"Nicolas Caloia. Born Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1968. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Performer (double bass).

Since 1990 Nicolas Caloia has worked at creating a contemporary music generated by using accurately composed textures to channel collective improvisation. The goal is a music that erases the lines between improvised and composed, pop and avant-garde, good and bad. He hopes this music will satisfy the body, the mind and, above all, the heart. He has worked as a performer, composer, and organizer in Montréal and has toured in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has performed and recorded in a vast array of contexts with the most important members of Montréal's creative music community as well as with internationally renowned musicians like the ICP orchestra, Marshall Allen, John Butcher, Joe McPhee, Steve Lacy, William Parker, Hassan Hakmoun, Tristan Honsinger and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. His concerts and numerous recordings have been critically acclaimed both at home and abroad. Currently, the majority of his work as a composer and improviser finds a voice in: The Ratchet Orchestra - a 30-piece big band; Tilting - the Nicolas Caloia Quartet, Ring - a sextet, Spell - a 10-piece marching band, Trephining - a quintet, Mercury - a duet Lori Freedman as well in solo performances."

"Canadian harpsichordist Katelyn Clark [Victoria, British Columbia] specializes in the performance of historical repertoire and experimental music on early keyboard instruments. As a soloist and ensemble musician, she has performed in Europe, the USA, and Canada, and has appeared at such diverse festivals as the Vancouver New Music Festival and the Festival Medièval d'Elx. An active performer and commissioner of new works for harpsichord and other early keyboards, Katelyn has premiered over 100 solo and chamber works, including recent compositions by Linda Catlin Smith, Tawnie Olson, and Anna Pidgorna. A native of Victoria, British Columbia, Katelyn studied with many of Canada's early music pedagogues and completed a master's degree in harpsichord and basso continuo with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands. While in Amsterdam, she learned contemporary harpsichord repertoire with the late Annelie de Man. Katelyn also studied with Christophe Rousset at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, holds a master's degree in music from the University of Victoria, and a doctorate in performance from McGill University, advised by Hank Knox and Tom Beghin. Katelyn has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre, NES in Iceland, Artscape on Toronto Island, and was a fellow at OMI in the USA. Her artistic study and practice have been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, The BC Arts Council, Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, The Banff Centre, and the Early Music Society of the Islands."

"Guido Del Fabbro. Born Montréal, Québec, 1980. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (violin, electronics).

Born in Montréal, 1980, Guido Del Fabbro started violin lessons at age four. His taste for improvisation and composition first manifested itself around 1990; since then, he has taken several classes and workshops related to these fields. Del Fabbro is co-founder, creator and composer of Mouvement de Musique Présente, a large ensemble of up-and-coming musicians devoted to scored and improvised music. He is also a member of the groups Fanfare Pourpour, Rouge ciel and Concorde Crash. For 18 months, he toured North America with Gilles Ste-Croix's horse circus Cheval-Théâtre. As a performer, he has recorded a few soundtracks for film, television, theatre and dance. As a composer, he has written music for choreographers Élodie Lombardo (Blou take two, Gelsomina) and Séverine Lombardo (Les Accords d'elles). Del Fabbro released his first solo album, Carré de sable, in 2003, on Ambiances Magnétiques. He can be heard on the latest albums by Tomás Jensen and Loco Locass. He is an accompanying multi-instrumentalist in Pierre Lapointe's show La forêt des mal-aimés."

"Jean Derome. Born Montréal, Québec, 1955. esidence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (saxophones (alto, baritone, soprano), flutes (flute, bass flute, piccolo, alto flute, recorders), keyboards, small wind instruments (ocarinas, jew's harp, game calls, toys...), percussion, invented instruments, voice)

One of the most active and eclectic musicians on the Canadian creative music scene, Jean Derome has managed to earn the recognition of a larger public, a rare feat in that field. Thanks to his large-scale musique actuelle projects, his compositions, his work as an improviser, his jazz groups and his music for the screen and the stage, Derome ranks as a major creative force, in Québec and abroad. He is experienced and innovative on both saxophone and flute, and his unique writing style cannot be mistaken for anyone else's. Sensitive and powerful, his music often features a funny strike that makes its complex nature more inviting.

Ever since Nébu (one of Québec's first avant-garde jazz groups) in the early '70s, Derome has been consistently renewing and diversifying his approach of composition. He impressed audience and critics first with the flute, then with the saxophone, as a lead character in the musique actuelle underground. He took part to the various artists' collectives looking for new ways to express themselves freely, without esthetic or social constraints, including the Ensemble de musique improvisée de Montréal. Later, in the early '80s, he co-founded Ambiances Magnétiques, a collective and record label that raised his profile at home and introduced his name to the outside world. Among his numerous projects, let us mention the duos Les Granules, Nous perçons les oreilles and Plinc! Plonc!, the dynamic group Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms, and the large-scale projects Confitures de gagaku, Je me souviens - Hommage à Georges Perec and Canot-camping. Most of these projects are based on a unique form of synergy between composition, structured improvisation and genuine creative madness, all this articulated with unmatched playfulness. In 1992, Derome became the second artist to be presented with the Freddie Stone Award (bassist Lisle Ellis was the first).

Besides improvising on a regular basis with Ambiances Magnétiques' members and appearing in their projects, Derome has also shared the stage with several musicians of international stature, among others Fred Frith, Lars Hollmer, Louis Sclavis and Han Bennink. He performs regularly all over Canada, in the US and in Europe. He received a Prix Opus in 2001 for his exposure abroad.

Lately, jazz circles have been praising his undisputable qualities as a jazzman, thanks to the Thelonious Monk tribute project Évidence, the Normand Guilbeault Ensemble (whose Mingus Erectus CD is devoted to Charles Mingus' music), and the much-lauded Derome Guilbeault Tanguay Trio.

Although Jean Derome writes tirelessly for his own projects, he is much in demand in the fields of film, theatre and dance. A short list of this side of his work would have to include his numerous scores for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), especially for films by John Walker, Jacques Leduc, Fernand Bélanger and animated films by Pierre Hébert, Michèle Cournoyer and Jean Detheux; his incidental music for Théâtre UBU, Théâtre de Quat'Sous and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde; not forgetting his work with several top choreographers, including Louise Bédard, Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, Daniel Soulières and Ginette Laurin. Other music ensembles have commissioned works from him, including Tuyo, Bradyworks, the Hard Rubber Orchestra from Vancouver and Fanfare Pourpour. Incidentally, Derome is the musical director of the latter.

Over thirty years of music and 70 record credits later, Jean Derome still has sleeves bursting with tricks."

"Bernard Falaise. Born Montréal, Québec, 1965. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (guitar).

Bernard Falaise was born in Montréal, where he currently lives. He plays electric guitar, composes and improvises - all with evident joy - for Miriodor, Klaxon Gueule, les Projectionnistes, Diesel and other groups. He has written for the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM), Quartango and the Isis Quartet, and has created music for exhibitions, television, the theatre and dance. Allergic to labels, Falaise explores acid rock, twelve-tone waltzes and industrial tangos with equal enthusiasm."

"Lori Freedman. Born Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1958. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (clarinet, bass clarinet)

Qualified as "a musical revolutionary in the front ranks of the avant-garde" by Alex Varty of the Georgia Straight (Vancouver), Lori Freedman (clarinets) is internationally recognized as one of the most creative and provocative performers. She is a member of a select group known as "renaissance musicians" as her artistic activities cover many fields: performer of written music (well over one hundred works have been written for or premiered by her), composer, improviser, teacher, and on occasion, writer. While managing a full performance schedule of more than 75 public appearances a year, Freedman has been receiving commissions to write music for ensembles such as Orkestra Futura, Arraymusic Ensemble, Ensemble Transmission, Continuum Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ensemble SuperMusique, Ensemble Paramirabo, Upstream Orchestra, Queen Mab Trio, Crowbar Trio, Lott Dance, Oberlander Films, Foresite Theatre, Cooke Productions and Autumn Leaf Productions. Her current discography comprises over 59 recordings, the most recent of which include Greffes (Empreintes digitales), On No (Mode Records), Bridge (Collection QB), Plumb (Barnyard Records), 3 and À un moment donné (Ambiances Magnétiques), Huskless! (Artifact), See Saw and Thin Air (Wig). Highlight collaborations include work with Rohan de Saram, Barre Phillips, Helmut Lachenmann, Frances-Marie Uitti, Monique Jean, Joëlle Léandre, Axel Dörner, George Lewis, the Jack Quartet and Richard Barrett."

"Émilie Girard-Charest. born Laval, Québec, 1987. Composer, Performer (cello).

Émilie Girard-Charest is a cellist, a composer and an improviser.

As a chamber musician, a soloist and with different ensembles (Allogène, Supermusique, La Machine, Quatuor d'occasion, Stéphane Pécas, Ensemble for New Music Tallinn, duo Collard-Neven-Girard-Charest), she dedicates herself to new music.

She has worked with many composers, including Malcolm Goldstein, Michel Gonneville, Maxime McKinley, Joane Hétu, Guillaume Primard, Jean-Luc Fafchamps, Isaiah Ceccarelli, Hans Zender, Graciela Paraskevaidis and Fredrik Gran.

Émilie has played at numerous festivals in Québec (Festival de musique actuelle de Victoriaville, OFF Festival de Jazz, Festival de jazz de Montréal, Festival de jazz de Québec, Montréal / Nouvelles Musiques), in the United States (Avant-Music Festival, New York), in Belgium (Ars Musica), in Austria (Klangspuren Schwaz and Impuls), in Chile (Encuentro Internacional de Compositores), in Argentina (Sonido Presente), in Estonia (Autumn Festival), in Finland (MuTe Fest), in Spain (Mixtur) and in Macedonia (Macedonian Music Days). She also played concerts in France, Germany, Russia and Uruguay.

In addition to that, she took part in various theatre and dance productions, such as Rhinocéros by Eugène Ionesco (Troupe Éponyme directed by Jocelyn Sioui), Couloir et Chambres by Philippe Minyana and La fête à Jean by Pierre-Luc Lasalle (Théâtre L'Instant, directed by André-Marie Coudou), ADN by Dennis Kelly (Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal, directed by Sylvain Bélanger), the Physical Theater Choir Project (Vicki Tansey), The Sticks (Andrew Tay) and Reine et Oiseaux (théâtre Tête au Corps, Vincent Langlois and Émilie Sigouin). She is now working on a duet with the dancer and visual artist Sarah Bronsard.

Émilie holds a degree in cello (Denis Brott) and in composition (Michel Gonneville) from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. She is now enrolled as a student in the CoPeCo program (Contemporary Performance and Composition), a joint Master involving the Eesti Muusika - ja Teatriakadeemia (Estonia), the Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm (Sweden), the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon (France) and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (Germany). She is the recipient of the Bourse de développement de carrière from the foundation of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (2014) and of the Prix d'Europe of Composition Fernand Lindsay (2015).

"Eugénie Jobin Tremblay is a Montreal vibraphonist, a member of the Ensemble Supermusique and the group Ambroise."

"Composer, improviser, instrumentalist (clarinet & saxophone) and sound artist, Philippe Lauzier participates in several projects that tour regularly in Canada and Europe, but also in USA, Latine America and Australia. In his solo and collective work, his ideas incorporate influences of contemporary musical languages as well as sounds from non-Western sources. Creative extended techniques, complex drones from which polyphonies emerge, and a certain compositional rigour are typical of his style. His interest for collaborative intermedia practices also leads him to create sound installation pieces, live performances for contemporary dance, theater music and many sound designs for visual art projects. Philippe lives in Montreal, Quebec."

Frank Lozano-Saxophone, Flute. "Born in Ottawa in 1960, Francisco Lozano first studied with Pat LaBarbera at Humber College in Toronto, then with Jerry Bergonzi in Boston. He has performed at the Montréal and Toronto Jazz Festivals with Tito Puente and Oliver Jones. Following a Czechoslovakian tour in 1990, Lozano moved to Montréal where he joined the Bernard Primeau Jazz Ensemble, who recorded an album with guest trombonist Slide Hampton and toured in France with him. Lozano also performs with guitarist Rainer Wiens as the duo Zoom Horizon, René Lussier's La Boudine, and groups led by Ron Séguin and Alain Bédard. He mainly plays with FACT, Other Voices (drummer Thom Gossage's group), and the Effendi JazzLab."

"Pierre-Yves Martel. Born Vanier, Ontario, Canada, 1979. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (viola da gamba, double bass, objects)

Following a unique artistic path, Pierre-Yves Martel is constantly renewing his musical identity and practice. Though a instrumentalist, he identifies himself first and foremost as a sound artist whose work oscillates between perpetual research and experimentation. It is in this spirit that he has revisited the viola da gamba, utilizing this traditional instrument in new contexts and thus reengaging it with the contemporary world. Having created an authentic musical language through non-conventional techniques and instrumental preparations, he also works outside of instrumental music altogether, using a variety of objects rife with new sonic possibilities, from contact-mics and speakers to motors, wheels, surfaces and textures."

"Cléo Palacio-Quintin. Born Leuven, Belgium, 1971, Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (hyper-flute).

Constantly seeking new means of expression and eager to create, the flutist-improviser-composer Cléo Palacio-Quintin takes part in many premieres as well as improvisational multidisciplinary performances, and composes instrumental and electroacoustic music for various ensembles and media works. Since 1999, she develops her hyper-flutes. Interfaced to a computer by means of electronic sensors, these augmented flutes enable her to compose interactive soundscapes, combining instrumental sound and electroacoustic music, sometimes even with video. Recipients of many prizes, awards and grants, she is the first woman to receive a Doctorate in electroacoustic composition from the Université de Montréal (2012) and is a collaborator at the Center for interdisciplinary research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). Over the years her compositions have been performed in The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Canada and the USA, either by herself or various ensembles."

"Steve Raegele is a Montreal guitarist and composer. His debut CD as a leader is entitled "Last Century" on the Songlines label. It features drummer Thom Gossage and bassist Miles Perkin as they interpret 11 Raegele compositions that straddle the lines between improvisation and organized sound. Steve has studied with Rod Ellias and Justin Haynes as well as with faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts. (Dave Douglas, Ari Hoenig, Joe Lovano, Tony Malaby) He has performed with Thom Gossage, Drew Gress, Frank Lozano, Lori Freedman, Jean Derome, Isaiah Ceccarelli, Remi Bolduc and others."

"Frédérique's training in music started in 1st grade and hasn't stopped since then. She started her training in an art school in Quebec City called École Primaire de l'Harmonie (Saint-Édouard) which is where she studied music theory, violin and also learnt how to play piano. She later decided to start taking voice lessons and has been studying voice privately for over ten years now. She has won countless 1st and 2nd places as well as various scholarships in classical singing regional and provincial competitions. She recently won the Ottawa Choral Society Trophy as a solo singer in the Open Voice category at the Kiwanis Music Festival in 2015. She has been teaching for about 5 years, helping students achieve their goals in their voice studies. She has attended many workshops to learn various techniques such as breath control, right placement and countless tricks to improve her singing as well as her teaching. In the last 4 years, she has performed many operas in different languages. She has held main roles in the operas Suor Angelica by Pucini, Rigoletto by Verdi, The Impresario by Mozart, La Traviata by Verdi and more recently Norma by Bellini and Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. She has also sung at different kinds of events and weddings.

Although she has been studying classical singing for most of her life, she also loves to sing and teach popular music. She has the skills to coach in different languages such as Italian, German, English, and French. She also is an excellent coach for singers that would like to improve their stage presence. If this is what you desire to improve, she will coach you on the stage regularly to put these skills in practice. With her love for hard work, friendly attitude and her passion for music, Frédérique will help you improve to control your own voice and will coach you in a fun and very professional way, the little extra help that you need to achieve your goal. She proudly joined the Ottawa Conservatory Performance Academy's team in spring 2015."

"Vergil Sharkya'. Residence: Montréal, Québec. Composer, Performer (synthesizer)

In 2010 Vergil Sharkya' finished a major research project in composition for his doctoral degree at Liverpool's John Moores University, developing a complete theory of hypercomposition, featuring as well examples of its practical application.

His most recent hypercomposition - aTTAK, for piano, suspended toy piano, and digital instruments -, was commissioned for and performed at the opening of the Aufbau Haus, Berlin, in September 2011.

Vergil is also a well established composer/musician in the fields of improvised music, multimedia installations, post-modernist composition, scores and soundtracks for film, theatre and dance, composition and arrangements for orchestras, soundscapes, psychedelic noise rock, drum'n'bass, dub, and even academic research.

He has released several recordings on various labels like Cuneiform Records, UKsupersonict and VergilReality Recordings.

Since moving to Montréal in July 2010, he has been working mainly but not exclusively in the field of improvised music with musicians such as Jean Derome, Michel F Côté, Simon Pagé, Augustus Martin, Ellwood Epps, Philippe Battikha, as well as with writers Martin Lamothe, and Serge Rivest Martimots. He currently spends his spare time cooking, doing housework for his lovely family and learning how to play jazz."

"Ellen Wieser: A graduate of the prestigious San Francisco Opera Merola Opera Program, Ms. Wieser has previously appeared in lead and supporting roles with Palm Beach Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Highlands Opera Studio, Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, the Pazzia Collective in collaboration with the Cluster New Music and Integrated Arts Festival, the Compagnie Baroque de Mont-Royal, and Opera da Camera. Solo concert highlights have included featured appearances with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Wieser is a two-time laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques (2013 and 2014), and was the recipient of the FIDAPA prize at the 2014 Alcamo International Voice Competition in Sicily.

Ellen holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba, School of Music, and a Masters of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. A strong advocate for contemporary opera and song literature, her Artist Diploma was dedicated to the research and performance of contemporary Canadian song literature. Ellen maintains working relationships with a number of gifted Canadian and American composers. Recent premieres have included the operas Scalia-Ginsburg by Derrick Wang (Justice Ginsburg), No Masque for Good Measure by Matthew Ricketts (Soprano 1: Messenger/Drag Queen), Meriwether by Jim Lahti (Julia Hancock) and Nessie by Danielle Post (Nessie/Alice), as well as Luna Pearl Woolf's One to One to One, Isaiah Cecarelli's Toute clarté m'est obscure, Defora fai sinhes lo finestra, and Da caelo servare, Matthew Ricketts' Song Cycle, Danny Clay's Children's Songs, and Jim Lahti's Three Songs on Poems of Hart Crane. Other recent performances in collaboration with Canadian composers include The Vinedressers by Tobin Stokes (Helena) at Highlands Opera Studio and Tanzer Lieder by Ana Sokolovic at the Prince Edward County Music Festival.

Ellen Wieser lives in Montreal with her husband and duo partner, cellist Jean-Christophe Lizotte, and their two daughters."