CRMSS Tutors
CRMSS Ontario 2025
CRMSS Atlantic 2025
CRMSS Pacific 2025
Greg Skidmore
Back to topThe Tallis Scholars, I Fagiolini, Alamire, Eric Whitacre Singers
Greg will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025, CRMSS Atlantic 2025, CRMSS Pacific 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, CRMSS 2019, CRMSS 2021, CRMSS 2022, CRMSS Ontario 2023 , CRMSS Pacific 2023, CRMSS Ontario 2024, and CRMSS Pacific 2024
Credit: Paul Arthur
Born in Canada, Greg Skidmore arrived in England as an undergraduate at Royal Holloway College, University of London. After graduating with First Class Honours in Music, his post-graduate Choral Scholarship at Wells Cathedral lead him to Lay Clerkships at Gloucester Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. He now lives in London, England and pursues a varied career as a consort, choral, and solo oratorio singer alongside his burgeoning work as a conductor and workshop leader.
Greg is one of the UK's most sought after consort singers. He has appeared with The Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, The Cardinall's Musick, Tenebrae, The Gabrieli Consort, Alamire, Contrapunctus, The Eric Whitacre Singers, Collegium Vocale Ghent, Ensemble L'Arpeggiata, Cappella Amsterdam, and La Grand Chapelle (based in Madrid). He can be heard on discs released by Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, and Harmonia Mundi USA, including recent Grammophone Early Music Award winning recordings with Alamire (‘The Spy’s Choirbook’) and The Tallis Scholars (‘Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie, Missa D'ung aultre amer & Missa Faysant regretz’). In 2015, he featured in I Fagiolini’s Betrayal, a fully staged, devised presentation of the madrigals and sacred music of Carlo Gesualdo. 2017, the 450th anniversary of Monteverdi’s birth, was a busy year for I Fagiolini, and Greg performed many concerts of Monteverdi’s madrigals and sacred music, toured a new CD release, and performed his opera L'Orfeo this year with the group. 2019 saw Greg take part in an extensive tour of I Fagiolini’s Leonardo: Shaping the Invisible project, in collaboration with Dr Martin Kemp, a leading scholar on the life and art of Leonardo da Vinci. In 2020 and 2021, he featured in all of the Voces8 LiveFromLondon festivals, appearing with both I Fagiolini and the Voces8 Foundation Choir. Greg's work with both I Fagiolini and The Tallis Scholars continues, and he recently sang in his hundredth concert with that group.
Greg also works as a soloist. Solo engagements have included working with ballet dancer Carlos Acosta in his A Classical Farewell at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England; Handel’s Messiah with the Irish Baroque Orchestra; Purcell’s Ode for St Cecilia's Day with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment; Purcell's Fairy Queen with the Gabrieli Consort; and Monterverdi’s 1610 Vespers at the Brighton Early Music Festival, and with I Fagiolini and the BBC Singers at the Barbican Centre. His solo recording debut was as Christus on Ex Cathedra’s recording of the Lassus St. Matthew Passion and another Ex Cathedra CD release of Alec Roth’s oratorio A Time to Dance features Greg in a role written specifically for him.
While at Christ Church in Oxford, he began a course of doctoral research in Musicology at the University of Oxford and started his own men’s voices consort, I Dedicati. More recently he was appointed Musical Director of Brighton Consort, a Renaissance specialist amateur chamber choir. In 2014 he founded The Lacock Scholars, now one of the UK's premier amateur vocal consorts, with whom he has recorded and toured extensively. In 2025 he founded the West Australian Renaissance Music Summer School in Perth, Australia, exporting the successful model he pioneered at CRMSS to the other side of the globe. He has given other workshops and masterclasses in the UK, France, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Australia in association with The Sixteen, I Fagiolini, and on his own, specialising in various collections of Renaissance polyphonic repertoire. Greg has assisted Eamonn Dougan, Associate Conductor of The Sixteen, and Justin Doyle, Chief Conductor of RIAS Kammerchor (Berlin) in leading week-long singing courses specialising in early music and vocal chamber music and he is increasingly engaged in Canada as a guest conductor, clinician, and record producer. He has been published in Early Music and his writing has appeared in programmes and CD liner notes for The Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, The Cardinall’s Musick, The Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, and Ex Cathedra.
Greg says:
"2025, here we come! I can't quite believe that we'll be running THREE courses this year, but I'm so excited to be doing so. CRMSS really does continue to go from strength to strength and, building on our best summer yet last year in 2024, I'm really looking forward to what new heights we reach. The themes this year are fantastic: Palestrina and Gibbons in Ontario offer us polyphony with real class, and in Vancouver it's difficult to top Tallis, Byrd, Parsons, Taverner, and the rest of the Tudor geniuses. I'm also very happy to be expanding our CRMSS International Scholars programme and bringing a group of some exceptional students from the UK to Vancouver. Join us!"
Matthew Long
Back to topI Fagiolini, The Sixteen, Tenebrae, The Dunedin Consort
Matt will be a tutor at: CRMSS Pacific 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, CRMSS 2019, CRMSS Ontario 2023 , and CRMSS Ontario 2024
Matthew Long was a successful treble soloist, singing the role of Miles in Britten's Turn of the Screw for Italian Opera houses. He studied music at the University of York and sang as a choral scholar in the choir of York Minster during his time there. He later won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London. Whilst there he was a Susan Chilcott Scholar and a Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist. At various times, he has been a member of the celebrated chamber choirs, The Sixteen and Tenebrae and continues to sing as a part of the solo voice ensemble, I Fagiolini.
Matthew has appeared as a soloist with many UK based ensembles, including The OAE, The English Concert, The Hanover Band, The Dunedin Consort, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the LPO. Highlights have included Bach, St. Matthew Passion for the Boston Handel and Haydn Society; Britten, War Requiem for Jonathan Willcocks in Salisbury Cathedral. In 2017 he performed the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo to critical acclaim in a series of semi-staged productions in Norway and the UK with I Fagiolini. Further performances are planned in York and London in 2019. In December 2017, Matthew sang the Evangelist for three concerts of Bach's, Christmas Oratorio with the Danish Radio Choir in Copenhagen. He is increasingly known as a Monteverdi specialist, regularly performing the 1610 Vespers, most notably for the national youth choirs of Great Britain at the Albert Hall, London and at the Osaka Jo hall, Japan with the Berlin RIAS Kammerchor. He appears as tenor soloist on the Dunedin Consort's 2017 recording of the same piece.
During the pandemic, Matthew and his wife and children built a successful online children’s music resource: www.minimusicmakers.co.uk. They performed daily classes for over a year from their front room to toddler audiences worldwide.
Matthew's debut solo disc with the LPO and accompanist Malcolm Martineau, Till the Stars Fall, was released in 2015. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, gems from the English song repertoire sit alongside folk songs in celebration of some of Britain's finest music. He performed this programme in May 2018 as part of the 'Music in the Cotswolds' festival for Martin Randall Travel.
In his spare time, Matthew is a keen photographer and follower of wildlife conservation. He lives with his wife, daughter, and brand new son near Brighton, UK.
Matt says:
"Having been involved with CRMSS Ontario since the olden days, I’m excited to have finally been given permission to traverse the Rockies. Tutoring at CRMSS has become one of the undisputed peaks of my working year. I really looking forward to surmounting a range of music and to meeting everyone in Vancouver for what promises to be a rewarding week of singing at CRMSS Pacific 2025!"
Tom Castle
Back to topThe Tallis Scholars, Sixteen, Gabrieli Consort, Stile Antico
Tom will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS Ontario 2023 and CRMSS Ontario 2024
Originally from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England, Tom lives in London, England and is a tenor, organist and teacher. A music graduate from the University of Bristol, Tom specialises in early music and has a busy schedule working with some of the UK's leading choirs and orchestras. As an ensemble singer, Tom works regularly with the Tallis Scholars, the Gabrieli Consort, the Sixteen, Stile Antico, and the Gesualdo 6. As a soloist, he has performed with the English Concert orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and will be making his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Handel's Messiah at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham this year. Tom was recently part of the Gabrieli Consort's recording of Purcell's operas King Arthur and the Fairy Queen, which won the BBC Opera disc of the year and was nominated for a Gramophone award. Tom has been involved in church music all of his life, and has held positions in the Cathedral choirs of Exeter, Bristol, Chichester, and Southwark; he also deputises regularly in the choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Cathedral.
As a teacher Tom has worked in both a classroom and peripatetic capacity. He is currently a singing teacher at the Royal Ballet School and also combines this with accompanying the students for examinations and concerts. He is the vocal coach for the Collegiate Church of St Peter’s Wolverhampton and regularly trains the choristers and choral scholars there. Recently he was part of a project to bring classical music to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, involving various week-long projects that culminated in a concert in the Rose Theatre, Whitehaven.
A massive sports fan, when not making music Tom is often watching or playing sports and is a loyal fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club and Worcestershire Royals Cricket Club!
Tom says:
"I’m incredibly excited about being a part of this fantastic project, The Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools. I have a huge passion for Renaissance music and can remember as a boy first singing Byrd's Ave Verum; something stirred in me and I have been in love with the music ever since. There is something mesmerising about the complexity and beauty of polyphony and I can’t wait to share my passion with the course!"
Victoria Meteyard
Back to topThe Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, Tenebrae
Victoria will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS Ontario 2024
Victoria is an ensemble singer and teacher based in London, UK. She started singing as a chorister in St Mary’s, Warwick and went on to study Maths and Music at Royal Holloway, University of London as a Choral Scholar. After graduating she continued her development through several young artist programmes, including as a member of Genesis Sixteen, an Apprentice of the Monteverdi Choir and Associate Artist with Tenebrae. She now enjoys a busy touring career, singing regularly with the Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae and the Sixteen in many of the world’s most beautiful and prestigious venues.
She was also a member of the Chapel Choir in the church of St Peter's ad Vincula inside His Majesty's Tower of London for the last five years. Victoria performs as a soloist, and recent highlights include Bach’s St John’s Passion at Coventry Cathedral, Couperin and Clérambault at Keble Early Music Festival Oxford, and Scarlatti's Stabat Mater with solo voice ensemble, the Marian Consort. She appeared on recent recordings with Tenebrae, singing solos in Britten’s Ceremony of Carols on In Winters House, and Hildegard chant on When Sleep Comes.
Victoria enjoys teaching singing at Putney High School and coaching various amateur choirs. She is also Consort Leader of the UK-Japan Music Society, with whom she regularly appears as a soloist, and toured Japan with a recital of British and Japanese duets with her husband Jules Gregory, a member of The King's Singers.
Victoria says:
"I am so looking forward to finally discovering Canadian Renaissance Summer Schools for myself after hearing so many lovely stories about it! It is a wonderful thing to share musical experiences with like-minded singers and I can’t wait to get involved! It’s especially exciting to be working on Tallis’ epic Spem in allium which still blows my mind every time I sing it!"
Sharang Sharma
Back to topElmer Iseler Singers, Tafelmusik
Sharang will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025, CRMSS Atlantic 2025, CRMSS Pacific 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS 2021, CRMSS 2022, CRMSS Ontario 2023 , CRMSS Pacific 2023, CRMSS Ontario 2024, and CRMSS Pacific 2024
Sharang is Choral Music Director and Lecturer in Arts and Social Sciences at Huron University College in London, Ontario. He sings with Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Choir, The Elmer Iseler Singers, and has appeared regularly with Soundstreams Choir 21. While active on the Canadian historical and contemporary music scenes, Sharang has also sung with ensembles in the United Kingdom while there for his studies. He completed his Bachelor of Music at Western University, and his Masters at Oriel College, University of Oxford. While at Oxford, Sharang was the tenor lay clerk at The Queen’s College, and sang with numerous Oxford- and London-based ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient Music and Instruments of Time and Truth for the BBC. His extensive choral and operatic repertoires are built through performances with The Strand Consort, Fount & Origin, Spectra Ensemble, King’s College London Chapel Choir, as well as semi-professional and amateur choral societies in the UK.
In Canada, Sharang has been engaged in choral work at various cathedrals, chapels, parishes, and colleges, all of which have prepared him for a life in ecclesiastical music. He has performed with ensembles like Kammerchor, Chor Amica (formerly Gerald Fagan Singers), UWOpera, and Western University Faculty of Music choirs, and was the latest James T. Chestnutt Choral Conducting Scholar with the Elmer Iseler Singers. He has also premiered music by established and budding composers in Canada, the UK, and the USA. Sharang has co-edited Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology, and presented his research at GAMuT (University of North Texas) and Oriel Talks (Oriel College, Oxford).
Currently, Sharang divides his time between conducting the Chapel Choir at Huron, singing in Toronto, and teaching a survey course on historical/global musics. As a veteran of the CRMSS experience, he is delighted to be back to witness the process of new folks getting absolutely excited about Renaissance Polyphony!
Sharang says:
"People will tell you about their best moments at CRMSS. I, however, will pinpoint the worst one; it's the hour after the course ends. The silence during your travel back home from the course, is the silence of a void that, you come to realise with the passing of time, was occupied by magnificence and beauty for a whole week. There are few things in the world that make grown people cry for no apparent reason, and this is one of them. Tears of absolute joy!"
Christina Hutten
Back to topUniversity of British Columbia
Christina will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS Pacific 2024
Credit: Takumi Hayashi
Organist and harpsichordist Christina Hutten has presented recitals in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including performances in concert series hosted by the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, the Hooglandsekerk in Leiden, Early Music Vancouver, the Universities of British Columbia and Calgary, and others. She performs regularly with Pacific Baroque Orchestra and has appeared as concerto soloist with the Okanagan Symphony, the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, and the Arizona State University Chamber Orchestra.
Christina is also an enthusiastic teacher. She coaches and coordinates the early music ensembles at the University of British Columbia and has given masterclasses and workshops at institutions including the Victoria Baroque Summer Program, Brandon University, the University of Manitoba, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada’s National Music Centre in Calgary, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. Funded by a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, she pursued historical organ studies in Europe with Francesco Cera, François Espinasse, and Bernard Winsemius. Christina obtained a Master’s degree in Organ Performance from Arizona State University under the direction of Kimberly Marshall and an Advanced Certificate in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Charlotte Nediger. She is now a Doctoral candidate in musicology at UBC.
Lucas Harris
Back to topTafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Toronto Continuo Collective, Vesuvius Ensemble
Lucas will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025, CRMSS Pacific 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, CRMSS 2019, CRMSS 2021, CRMSS 2022, CRMSS Ontario 2023 , CRMSS Ontario 2024, and CRMSS Pacific 2024
Lucas Harris is thrilled to have supported CRMSS Ontario since the course’s inception, accompanying singers on various types of lutes as well as providing leadership in the solo song and lute workshop components.
Lucas discovered the lute during his undergraduate studies at Pomona College, where he graduated summa cum laude. He then studied early music for two years in Europe, first at the Civica scuola di musica di Milano and at then at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen. After five years in New York City, he moved the base of his freelance career in Toronto, where for over two decades he has served as the regular lutenist for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Lucas is a founding member of the Toronto Continuo Collective, the Vesuvius Ensemble (dedicated to Southern Italian folk music), and the Lute Legends Collective (an association of specialists in ancient plucked-string traditions from diverse cultures). Lucas plays with many other ensembles in Canada and the USA and has worked in recent years with the Helicon Foundation, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Atalante, The Newberry Consort, Les Délices, and Jordi Savall / Le Concert des Nations. Lucas has a great passion for education, and has served as a coach/accompanist/lute instructor/lecturer/chorusmaster for several workshops including Oberlin’s Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute, the Tafelmusik Summer and Winter Baroque Institutes, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, Early Music Vancouver’s Baroque Vocal Programme, and his own online Baroque Voice & Continuo Academy.
In 2014 Lucas completed graduate studies in choral conducting at the University of Toronto. Upon graduating, Lucas was chosen as the Artistic Director of the Toronto Chamber Choir, for which he has created and conducted some 25 themed concert programs. He has also directed projects for the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Ohio State University Opera Program, Les voix baroques, and the Toronto Consort.
One of Lucas's many pandemic Projects’ was the reconstruction of 12 solo voice motets by the Italian nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani which are available for free download on the Web Library for Seventeenth-Century Music.
www.lucasharris.ca
Lucas says:
"CRMSS is always one of the highlights of my year, and I'm especially excited that I'll be able to participate in both the Ontario and Pacific courses in 2024. As always, I look forward to making music with other "keeners" who love Renaissance music as much as I do. See you at CRMSS!!!!!"
Dr. Kate Helsen
Back to topWestern University, London Canada
Kate will be a tutor at: CRMSS Ontario 2025, CRMSS Pacific 2025
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, CRMSS 2019, CRMSS 2021, CRMSS 2022, CRMSS Ontario 2023 , and CRMSS Ontario 2024
Before teaching Music History at Western University, Kate held a two-year post-doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) at the University of Toronto, researching musical notation in the 12 th and 13 th centuries. Her doctoral research focused on Gregorian chant transmission, orally and through the earliest notated books. She has published articles in Plainsong and Medieval Music, Acta Musicologica, the Journal of the Alamire Foundation, SPECTRUM, and Early Music.
She has been a researcher with many projects around the world including Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, as well as here at home in Canada; usually, her role focuses on connecting the musicological 'dots' with the technological tools now available to researchers in the Humanities. She is currently involved in developing software and analytics for medieval musical document analysis and chant melody comparisons on a large scale, in several SSHRC-supported projects. She sings professionally with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, in Toronto.
Kate says:
"The kind of happy symbiosis that CRMSS can achieve between musicianship and musicology is incredible, and I look forward to it every year as a kind of musical miracle."
CRMSS Ontario 2025 International Scholars
Back to topUniversity of York, UK
This year's CRMSS Ontario 2025 International Scholars will be present at: CRMSS Ontario 2025
CRMSS International Scholars on our CRMSS courses come as a pre-formed group, the members of which already know one another and have worked together before, and share their talents and experience with the rest of the CRMSS participants over the course of the week. They act as leaders within the larger singing groups, and participate in the small group sessions in amongst the Canadian participants, as well as getting some time to rehearse on their own.
In 2022, we were pleased to have with us five students studying for a master's degree in Music at the University of York, in the UK, enrolled in York's "Solo Voice Ensemble Singing" MA pathway (known as "SVES"). After this proved so successful, we welcomed back another cohort of SVES singers to CRMSS Ontario 2024 and this year we are so happy to have yet another group coming to CRMSS Ontario 2025!
The SVES course at York is a performance-based master's level course of study dedicated entirely to one-per-part ensemble singing. The programme lasts one year and includes daily rehearsing and coaching, three major recitals, and opportunities to perform with all of the University of York's many other singing groups.
For more information on SVES, please have a look at the University of York's website.
This year's CRMSS International Scholars at CRMSS Ontario 2025 are:
Alice Chapman, soprano
Beth Yates, soprano
Morven McIntyre, alto
Raphael Geldsetzer, tenor
Adam Hilton, baritone
Sebastian Thomas, bass
Beth Yates is a Soprano from Surrey, UK. She held several colleges chapel choral scholarships while studying German and Italian at Durham University and is now studying for a Master’s in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York. Her year abroad meant she was able to attend an intensive early music course in Brescia, Italy. Beth also co-founded The Phoenix Consort, a successful new vocal consort who placed third at the Tolosa Choral Contest in 2023 as well having as a recent CD release of new music by composer Alexander Campkin called ‘I Saw Eternity’. Beth also attended the Samling Academy in 2023 and performs regularly as a soloist. Recent solo highlights include Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass, Zelenka’s Miserere, Mozart’s Requiem, and Fauré’s Requiem.
Beth says:
"I’m so excited to join CRMSS and sing some wonderful music. Extra exciting as I’ve never been to Canada before!"
Alice Chapman is a soprano from Sheffield, UK. Alice studied English Literature at Bristol University where she also held a music scholarship. She conducted the Bristol University Madrigal Ensemble and has sung in choirs across England, including the Fitzhardinge Consort and the Opera North Youth Chorus. Before university, she also studied at Chetham’s School of Music. Alice is now studying at the University of York, on the MA Solo Voice Ensemble Singing course. When she’s not singing, Alice loves reading and sketching.
Alice says:
"I’ve never been to Canada so I’m very excited to visit Ontario and to meet all the singers on the course!"
Edinburgh born, Morven McIntyre is a First-Class music graduate of Edinburgh Napier University. She is currently studying for a Master of Arts degree in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York, under the direction of Robert Hollingworth. Morven is an alumnus of Genesis Sixteen and has been an alto scholar with the Schola Cantorum of St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, and a Young Singer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus. She is also a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS). Highlights of her years with NYCoS include 4 tours. The first, to Carnegie Hall, New York City, in October 2018 saw the choir perform Berlioz’s Lelio. In the most recent European Tour in August 2023, she performed as the alto soloist in the 'Pie Jesu' of Durufle’s Requiem, both in Paris and Mechelen. Outside of music, Morven is an avid reader and loves to bake.
Morven says:
"A first trip to Canada which features music making? Count me in! I’m so thrilled to have this opportunity to further my knowledge of renaissance music and see a new part of the world."
Raphael Geldsetzer is a tenor initially hailing from London (England!). He started singing at age 8 when he joined the choir of Southwark Cathedral, of which he was head chorister for 3 years. He has sung with various professional choirs including CRMSS Ontario Bristol Cathedral Choir, the Fitzhardinge Consort, and Kantos Chamber Choir. Raphael moved to York last year to pursue singing further with the MA Solo Voice Ensemble Singing course, having completed a BA and MA in Languages at Bristol. In York, alongside his Master’s he is also a Deputy Vicars Choral at York Minster. Outside of a choir rehearsal, you can usually find Raphael on a train somewhere.
Raphael says:
"I’m hugely excited to take part in this course in Canada, travelling a very long way to sing exceptional renaissance music is everything I enjoy and more."
Adam Hilton is a baritone and conductor based in York and London, UK. Born in Wrocław, Poland, Adam found his love of music after moving to England and becoming a chorister at Lancaster Priory. He graduated from the University of York in 2022, after starting a chamber choir in his final year. After two years of freelance singing in London, where he sang in churches across the city, received the Hertford Choral Society Conducting Fellowship and worked for groups including the London Youth Choirs, Adam is now back in York on the Solo Voice Ensemble Singing Masters led by Robert Hollingworth - director of the innovative solo-voice ensemble I Fagiolini. Adam frequently sings in concerts and recording sessions, with last year’s highlights including performing Beethoven 9 from memory at the BBC Proms, being the baritone soloist in the Haydn Nelson Mass at Warwick Arts Centre and recording the latest New Composers album for NMC.
Adam says:
"My first time in Canada! Can't wait to see what singing on the other side of the world is like. Do the notes go the same way? Also, is there a limit on how much maple syrup one can buy? Asking for a friend."
Sebastian Thomas graduated from the University of Oxford in 2023, having read music and sung as a Choral Scholar at Christ Church Cathedral. Since then, he has enjoyed a varied London (England) based portfolio career, with a prestigious choral scholarship at St Martin-in-the-Fields as well as a number of solo engagements, including Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Seven Last Words on the Cross. He has released a number of compositions and arrangements online with over 7 million streams on Spotify. He is currently studying for a Masters in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York, learning under Alexander Ashworth and Robert Hollingworth.
Sebastian says:
"I'm very much looking forward to visiting Ontario as part of this cultural exchange - and I'm particularly excited about the culinary delights that Canada has to offer!"
CRMSS Pacific 2025 International Scholars
Back to topUniversity of York, UK
This year's CRMSS Pacific 2025 International Scholars will be present at: CRMSS Pacific 2025
CRMSS International Scholars on our CRMSS courses come as a pre-formed group, the members of which already know one another and have worked together before, and share their talents and experience with the rest of the CRMSS participants over the course of the week. They act as leaders within the larger singing groups, and participate in the small group sessions in amongst the Canadian participants, as well as getting some time to rehearse on their own.
In 2022, we were pleased to have with us five students studying for a master's degree in Music at the University of York, in the UK, enrolled in York's "Solo Voice Ensemble Singing" MA pathway (known as "SVES"). After this proved so successful, we welcomed back another cohort of SVES singers to CRMSS Ontario 2024 and this year we are happy to introduce our CRMSS International Scholars programme to CRMSS Pacific 2025!
The SVES course at York is a performance-based master's level course of study dedicated entirely to one-per-part ensemble singing. The programme lasts one year and includes daily rehearsing and coaching, three major recitals, and opportunities to perform with all of the University of York's many other singing groups.
For more information on SVES, please have a look at the University of York's website.
This year's CRMSS International Scholars at CRMSS Pacific 2025 are:
Eleanor Miles-Kingston, soprano
Olivia Duffin, soprano
Lucy Ormrod, alto
Will North, tenor
Maxim Fielder, bass-baritone
Eleanor Miles-Kingston is a soprano from North Yorkshire, having began her singing journey as a chorister at York Minster. Now a BMus graduate from Royal Holloway, she has held choral scholarships at Royal Holloway and Queen’s College, Oxford. Both of which gave her the opportunity to be a soprano soloist for the Messiah, sing on multiple CD recordings including Ola Gjeilo’s Dreamweaver and sing in Oxford’s incredibly beautiful Sheldonian theatre. Outside of singing, she is training to be a primary school teacher and to run three half marathons!
Eleanor says:
"As someone who has never left Europe, I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to be a scholar with CRMSS and collaborate with musicians from Vancouver."
Olivia Duffin's passion for singing started at Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa, Canada where she was a chorister for 9 years, the last 2 years serving as Head Chorister. She completed her BMus in Classical Voice Performance at University of Victoria, Canada where she also served as a Choral Scholar at Christ Church Cathedral Victoria. She is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing with Robert Hollingworth at the University of York, UK. When Olivia isn’t singing she loves to ride her bike, surf, and find new music to listen to.
Olivia says:
"I'm super thrilled to be coming back home to Canada for CRMSS! This time though I'm lucky to have alongside me a group of very talented singers that happen to be my friends as well - Thank you Greg for the opportunity to make music closer to home!"
Lucy Ormrod started her musical training when she became a chorister at Manchester Cathedral aged 8, at the same time studying at the neighbouring Chetham’s School of Music. Lucy is a recent BMus graduate of Royal Holloway University of London, where she also held a choral scholarship. Lucy is an alumna of the Genesis Sixteen program and was a Choral Scholar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Alongside her studies on the SVES course this year, she sings as a choral scholar at York Minster.
Lucy says:
"I am really excited to travel outside of Europe for the first time, and create music with musicians from Vancouver."
Will North was born and raised in Nottinghamshire and began his musical career as a chorister at St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark, later returning there as a Choral Scholar. He completed his degree in Music through the University of Lincoln, alongside a Choral Scholarship at Lincoln Cathedral, where he studied under Mark Wilde and Berty Rice. Whilst at Lincoln, he appeared several times on BBC Radio 3, and featured both on BBC Songs of Praise, and in the recent film Napoleon. Will regularly sings with the Yorkshire-based group the Tallis Consort and with Kantos Chamber Choir, and has sung alongside the Tallis Scholars. Recent solo engagements include Handel's Saul and Messiah, Bach's St John Passion and Cantatas 61 and 140, and Mozart Requiem. Will is now undergoing his MA on the prestigious Solo Voice Ensemble Singing course at the University of York, and regularly sings as a deputy Vicar Choral at York Minster. When not doing anything music related, Will enjoys walking his dog, cooking, and watching football.
Will says:
"I've never sung outside the UK before, never mind outside of Europe. I'm really excited to be a part of CRMSS!"
Maxim Fielder is a bass-baritone from Herefordshire, UK. He read Music at the University of Oxford and graduated with first class honours. While at Oxford, he held a choral scholarship with the Choir of The Queen’s College under Owen Rees, in which capacity he sang with Sharang Sharma (CRMSS Tutor) and alongside Greg Skidmore (CRMSS Tutor) in concerts with Contrapunctus. He also deputised in city, collegiate, and cathedral choirs, and performed with New Chamber Opera and The Oxford Gargoyles. He is now studying under Robert Hollingworth for the MA in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York, and is a Deputy Vicar Choral at York Minster and Ripon Cathedral. Alongside his studies, he freelances as a bass ensemble singer and a collaborative pianist, and is preparing to pursue a parallel career in the law. Maxim enjoys musicking with his friends, indoor climbing, and home-cooked food.
Maxim says:
"Having never crossed the Atlantic, I’m very excited to experience a new vocal environment, climate, culture, cuisine…"
The Tallis Scholars
Previous courses: CRMSS Ontario 2024
Peter Phillips has dedicated his career to the research and performance of Renaissance polyphony, and to the perfecting of choral sound. He founded The Tallis Scholars in 1973, with whom he has now appeared in over 2,500 concerts world-wide, and made over 60 discs in association with Gimell Records. As a result of this commitment Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars have done more than any other group to establish the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance as one of the great repertoires of Western classical music.
Peter Phillips also conducts other specialist ensembles. He is currently working with the BBC Singers (London), the Netherlands Chamber Choir (Utrecht), the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (Tallinn), The Danish Radio Choir (Copenhagen) and El Leon de Oro (Oviedo). He is Patron of the Chapel Choir of Merton College Oxford.
In addition to conducting, Peter Phillips is well-known as a writer. For 33 years he contributed a regular music column to The Spectator. In 1995 he became the publisher of The Musical Times, the oldest continuously published music journal in the world. His first book, English Sacred Music 1549- 1649 , was published by Gimell in 1991, while his second, What We Really Do, appeared in 2013. During 2018, BBC Radio 3 broadcast his view of Renaissance polyphony, in a series of six hour-long programmes, entitled The Glory of Polyphony.
In 2005 Peter Phillips was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. In 2008 Peter helped to found the chapel choir of Merton College Oxford, where he is a Bodley Fellow; and in 2021 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford.
Peter says:
"I'm so looking forward to being with you in person this year at CRMSS Ontario 2024. Tallis' Spem in alium is a difficult piece, so we have our work cut out for us, but I'm sure we'll produce a thrilling performance. With that, Striggio's Ecce beatam lucem, and some other gems (look up Tallis' Salve intemerata if you have the chance), it's looking to be a challenging but brilliant week. I can't wait."
Previous courses: CRMSS Pacific 2024
Born in 1990, Julian Gregory started his singing career at the age of 8 as a boy chorister at St John's College, Cambridge, under the legendary Dr. Christopher Robinson. Following five years as a Music Scholar at Eton College and a Choral Scholarship at Norwich Cathedral, he returned to St John's College in 2009 to read Music as a tenor Choral Scholar and violinist Instrumental Scholar.
After graduating from Cambridge University, Julian spent a year studying German at Heidelberg University, and went on a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. There he completed his Masters with Distinction (DipRAM) in Vocal Performance studying with Neil Mackie and Ben Johnson, and has since been awarded an Associateship (ARAM) of the institution.
In September 2014, Julian took up the tenor position in the internationally renowned vocal ensemble, The King’s Singers. He subsequently spends over 200 days a year away on tour, giving around 120 concerts annually across six different continents. Personal highlights during his time in the group so far include singing on BBC2’s televised Carols from King’s on Christmas Eve 2020; the launch of their Finding Harmony project, which celebrates music that has brought communities together in the face of hardship throughout the ages; co-founding a charity called The King’s Singers’ Global Foundation, based in the United States; and performing in world-class venues each year, including favourites Carnegie Hall NYC, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Koerner Hall Toronto.
Julian, when not working with The King's Singers, can be found performing with some other groups: The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, Gallicantus, and Archangelo.
Aside from his singing commitments, Julian is the Assistant Director of the UK-Japan Music Society, which lies close to his heart with his half-English, half-Japanese heritage; it brings together musicians from both countries and culminates in regular concerts across Europe and Japan. He was recently appointed onto the Board of Creatives Care, a New York-based charity which provides mental healthcare for artists, no matter their means or background.
Julian is also a keen runner and squash player, which helps keep him fit and overcome jet-lag both on tour and at home in London.
Julian says:
"As a huge fan of Renaissance music, musical collaboration and socialising -- not to mention Canadian maple syrup!! -- I'm delighted to have the opportunity to combine and indulge in all of these wonderful things at my first ever CRMSS course! And, especially during the warmer climes of August, what better part of the world to do it all than in beautiful, British Columbia!"
Director of I Fagiolini, Reader in Music at the University of York, UK
Previous courses: CRMSS 2022
Robert Hollingworth is passionate about presenting music to audiences in innovative ways. He founded I Fagiolini in 1986; with them he has presented signature projects including Simunye, The Full Monteverdi, Tallis in Wonderland, How Like An Angel (with Australian contemporary circus group C!RCA) for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Betrayal: a polyphonic crime drama, and Leonardo: Shaping the Invisible with Professor Martin Kemp for Da Vinci 2019. A year-long celebration of the Monteverdi 450th anniversary in 2017 featured performances of Flaming Heart, 1610 Vespers, The Other Vespers, and L'Orfeo at venues including Glyndebourne, Cadogan Hall in London for the BBC Proms, and Queen's Hall as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.
Under Hollingworth’s expert direction, I Fagiolini has gone on to win the Royal Philharmonic Society's Ensemble Award, a Gramophone Award and the Diapason D'Or de l'Anné. Recent releases on DECCA Classics include the multi-award winning recordings Striggio: Mass in 40 Parts, Amuse-Bouche, and Monteverdi: The Other Vespers. In 2019, I Fagiolini released Leonardo: Shaping the Invisible on the CORO label, a programme celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death in music and image. I Fagiolini toured this programme extensively in 2019 in association with leading da Vinci expert Professor Martin Kemp.
Robert has directed the English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, BBC Concert Orchestra; and some of the world's finest chamber choirs including Accentus, NDR Chor, Netherlands Chamber Choir, National Chamber Choir of Ireland and BBC Singers. Last season he conducted De Profundis on their latest album, an exploration of the rarely performed Spanish master Vivanco’s Missa Assumpsit Jesus & motets, for Hyperion.
Robert has recently conducted projects with Capella Cracoviensis, RIAS Kammerchor, VOCES8 & VOCES8 Scholars with Academy of Ancient Music in Bach's Actus Tragicus and Duruflé's Requiem, completed a tour of Handel's Messiah with Irish Baroque Orchestra, and journeyed to Perth, Australia where he was Keynote Presenter at the Australian National Choral Association's ChoralFest 2019. He gave the world premiere of Benji Merrison’s new piece, xoxvx ovoid, with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain at the Aldeburgh Proms. This season, Robert returns to Berlin twice to conduct RIAS Kammerchor: first in a programme of Purcell as part of the Barocktage Festival collaboration with Staatsoper, and later to work with them on Orazio Vecchi’s L'Amfiparnaso. Robert makes his Russian debut as part of the British Council's 'UK-Russia Year of Music' conducting Blow's Venus and Adonis featuring Anna Dennis and Jonathan Sells alongside Russian choir Intrada and Pratum Integrum.
Robert has been appointed Artistic Director of Stour Music festival from 2020, succeeding Mark and Alfred Deller. He regularly writes and presents programmes for BBC Radio 3, television, and other media outlets. He is Reader in Music at the University of York, where he founded and continues to lead the MA in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing course and directs university chamber choir 'The 24'.
Robert says:
"If you sing Renaissance music, you probably don't need me to explain why you should come. You already know some of the sound worlds - the plangency, the thrill up your spine when you get the chord exactly in the right place. The world we recreate when we sing this stuff is alive and vibrant - about the closest we'll ever get to time travel. All we hope to do on this course is help you to do it better and with these tutors, (to quote Captain Kirk) 'we have the technology'."
University of York, UK
Previous courses: CRMSS 2022
2022 marks the introduction of the CRMSS International Scholars programme. Each year, we will welcome a group of student singers from outside Canada, starting with the United Kingdom. They will come as a pre-formed group, who know one another and have worked together before, and will share their talents and experience with the rest of the CRMSS participants over the course of the week. They will act as leaders within the larger singing groups, and participate in the small group sessions in amongst the Canadian participants, as well as have some time to rehearse on their own.
To begin, we are pleased to welcome all five current students studying for a master's degree in Music at the University of York, in the UK, enrolled in York's "Solo Voice Ensemble Singing" MA pathway (known as SVES). This is a course of performance-based master's level study dedicated entirely to one-per-part ensemble singing. The programme lasts one year and includes daily rehearsing and coaching, three major recitals, and opportunities to perform with all of the University of York's many other singing groups.
For more information on SVES, please have a look at the University of York's website.
This year's CRMSS International Scholars are:
Isabelle Palmer, soprano
Sarah Keating, soprano
Rachel Singer, alto
Josh Adams, tenor
T. J. Callahan, bass
Isabelle Palmer is a soprano graduate of Royal Holloway, University of London, where she held a choral scholarship from 2016-19. A current choral scholar of the HeartEdge Foundation, Manchester and Genesis Sixteen alumnus, she is now studying for her MA at the University of York. She enjoys performing a wide variety of repertoire, from French chansons to Baroque cantatas, but her primary passion lies with music of the Renaissance. When she isn’t singing she can usually be found reading, writing and getting far too excited about dogs.
Sarah Keating is a soprano from Waterford, Ireland and recent graduate of both the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Trinity College, Dublin. She performs regularly around Ireland with ensembles such as Chamber Choir Ireland, Resurgam and Sestina and has worked as a Lay Vicar Choral at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Her recent solo performance engagements include soprano soloist with University of York Choir in Fauré’s Requiem. Sarah is currently studying her Masters in York and is a voice student of Susan Young. In her spare time Sarah enjoys sea swimming and has an unhealthy obsession with hummus!
Sarah says:
"I am so looking forward to performing some exciting Renaissance music at CRMSS 2022 and meeting new people to sing alongside!"
Rachel Singer is a mezzo-soprano from Perth, Australia, who sings with an array of elite chamber and larger ensembles around Australia including the National Youth Choir of Australia and The Giovanni Consort, and is currently based in York, England, to pursue postgraduate study. In addition to her musical pursuits she has a Bachelor of Neuroscience under her belt, and a passion for making and drinking excellent coffee!
Rachel says:
"There is something so distinctly magical about the music of the Renaissance. A week filled with choral, consort and solo rehearsals on repertoire from this period, plus a gentle sprinkling of candlelit compline services and keynote lectures sounds like an absolute treat!"
Joshua Adams is a young Australian singer and award-winning composer from Perth, who has recently moved to York to pursue his MA. Before leaving Perth, he was the Principal Cantor at St Mary’s Cathedral where he was a chorister for 15 years, a voice teacher, and Musical Director of the chapel choir at The University of Notre Dame Australia – Fremantle. Josh has both sung and had his music performed in Australia in many of its professional outfits, a recording featured on national radio, and more recently, his music has also been performed in the UK. Canadian debut: coming soon?
T.J. Callahan moved to York to earn his MA after seven years in Seattle, where he worked for Seattle Opera and sang with premier choirs including the Byrd Ensemble and Radiance. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, so he’s been pretty close to one London or another for most of his life. He has a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and has only used it to make weird electronic music noises. He sings as a bass deputy at York Minster and studies with Alex Ashworth. He enjoys going on unreasonably long bike rides around Yorkshire and saying hello to the cows.
T.J. says:
"I'm so excited to be a part of CRMSS 2022. I've done a couple of Renaissance singing courses before, and there's really nothing better than getting together with other nerds and making music nonstop for a week. It's especially important for me as an American to have access to a course of such high caliber so close to home."
University of York, UK
CRMSS International Scholars on our CRMSS courses come as a pre-formed group, the members of which already know one another and have worked together before, and share their talents and experience with the rest of the CRMSS participants over the course of the week. They act as leaders within the larger singing groups, and participate in the small group sessions in amongst the Canadian participants, as well as getting some time to rehearse on their own.
In 2022, we were pleased to have with us five students studying for a master's degree in Music at the University of York, in the UK, enrolled in York's "Solo Voice Ensemble Singing" MA pathway (known as "SVES"). After this proved so successful, we're very glad to welcome the current cohort of SVES singers to CRMSS Ontario 2024! The SVES course at York is a performance-based master's level course of study dedicated entirely to one-per-part ensemble singing. The programme lasts one year and includes daily rehearsing and coaching, three major recitals, and opportunities to perform with all of the University of York's many other singing groups.
For more information on SVES, please have a look at the University of York's website.
This year's CRMSS International Scholars at CRMSS Ontario 2024 are:
Molly O'Toole, soprano
Dominique Saulnier, soprano
Tania Murphy, alto
Andrew Morton, tenor
Edmund Phillips, bass
Molly O'Toole is a Soprano from Sheffield, UK. She held a Music Scholarship while studying History at the University of Birmingham and has sung with ensembles including the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Birmingham University Singers, Lunds Akademiska Kor, Sweden, and St Giles’ Cathedral Choir, Edinburgh. She was a member of the Genesis Sixteen 2020-21 cohort, and held a scholarship with HeartEdge Manchester in 2021-2022. In 2022 she won the Open Recital Class at the David Clover Festival of Music, and received the Mollie Petrie Memorial Award. Molly is now studying for a Master’s in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York. When she’s not singing, Molly loves knitting hats and hiking.
Molly says:
"I’m so excited to join CRMSS for the week and sing some amazing music - what a dream!"
French Canadian soprano Dominique Saulnier comes from a musical family where she was trained from an early age in flute and piano. A BA and BMus graduate of the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she served as choral scholar with the King’s College Chapel Choir and as Lay Clerk at All Saints Cathedral during her studies. She has worked regularly with ensembles such as the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Theatre of Early Music, Aureas Voces, and Caelis Academy Ensemble, with whom she appears frequently as a soloist. Dominique is currently living in York, UK, to pursue a Master’s in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing.
Dominique says:
"After having attended CRMSS in 2022 as a participant, I am so thrilled to be back for CRMSS Ontario 2024 as an International Scholar, and to be given the opportunity to tackle Renaissance polyphony mammoths such as Tallis’s Spem in alium, no less."
Irish contralto Tania Murphy developed her love for singing when she was a senior girl chorister in Belfast. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Solo Voice Ensemble Singing at the University of York and a Choral Scholarship at York Minster. Alongside her studies, Tania is a freelance ensemble singer and soloist in both the UK and Ireland and recent solo highlights include alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She is currently a member of the first ever cohort of Chamber Choir Ireland Studio 2023/24 and is an alumna of the Young Artist Programme Genesis Sixteen 2022/23 as well as Southwell Minster Apprentice Quartet ‘23 and Charles Wood Singers. When she is not singing, Tania enjoys bike rides in York and going to food markets.
Tania says:
"Having never visited Canada, I am super excited to attend CRMSS and to delve into the Renaissance world with people who love it as much as I do!"
Andrew Morton is a Tenor originally from London. He recently graduated from the University of Manchester, having read Music and French. He was a member of many choirs while in Manchester, including a one year choral scholarship with Heartedge, and regular performances with Kantos Chamber Choir. He was also a member of the National Youth Choir for four years under Ben Parry, and was appointed Section Leader in his final year. He currently sings as Tenor Choral Scholar at York Minster, while completing his masters at the University of York.
Andrew says:
"What's better than singing? Singing polyphony in Canada! Dogs are also pretty cool..."
Edmund Phillips began singing as a boy chorister in London, but has done most of his singing with various churches and groups in Manchester. This has included concerts in cathedrals, fields, nightclubs and even empty office buildings. He studied music and drama at university and after gaining his degree was also a choral scholar for one year at Lincoln cathedral. His pastimes besides singing and listening to others sing include reading and watching cricket.
Edmund says:
"Having never been to Canada, and only very rarely sung outside of the UK, I am thrilled to be coming to CRMSS to put both these things right. I look forward to it very much."
Viola da Gamba Society of America
Previous courses: CRMSS Pacific 2024
Violoncellist, gambist, conductor, and educator are just some of the musical hats that Sarah Poon wears. Starting on ‘cello at an early age, Sarah began learning viol while at university, beginning on 7-string bass and gradually expanding her reach – and her collection – to treble and tenor viol. Currently her early music endeavours include leading a baroque chamber orchestra, running a local consort of viols, continuing viol outreach initiatives and workshops, and performing as a continuo team with her organ- and harpsichord-playing husband, David.
She is also on faculty at the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s international summer workshop (Conclave) and offers consort coaching, beginner viol classes, and private lessons throughout the year.
Sarah considers the viol to be the “perfect” instrument: blending resonance, timbre, and ergonomics into a singularly delightful experience. Known by her friends as a viol-evangelist, she considers introducing the instrument to new players as a particular joy. When not foisting her viol-centred enthusiasm on others, Sarah wears the hat of mother to her four fantastic children. Sarah, David, and offspring live in Gibsons, BC.
Royal College of Music (London, England), Early Music Society of Nova Scotia
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, CRMSS 2019, and CRMSS Ontario 2024
Andrew Pickett, counter-tenor, was born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswick. After earning a master’s degree in biochemistry at Dalhousie University, he went on to study music at Western University and then the Royal College of Music in London, with early music specialists including Dame Emma Kirkby, James Bowman and Michael Chance. While there, he was a finalist in international competitions and won Best Singer at the RCM’s New Song competition. Andrew has performed major roles in operas from Monteverdi to Jonathan Dove, and has performed oratorio and chamber music across Canada, the USA and Europe. He is an alumnus of the National Youth Choir of Canada and of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and was a lay clerk at Manchester Cathedral. Andrew now lives in Halifax where he is a voice teacher, early music coach, and artistic director of Galileo Chamber Choir and Helios Vocal Ensemble. His latest project is an annual Halifax Early Music Festival, held in November.
The Tallis Scholars, The Cardinall's Musick, Taverner Consort
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018, and CRMSS 2019
Emily Atkinson studied singing and percussion at the Crane School of Music, State University of New York, Potsdam, where she earned a degree in music education. Since moving to London to train at the Royal College of Music, she has enjoyed singing as a soloist and consort singer with many groups, and has sung regularly with the Tallis Scholars for the past four years.
Emily grew up as one of nine children in a family that travelled and moved frequently, always making musictogether, so touring with the members of the Tallis Scholars has felt like home in many ways. She feels lucky to have performed with the group across four continents, singing some of the most beautiful music in the world's greatest venues.
In addition to singing with the Tallis Scholars, Emily has appeared with The Cardinall's Musick, the Academy of Ancient Music, and the Taverner Consort. She loves living in a city with so much early music history, and the unique opportunities this has provided, from giving illustrative recitals and talks to tour groups at Handel's former residence in London to performing excerpts from Restoration-era masques at the Banqueting House of Whitehall Palace where they were first performed. Emily has sung solo-voice performances of more than fifty Bach cantatas in the liturgical context for which they were written, and has recorded a CD of Italian solo cantatas. Emily combines her busy performing career with work teaching primary school music classes, leading workshops for children, and mentoring new music teachers.
- Emily says:
I loved being part of this whirlwind week of music-making at both CRMSS 2018 and 2019. Each participant brought something special to the course, and it was inspiring to see the level of dedication, energy, and love for the music evident in everyone who attended. I'm really looking forward to working with singers on this course again next year, as we explore even more stunning Renaissance music.
Duke University, North Carolina, USA
Previous courses: CRMSS 2018
Roseen Giles is currently a Fellow of the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at the University of Toronto. In January 2018 she will begin as Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at Duke University, having taught previously at Colby College (2016-17). She completed a doctoral degree in musicology at the University of Toronto in 2016 with a dissertation on the Venetian works of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). Her research explores the culture of the Italian seventeenth century, particularly the relationship between text and music in secular music of the period.
She is currently writing a book about the aesthetics of Giambattista Marino's poetry and his pervasive influence in the history of Seicento music. She has published articles in Renaissance and Reformation, Early Music, and Cambridge Opera Journal, and is preparing an edition of Alessandro Grandi’s Madrigali Concertati (1615-1622) for the composer's Opera Omnia published by the American Institute of Musicology. She is also an active baroque flautist, performing regularly in both orchestral and chamber settings.
Toronto Oratory
Previous courses: CRMSS 2021
Organist and musicologist Aaron James is the Director of Music at the Toronto Oratory of St Philip Neri, where he directs the professional Toronto Oratory Choir, a Gregorian chant schola, and the Oratory Children’s Choir, as well as teaching music to the students at St Philip’s Seminary. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, he graduated in 2016 with both a PhD degree in musicology and a DMA degree in organ, along with the Performer’s Certificate in organ. He was the 2011 winner of the National Organ Playing Competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and has won numerous other prizes and scholarships for his organ playing, including first prizes in the Florence and Stanley Osborne Organ Competition and the Howard Fairclough Organ Competition; he was also a finalist in the 2012 Franz Schmidt International Organ Competition (Kitzbühel, Austria). He performs regularly as an organ recitalist in both Canada and the United States, and has appeared as a soloist with the Eastman Graduate Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. A regular performer of contemporary music, Aaron has given national or world premieres of numerous new compositions, including works by Emily Hall, Martin Herchenröder, Michael Nyman, Daniel Ochoa and Kyle Quarles. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the College’s highest academic distinction, receiving the Willan and Porter prizes for the 2012 Fellowship examinations. He currently serves as president of the RCCO Toronto Centre and as national Chair of Examinations for the College.
Aaron completed his doctoral studies as an organist in the studio of Edoardo Bellotti, having previously studied with Hans Davidsson and Michel Bouvard at Eastman, and with Paul Merritt at the University of Western Ontario, where he received the Faculty of Music Gold Medal. His PhD dissertation examined the mid-sixteenth-century German music printer Sigmund Salminger, demonstrating how Salminger adapted and transformed older repertories of Franco-Flemish polyphony for the religiously divided public of post-Reformation Augsburg. Aaron’s research has been presented at conferences in Canada, the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom, and has been honoured with the Charles Warren Fox Award and the Jerald C. Graue Fellowship; his published musicological work appears in the Journal of the Alamire Foundation, Early Music, Sacred Music, Oxford Bibliographies Online and Grove Music Online. He currently serves as a Sessional Lecturer in organ at the University of Toronto, having previously taught at Eastman and at the University of Rochester.
Western University, University of Toronto Scarborough
Previous courses: CRMSS 2021
Conductor and composer Dr. Patrick Murray is Lecturer in Choral Music at Western University, where he directs two choirs and teaches conducting and choral methods. Murray is also director of the University of Toronto Scarborough Concert Choir. Choirs under his direction have been recognized in the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs and been invited to perform at Podium, Canada’s national choral conference. Previously, Murray held positions as director of the University of Illinois University Chorus, Music Director of FAWN Chamber Creative (Toronto), and as a teaching artist with the Ad Astra Music Festival (Russell, KS), Illinois Summer Youth Music, and Toronto Children’s Chorus. As a guest conductor, Murray has collaborated with ensembles and festivals such as the Guelph Chamber Choir, Illinois Modern Ensemble, New Music New Haven, Thin Edge New Music Collective, and University of Toronto New Music Festival. An avid singer of early music, he has sung professionally with the Yale Schola Cantorum and ecco early music ensemble.
Murray’s compositions have been commissioned and premiered by numerous ensembles in Canada and the United States including New York Polyphony, Carmel Bach Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Grand Philharmonic Choir, and the Canadian Men’s Chorus. His works have been recognized by the SOCAN Young Composers Award, recorded by the DaCapo Chamber Choir, and are published by Cypress Choral Music and Renforth Music.
Murray received his DMA in choral conducting from the University of Illinois, where he concurrently held a SSHRC Doctoral Research Fellowship studying practices of community engagement in contemporary choral composition. As a volunteer, Murray leads a participatory singing program for the London InterCommunity Health Centre, focused on social connection and well-being. Murray holds additional degrees from the Yale School of Music and University of Toronto, and has studied under noted conductors including Andrew Megill, David Hill, Masaaki Suzuki, and Ivars Taurins.
Murray lives in London, Ontario with his partner, Taiwanese-American harpist Noël Wan, and their tuxedo cat, Georgina.
The Toronto Consort, St Bartholomew Regent Park
Previous courses: CRMSS 2021, and CRMSS 2022
Singer (and player of the viola da gamba and nyckelharpa) Katherine Hill first developed a keen interest in the interaction between older European text and music as a teenager in Toronto, singing Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony in various choirs and ensembles. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts she moved to the Netherlands in the year 2000, pursuing studies, all over Europe, in as many facets as possible of historical performance practices of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque, very intentionally seeking out and building a natural, vibrant and sustainable singing technique for rhetorical music. Over the last 20 years, Katherine has performed, recorded and toured with many early music groups, including the Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music, Scivias (Berlin), Ars Choralis Coeln, ensemble nu:n, Cappella Amsterdam, Collegium Vocale Ghent, Early Music Voices Calgary, and Ensemble Les Fumeux (Montréal).
Katherine is currently a co-artistic director of the Toronto Consort and is the Cantrix and Director of Music at the Anglo-Catholic parish of St Bartholomew, Regent Park, where she directs a mixed choir (that sings primarily 16th century liturgical music) and also a women’s choir, Vinea (specializing in music from women’s communities before the year 1500). In 2010, she completed an M.A. in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto’s world-renowned Centre for Medieval Studies, and works regularly as a singing teacher and vocal coach in Toronto, particularly in historical theatre projects at Glendon College (York University).
Tafelmusik, St. James Cathedral Toronto
Previous courses: CRMSS Pacific 2023
Jonathan is a specialist in period instruments of the lute and guitar family based in Toronto, Ontario.
Versatile as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player, Jonathan frequently distinguishes himself in the rich early music scene throughout Canada and abroad. He can be seen performing music on period instruments, solo and with ensembles such as Tafelmusik, Aureas Voces, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Capella Intima, Theatre of Early Music, and in festivals and series including Music and Beyond, Festival Montréal Baroque, and Musique Royale. Alongside soprano Sinéad White, Jonathan forms Duo Oriana, who’s album ‘How Like a Golden Dream’ releases March 17, 2023 under the Leaf Music label. Duo Oriana has been featured by Early Music America, as artists in residence at Toronto’s St. James Cathedral, and embarks on their first tour abroad in September 2023 as they head to the UK and Ireland.
In 2020 Jonathan received a Master's in the Performance of Early Music at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona, studying in the studio of Xavier Diaz-Latorre. His master’s research on historical stringings on the baroque guitar received the highest marks and is published in RECERCAT which archives research carried out at institutions in Catalunya. His classical guitar studies began in Penticton, British Columbia and he received a bachelor of music with a double major in guitar and lute performance at McGill’s Schulich School of Music, where he was recognized for outstanding achievement in Lute. He studied with Jérôme Ducharme and Sylvain Bergeron.
Jonathan says:
"I’m delighted to be joining the team at CRMSS Pacific this year, this course unifies three out of the four greatest things on earth: vocal music, *renaissance vocal music*, and lute music (the fourth being tea of course). I participated in this course as a singer in 2019 where it was a joy to be steeped day-in-day-out in renaissance music. I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to my home province and share my passion for lute playing and this exceptional repertoire."