Ensemble Musicians

Violinists

Tamara Hrycak

Tamara Hrycak has won numerous provincial and national competitions, and the Regina Conservatory of Music's prestigious President's Gold Medal. She earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Saskatchewan, a Master of Music under Lorand Fenyves and a Bachelor of Education at the University of Toronto. She has toured throughout Europe, Asia and North America, and has performed alongside Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Anne Murray and Rita MacNeil. She is a member of Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia and Windsor Symphony. Tamara is an advocate for education in the arts, an active string clinician, and a private violin and viola instructor.

Ines Pagliari

Ines Pagliari was born and educated in Toronto, and graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours Degree in Performance. She studied violin with the late Jack Montague, Isidor Desser, and Victor Danchenko. Ines received numerous scholarships and awards, and was invited to perform in a masterclass held in Toronto by Sir Yehudi Menuhin. She is currently Principal Second Violin with Orchestra Toronto, and has been Concertmaster of the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra and the York Symphony Orchestra. Ines teaches violin privately, and is the Director of the Beaches Suzuki School of Music.

Cellists

Mary-Katherine Finch

Cellist Mary-Katherine Finch holds both Bachelor and Master degrees in performance from the University of Toronto. She performs frequently in recital with pianist Ron Greidanus. Playing an authentic baroque cello, she has appeared with Aradia, Baroque Music Beside the Grange, Grand River Baroque Festival and Toronto Masque Theatre. In the area of new music, she regularly collaborates with the ensembles Toca Loca and Ergo, and has premiered several chamber works of Canadian composers. Mary-Katherine frequently plays with the larger ensembles of the Mendelssohn, Isler, Amadeus and Elora Festival Choirs.

Alyssa Wright

Cellist Alyssa Wright studied performance and composition at Queen's University, with Sally Bick, Julian Tryczinsky and Jill Vitols, and in masterclasses with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. She is featured on dozens of folk, pop, rock, jazz, world and classical albums, and has performed at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, Molson Amphitheatre, Music Gallery, the du Maurier Downtown Jazz Festival, and on Global Television and City TV. Formerly the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Kingston Symphony and Principal Cellist of Ensemble Unterwegs, Alyssa currently performs regularly with the Amity Trio and folk group The Als.

Flautists

Shauna Basiuk

Shauna Basiuk earned a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance at the University of Calgary, and an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Music has taken Shauna to China, The Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, California and Texas. She has been repeatedly invited to perform as a guest of the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra. Shauna currently teaches at St. Clements Private School and in her own tiny coach house, and is on faculty at the University of Calgary Regional Summer Band Workshop and the Toronto Summer Music Camp.

Connie Price

Constance Price studied flute at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and is a solo and chamber music performer in the Toronto area. She has performed extensively in the United States and Canada over the past twenty years, including television appearances on CBC, Rogers, CHIN, and Vision TV. She was a performer for Pope John Paul II's visit to Toronto in 2002 for World Youth Day, and has played with several local ensembles, including the Taffanel Wind Ensemble and the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.

Heather Snowden

Flautist Heather Snowden has been freelancing in the Toronto area for the past several years, performing with groups such as the Niagara Symphony Orchestra and the Thunder Bay Symphony, as well as numerous chamber groups. She received her Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, and her Master of Music in Flute Performance from Northwestern University in Chicago.

Pianists

Marianne Gast

Marianne Gast has performed as a solo artist and chamber musician in Hungary, Austria and France. She studied piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and at the Banff School for Advanced Musical Studies. Marianne completed a Bachelor of Music in piano performance at the University of Toronto, and is an MBA graduate. She has participated in masterclasses with Leon Fleischer, Anton Kuerti, Gyorgy Sebok and Greta Kraus. She is the founder of the Bartok Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her interests include downhill skiing, figure skating, horseback riding, swimming and creative writing.

Ellen Meyer

Pianist Ellen Meyer completed a Bachelor of Music in piano performance at the University of Toronto, where her teachers were Jane Coop and Pierre Souvairan. She has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist throughout Canada, and in the U.S. and Germany. Her recordings include an album with the Bowkun Trio, three CDs with the Cantores Celestes women's chamber choir, and soundtracks for feature films and documentaries. She accompanies instrumentalists and choral groups, is pianist with the Riverdale Ensemble, and has been featured as "Musician in our Midst" in WholeNote magazine.

Drummer

Steve Farrugia

Steve Farrugia has been playing drums for 14 years in various genres including Jazz, Big Band, Latin, Rock and Ska Reggae. Steve attended the Humber College Jazz Studies program, and studied predominantly jazz and Latin music at Humber and privately. He is well versed in studio work for various bands, and has played in festivals and clubs throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Steve was recently involved in musical theatre pit bands for The Sound of Music and Oliver. He currently teaches 45 students per week on drums and percussion.

Ensemble Photos

Tamara, Michelle and Heather at McGill University Chapel Connie and Michelle at Roy Thomson Hall Singer Maria Thorburn, Ines, Michelle and Tamara Steve and Michelle Connie, Michelle and Ines Ines, Tamara and Michelle Singer Chris Dallo, Norman, Michelle and Mary-Katherine