase live painting, dance and poetry. The former artistic director of the Centre d’arts visuels de l’Alberta, Armand’s passion for the arts knows no bounds and is dedicated to combining various art forms in innovative ways.

A promising new-generation conductor, Léa Moisan-Perrier stands out for her dynamism and sensitivity and for her effectiveness as a communicator.

Recently appointed artistic director and conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de l’Estuaire, she has been invited to conduct the Orchestre symphonique de Laval and Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke, among other orchestras, in recent years. Her career experience includes several assistantships, most notably at the Opéra National du Rhin with Jacques Lacombe (2018), the Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville with Julien Proulx (2022) and the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières with Jean-Marie Zeitouni (2023). Always seeking to refine her art, she has participated in various masterclasses, including one with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Rafael Payare in the spring of 2021.

Alongside her orchestral conducting pursuits, Léa Moisan-Perrier has a career as a choral conductor. In June 2022, she was appointed choir director and conductor at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul. Driven by the quality and vitality of her direction, the ensemble, comprised of 24 professional singers and volunteer choristers, performs a bold repertoire. Artistic director of the Chœur des enfants de Montréal since 2017, she leads the organization to push its limits through ambitious and refined programs. Until the spring of 2022, she was the artistic director of the Les Voix parallèles chorus at the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy, which she founded in 2015.

In the spring of 2023, Léa Moisan-Perrier completed her master’s degree in conducting at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (CMM) under the direction of Jacques Lacombe and Jean-Marie Zeitouni. A graduate of the CMM piano program, she also holds a master’s degree in choral conducting from the Université de Sherbrooke and a bachelor’s degree in classical singing from the Université de Montréal. She is the recipient of the 2016 Moulin Seigneurial scholarship, the 2017 Iwan Edwards Prize awarded by Andrew McGill and a 2022 CMM scholarship of excellence.

Originally from the Quebec City area, Marie-Claire Cardinal grew up in a musical environment. As soon as she started learning the violin, she knew she wanted to make music her profession. Marie-Claire has a bachelor’s in violin performance from the Conservatoire de musique de Québec and a master of music performance in violin from the University of Toronto. The young musician has also studied orchestral conducting with maestros Gilles Auger, Uri Mayer and Gillian MacKay. More recently, she took part in the orchestral conducting internship at Domaine Forget with conductors Bramwell Tovey and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Her career is rich in orchestral experiences. Marie-Claire has played with, among others, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the European Union Youth Orchestra, taking part in national and international tours and recording sessions. Marie-Claire is also an extra with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec.

A native of Vancouver, Monica Chen is the Assistant Conductor of the University of British Columbia Symphony Orchestra and the Debut Orchestra conductor for the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra. Recent conducting engagements include participating at the Domaine Forget International Summer Academy, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the UBC Chamber Music Festival, and the University of Oregon Conducting Institute, working closely with maestros including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bramwell Tovey and Neil Varon. She was one of three finalists at Domaine Forget chosen to perform in concert with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec.

Monica also has extensive experience in violin and pedagogy, having graduated from Indiana University with a MMus in Violin Performance studying under Mimi Zweig, and led her own studio as a member of the IU Pre-College String Academy. Monica is currently pursuing her Master’s in Orchestral Conducting with Dr. Jonathan Girard, and continuing her violin studies with Prof. Jasper Wood. She maintains a busy performance schedule, while teaching violin both locally and internationally online.

Benoit Gauthier got his start at the École de musique du Côte-Nord, where he studied classical singing, guitar, saxophone, flute, violin, viola and cello. Taken with musical instruments from an early age, he was fascinated by the multitude of possibilities they offer.

In January 2012, sensing the musical potential of his region, he founded the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord, whose mission is to introduce audiences to the symphonic repertoire and make it accessible to all.

Benoît completed his flute studies with Jacinthe Forand and Richard Lapointe and, under Gilles Auger, obtained a certificate in orchestral conducting from the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. At the Conservatoire, he received several scholarships and prizes for his outstanding academic results and involvement in the cultural community. Besides being the music and artistic director of the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord, he performs as an extra with other ensembles, including the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and La Musique du Royal 22e Régiment.

As an orchestral conductor, Benoît has studied under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Bramwell Tovey. In the summer of 2021, he made his debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, as part of an internship at the Académie du Domaine Forget.

A Sherbrooke native, Félix Ste-Marie first conducted in public when he was 14. The experience sparked a passion that has motivated him throughout his career. He began his studies at the CÉGEP de Sherbrooke, where he won the prize for academic excellence in music. He then continued at the Université de Sherbrooke, studying piano with Carmen Picard and conducting with François Bernier. In 2015, he began his master’s under Gilles Auger at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, where he was unanimously awarded the jury prize for orchestral conducting.

He has acquired additional conducting experience with, among others, the Orchestre de chambre étudiant de Sherbrooke, which he founded in 2013, the Ensemble à vents de Sherbrooke, in which he plays clarinet, and the Orchestre symphonique de Lévis, of which he has been assistant conductor since 2017.

He is also enrolled in the business and career development program of the Fondation Père Lindsay and has honed his art at the Miami Music Festival under Maestro David Effron and Domaine Forget under Maestro Yoav Talmi, who selected Félix from among the interns to conduct the Orchestre symphonique de Québec at a concert at the Domaine Forget International Festival in the summer of 2019. More recently, Félix was appointed musical director and conductor of the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Sherbrooke. It is with pride and gratitude that he now has the opportunity to give back to the cultural community that has given so much to him.

Félix is a versatile musician and young conductor appreciated by his peers for his attentiveness, humanism and contagious energy on the podium. What drives him most in living his passion is sharing moments of musical grace in all their beauty and authenticity.

Trevor Wilson is an Ottawa-born conductor who in recent times has performed with the Eastern Festival Orchestra as well as the University of Ottawa Orchestra after having taken over the role of University Conductor for the latter part of the 2021 winter semester. Trevor is Conductor Emeritus of the Ottawa Pops Orchestra, having founded the organization in 2017 and served as Music Director until 2019. In summer 2019, he also served as the Assistant Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada under Boris Brott. Having attended several other masterclasses and festivals, Trevor has had the opportunity to study under internationally recognized conductors such as David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz, Neil Varon, David Effron, and Markus Stenz, and in 2018 he performed with the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra in Budapest, Hungary. Trevor completed his graduate studies in orchestral conducting under Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory, where he also served as assistant conductor to the Peabody Choruses under Edward Polochick.

An active member of the Ottawa musical community, Trevor completed his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the University of Ottawa where he studied violin and composition, and has performed extensively as a member of the violin section of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.

Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Naomi Woo is a prominent young Canadian conductor and pianist, notable not only as a performer across Canada and Europe but also as a socially engaged interdisciplinary artist and educator.

In frequent demand as an opera conductor and music director, Naomi recently directed Indigenous composer-playwright Tomson

Highway’s The (Post)Mistress for the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and has upcoming engagements with the Little Opera Company and re:Naissance Opera. Her passion for new work has led to prizes at the Eckhardt-Grammatté Competition and performances at new music and arts festivals across Europe, including at Darmstadt, Klangspuren Schwaz, and Tête-à-Tête Opera.

With the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, she conducts masterworks, pops, and family concerts, and serves as a leader in the community as the first Music Director of Sistema Winnipeg. She studied at Yale University and Université de Montréal, and holds a PhD from Cambridge University.