South African–born violinist Amanda Goodburn is a founding member of the Tokai String Quartet and a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

She has collaborated as a chamber musician with the Art of Time Ensemble, ArrayMusic, and the ARC Ensemble; and has performed at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Ahuntsic en Fugue and Concerts aux Îles du Bic festivals in Québec. She has also performed as soloist with the Toronto Symphony, Cape Town Philharmonic, and KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic orchestras.

Amanda completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch, and holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto and diplomas from the Royal Northern College of Music in England, where she was an Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) scholar.

Andrew is a founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, a 14-piece conductor-less string orchestra known for their innovative and musician-led performances, featuring some of the finest musicians from across the country. As an orchestral and freelance cellist, he appears regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Concert Orchestra, and with touring artists such as Lauryn Hill, Sigur Rós, and Bruce Cockburn. was a founding member of the award-winning Bedford Trio from 2016-2023, performing in Canada, the United States, and Europe.Since 2016, he has been the Artistic Director and Producer of Music in the Atrium, now in its 29th season, at Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Andrew’s production and administrative work has included serving as the Artistic Producer of the Banff Centre’s Evolution Classical programs, as well a multi-media Producer for organizations including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, University of Toronto, University Health Network, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Leaf Music. Andrew was the Artistic Director and Producer of Music in the Atrium at Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre from 2016-2025. Andrew has worked extensively in musical theatre, and most recently appeared as Music Director of Eclipse Theatre Company’s original production ’Til Then.

Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Carolyn Blackwell has shared the stage with esteemed artists such as Geoff Nuttall, Daniel Phillips and Mayumi Seiler.

Carolyn is a member of the Canadian Opera Company, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and regularly performs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada. She has also performed with The English National Opera. As a busy freelancer in Toronto, she is guest violist with the Artists of The Royal Conservatory and the Art of Time Ensemble. She completed her studies with Steven Dann and Nick Pulos.

Carolyn is violist of the Tokai String Quartet as well as an avid chamber musician who performs annually at Cervo Chamber Music Festival (Italy), Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove (UK) and is a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland). She can be heard on CBC and BBC Radio.

Violinist Csaba Koczo is currently Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, and holds a position with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

Mr. Koczó also enjoys a prolific career as a chamber musician and soloist both in Canada and abroad. As a founding member of the Banff Competition prizewinning and Dora award nominated Tokai String Quartet, Mr. Koczó has toured across Canada and the US and some of his performances have been broadcast on the CBC and the Hungarian National Radio. He has performed at Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Toronto Summer Music Festival where he has worked with Ian Swensen and the Leipzig String Quartet. Mr. Koczó has taught at the Universities of Stanford, Toronto, Kingston, Halifax and Acadia in Wolfville NS, and spent many summers as a faculty member of Music at Port Milford in Picton, ON. He also often appears on the Chatter Chamber Music series in New Mexico and plays with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He is a member of the TakeFive Ensemble, and was one of the founding members of the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.  

Mr. Koczo has shared the stage with such illustrious musicians as Mayumi Seiler, Steven Isserlis, Scott St.John, Douglas McNabney, Yehonatan Berick and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. As a soloist, he has been featured with the Sandor Frigyes Chamber Orchestra and has also had the opportunity to perform the Beethoven Violin concerto and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Born in Hungary, Mr. Koczó began his studies in Yugoslavia and then continued in Hungary at the Richter Conservatory in Gyor and the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest. After attaining his bachelor’s degree with distinction from the College of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, he continued his studies in Toronto with Lorand Fenyves and Erika Raum at the Glenn Gould School and the University of Toronto, where he was the recipient of the H. Carter scholarship.

Equally adept in genres from baroque to contemporary, cellist Drew Comstock maintains a multifaceted career as performer, educator, and entrepreneur. He is Co-Executive Director and founding cellist of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, recognized for its “innovative and immersive programming” (Ludwig van Toronto). Comstock has been a Classical:NEXT Fellow, winner of the Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition, and the recipient of numerous grants from the Toronto, and Ontario Arts Councils.

Praised for his “deep and sonorous” cello playing (South Florida Classical Review), Drew served as Principal Cellist of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, Stéphane Denève, and others, leading performances at Carnegie Hall, the Arsht Center, and the New World Center. A former member of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, he now performs regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, and North Carolina Symphony.

He has collaborated with Anthony Marwood, Jonathan Crow, and David Geringas, and with composers John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, and Steve Reich. Drew began his formal studies in high school at the UNC School of the Arts, and continued his musical education at the New England Conservatory, McGill University, and the Glenn Gould School. His mentors include Yeesun Kim, Brian Manker, Desmond Hoebig, Steven Dann, and Joe Johnson.

Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron, the Associate Principal cellist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, enjoys a diverse career as a recitalist, chamber and orchestral musician, and teacher.

An accomplished chamber musician, Emmanuelle is a member of the Tokai String Quartet. She is regularly invited to perform in festivals and series across Canada. She has participated in a Debut Atlantic tour in the Maritimes; played at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Ahuntsic en Fugue, and Concerts aux Iles-du-Bic in Quebec; Sound at Parry Sound, Toronto Summer Music, and Stratford Music Festival in Ontario; and Music-by-the-Sea and the Pender Harbour Music Festival in British Columbia.

She has also performed as guest principal cellist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Les Violons du Roy in Quebec City.

As a teacher, Emmanuelle has collaborated with students at the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program in Vermont, Music at Port Milford, and at the Toronto Summer Music Festival.

Emmanuelle is a graduate of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, the Juilliard School and Rice University. Her teachers have included Denis Brott, Joel Krosnick, Bonnie Hampton, and Norman Fischer. She is a prizewinner of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, Prix d’Europe Competition, and Radio-Canada’s Young Artist Competition. She is a twice-awarded laureate of the Canada Council Bank of Instruments competition.

She is also an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Sarasota Music Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, UCLA Piatigorsky Seminar for cellists, and the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, England.

Emmanuelle was born in rural Quebec, grew up in Montreal, and currently lives in Toronto, where she listens to French radio every day often while eating cheese and baguette.

For several years, Kevin was an integral part of the Juilliard Open Classroom team where he helped to develop new digital music courses to reach musicians across the globe. In this capacity, he offered his skills as a teacher, curriculum writer, and course builder to a number of online courses, including JOC’s first release: Sharpen Your Piano Artistry. He was a curriculum writer for Piano Preludes: Bach, Chopin, and Debussy, offered through the online education platform edX.  

Keen on inspiring the artistry of young musicians, he has taught masterclasses and coachings at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Royal Northern College of Music, Moravian College, Olympic College, the College of Southern Idaho, the International Conservatory Studio, Inc., and the University of Las Vegas.

A two-time winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, Kevin completed principal studies at the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Joseph Kalichstein and Stephen Hough, and was in-residence as a Rebanks Fellow at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. He is a grateful recipient of a Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award and was a NFMC Artist Award recipient. 

Kevin is Artistic Director of OPUS Chamber Music, Toronto’s newest premier hub for chamber music connecting audiences with dynamic and compelling artists who aim to excite, connect, and inspire.

A violinist of impeccably tailored artistry, Mayumi Seiler is renowned for her exciting performances of concerto, recital and collaborative works both live and on disc. She has graced stages from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein and in London at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall for The Proms. In performances of depth and delight, she has collaborated with renowned soloists and conductors, and created a distinguished series of concerts which played to sold-out houses in Toronto over 14 seasons.

Mayumi Seiler has appeared as concerto soloist with major symphonies around the globe, including the Royal Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Moscow Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Montréal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Academica Salzburg, Bournemouth Symphony, City of London Sinfonia and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, among others. She has collaborated with such noted conductors as Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, David Atherton, Christopher Hogwood, Neville Marriner, Sandor Vegh, Hugh Wolff and Richard Hickox.

Among Ms. Seiler’s extensive list of recordings are the Beethoven Concerto, the two Mendelssohn Concertos and three of the Haydn Violin Concertos with the City of London Sinfonia and Richard Hickox conducting on the Virgin Classics label. She has recorded Stravinsky’s Le Baiser de la Fée with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and David Atherton, also on Virgin Classics. Her many recordings of chamber music, including works of Schumann, Dohnanyi, Boccherini and Mozart, appear on the Hyperion and Capriccio labels.

While nurturing a busy schedule as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Japan and the Americas, Ms. Seiler founded Toronto’s Via Salzburg – acclaimed as “One of the best roads to our musical hearts” (Toronto Star). In Via Salzburg she led a string orchestra in regular performances at the Glenn Gould Studio for sold out audiences. Through 14 seasons she curated programs with renowned artists from Europe and Asia and combined varied art forms such as dance, pantomime and painting into Via Salzburg events, winning the embrace of audiences and the praise of critics citing the performer’s “combustion of creative energy – they clearly love what they are doing” (Toronto Star).

She has collaborated with many of the world’s leading soloists, including violinists Maxim Vengerov, Richard Tognetti and Ruggiero Ricci, violist Veronika Hagen, cellists Steven Isserlis and Colin Carr, pianists Menachim Pressler, André Laplante, Yael Weiss and Ikuyo Nakamichi, clarinetist David Shiffrin, and guitarist Elliot Fisk among many others.

An active and passionate teacher, Mayumi Seiler serves on the faculty at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She has held a professorship at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, has given masterclasses worldwide and has adjudicated at numerous international violin competitions. She began her musical upbringing in Osaka, Japan, where she was born of Japanese/German parentage. Wedded to the violin from the age of three, she received her musical education at the renowned Mozarteum during the formative years of her childhood in Salzburg.

Mayumi Seiler performs on the 1684 Croall Stradivarius.

Rachel Desoer is a cellist from Hamilton, Ontario. She studied at the Juilliard School, Oberlin College, McGill University and the Banff Centre. 

She graduated from Oberlin in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Rachel was the cellist of the Cecilia String Quartet from 2010 to 2018. In this ensemble Rachel toured extensively around the world, recorded 4 albums on the Analekta label and taught chamber music at the University of Toronto. Touring has brought Rachel to inspiring venues such as Wigmore Hall, The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzert Haus Berlin and many more. The Cecilia Quartet also made educational programming a priority and performed hundreds of presentations for schools. 

In 2014 the quartet created a concert series called Xenia concerts specifically designed for children on the autism spectrum and their families. Exemplifying their commitment to the equal representation of women in music, Rachel spearheaded the commissioning of 4 string quartets by Canadian women composers in 2016. Throughout her schooling and career Rachel has also played recitals and concertos with orchestra. She has also worked in other orchestras, most notably, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company. She is currently the acting principal cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia.

Principal Cello of the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton, Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents. 

Described as a "pure chamber musician" (Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, and was a member of JUNO-winning Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-20), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-10). 

An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned over 25 works including a cello concerto by Stewart Goodyear recently premiered with the NAC Orchestra, and an album of Canadian women composers released on Centrediscs. Rachel plays a 17th century cello from Northern Italy.

Soprano Reilly Bianchi performs Italian classics as timeless art - songs where longing, joy, and heartache transcend era. With a voice that carries both operatic power and intimate truth, she brings contemporary artistry to beloved Canzone Napoletana and Italian repertoire, honouring their cultural significance while proving these melodies speak to the human heart in any generation. No nostalgia, no vintage aesthetic - just golden age quality with contemporary relevance.

Her story begins in Sault Ste. Marie, Northern Ontario, shaped by her Italian and Scottish heritage and an early connection to the traditions and emotional directness of Italian song. That heritage remains at the heart of her artistry today. Now based in Toronto, she performs regularly within the city’s Italian cultural community, bringing the same operatic excellence heard in major houses to intimate gatherings, cultural celebrations, and elegant events.

Across North America and Europe, Reilly’s career has carried her from leading opera companies to some of the most distinctive stages in the concert world. A defining recent moment came with her Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as Nancy Smith in Blind Injustice, where Front Row Center praised her voice for “rising like a phoenix.” She has since appeared with Pacific Opera Victoria, Cincinnati Opera, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Tapestry Opera, and in the Glimmerglass Festival world premiere of Tenor Overboard, continually drawn to work that pushes beyond performance into storytelling.

Reilly is also recognized as a specialist in the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, earning second place in the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition. As a two-time participant in Barbara Hannigan’s elite Equilibrium Young Artists program, she continues to expand the boundaries of vocal expression while remaining rooted in the emotional honesty of operatic tradition.

Whether in opera houses or private cultural settings, Reilly brings a rare combination of dramatic intensity, warmth, and truth, offering performances that feel less like presentation and more like lived experience.

This season, she appears with 21C Music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in January 2026, performing Kaija Saariaho’s From the Grammar of Dreams, a work that reflects her ongoing commitment to contemporary artistry and poetic depth.

Theresa Rudolph is Assistant Principal Viola of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. Theresa began her orchestral career as the youngest member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21. She has also performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. 

A passionate chamber musician, Theresa has performed throughout North America, appearing in festivals such as the Great Lakes and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals, Ottawa Chamberfest, and New Music Detroit. Frequently heard on series throughout Ontario, she performs regularly as a member of the TSO Chamber Soloists, and has been featured on CBC/Radio-Canada.

Increasingly sought-after as a teacher, Theresa maintains a robust studio at the University of Toronto, and is the Viola Faculty of the Taylor Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has been a guest clinician at the Universities of Montreal, Western Ontario, and Ottawa, and is the Viola Coach of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Theresa holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert Vernon. While at CIM, she toured and recorded with the Musicians from Ravinia, was a prizewinner at the prestigious Fischoff Competition, and performed in Carnegie Hall.

Yolanda Bruno is, according to CBC Music, one of the “hottest young musicians” in Canada. She’s won a slew of awards and competitions, has performed as a soloist all over Europe and North America and joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2019. She’s played for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and backed-up the Australian heavy metal band Parkway Drive at a recording session in Ottawa.

Yet her most memorable musical experiences have happened in unexpected places—playing for children in a parking lot in South-East London, giving a concert in a high-security penitentiary, playing for strangers on street corners or in parks, subways, airports, hospitals.

She believes in the power of music to break down barriers of all kinds—personal, cultural, even political. Yolanda grew up in Ottawa and music was part of life before she was even born. Her mom went into labour while playing a concert, and became Yolanda’s first, and probably most important, teacher. After studies at McGill and the Guildhall School (London), she returned to Canada and launched a whirlwind professional career full of musical adventures. She masterminded a Kickstarter campaign with pianist Isabelle David to cover the costs of their first CD, The Wild Swans. It features music by eleven women composers, spanning ten centuries, including several world premieres. During the pandemic, she gave over 50 free performances as part of a project she calls “Music for Your Blues.” Children, retirees, folks in classrooms and seniors’ centres joined her for online concerts combining music with stories and poetry. For Yolanda, playing (on her nearly 300 year-old Domenico Montagnana) violin is about spinning sound, carving notes to make them speak as words—communication that is both intimate and provocative.