This year's festival will feature songs and serenades in the beautiful setting of Grey Bruce. We have an exciting offering of free concerts, workshops, and events plus ticketed concerts at tiered affordable pricing. You won’t want to miss Canadian superstar Measha Brueggergosman-Lee performing works from her new project with Margaret Atwood "Zombie Blizzard". On Thursday night, you won't want to miss Rachel Fenlon - a Canadian self-accompanying soprano who is now based in Berlin and is receiving rave reviews for her creative programmes! And of course, you can find incredible chamber music featuring this year's festival artists including Sheila Jaffe, Keith Hamm, Amy Hillis, Julie Hereish, Karen Ouzounian, and more. The Festival will conclude with a "Jamboree" at Meaford Arts Centre which will feature Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, and our festival artists performing Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.
Festival Passes are $250 and can be purchased over the phone only via the Roxy Box Office, 519-371-2833, Tuesday to Friday, 10:30am-5:00pm.
Single Tickets are pay what you can pricing tiers $20-$75 and are on sale now with links to buy tickets under each concert below.
Don’t miss a moment of the music!
Purchase your Festival Pass or tickets today!
SPECIAL EVENT
Arts in the Garden
Saturday, September 7, 2:00-4:30pm
212 Miller Street, Meaford, ON
Rain Date: Sunday, September 8, 2:00-4:30pm
Tickets $35 +HST/Fees
Arts in the Garden is proud to be announcing its third season; an event in support of local artists and charities that takes place in the garden of Meaford resident and SweetWater Board Member Jen Burak. Organized by Jen and Alicia Hutchings, this season, the Sweetwater Music Festival is the focus of the fundraising efforts. Wander the garden with a beverage, bid at the incredible Silent Auction, watch visual artist Sheila Greenland paint, browse a mini Craig Gallery and enjoy a range of works from talented artists in the region. Listen to live performances by the internationally acclaimed duo Fire & Grace, local guitarist Drew McIvor, poet Richard-Yves Sitoski and a young violinist with great promise, Olivier Lafleur.
FREE EVENT
Tuesday, September 10, 7:00pm
Georgian Bay Centre for Arts
938 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Meet the Artists
Join us for a casual meet and greet to welcome our Festival artists to the community!
SPECIAL EVENT
SweetWater Gala
Wednesday, September 11, 6:30pm
Grey Roots Museum & Archives
102599, Grey County Rd 18, Owen Sound, ON
Support and celebrate the magic of SweetWater at our gala event featuring the music of Haydn, Rossini, and Mozart!. Enjoy an exclusive chamber music party with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Early bird price $90 (plus tax).
Gala Performance Sponsored by Chris & Katherine Little
Reception Sponsored by Hutten and Co. Land and Shore
MAINSTAGE CONCERT
Sing Nature Alive
Thursday September 12, 7:00pm
Harmony Centre
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Rachel Fenlon, a self-accompanying singer-pianist, will perform "Sing Nature Alive" by Matthias McIntire, our 2024 SweetWater Composer-in-Residence. The piece, enhanced with video and live electronics, passionately portrays a love for nature amidst the climate crisis.
Performance Sponsored by TG Insurance, Lynda Montgomery and Dennis Yurkiw
Artist Talk
with Rachel Fenlon & Matthias McIntire
FREE EVENT
Friday, September 13, 12:00pm
Grey Gallery
883 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Join us for a moderated artist chat featuring composer Matthias McIntire and self-accompanying singer/pianist Rachel Fenlon about their collaborative artistic process.
MAINSTAGE CONCERT
Chamber Music Soiree
Friday September 13, 7:00pm
Historic Leith Church
419134 Tom Thomson Lane, Leith, ON
Enjoy a lantern-lit evening of chamber music in beautiful Leith Church featuring some of our favourite SweetWater Festival artists including Keith Hamm and Julie Hereish, plus new faces such as Michael Gurevich and Measha Brueggergosman-Lee. Enjoy a reception for the entire audience after the concert!
Haydn: Opus 33 #6 String Quartet
Michael Gurevich, Edwin Huizinga, Keith Hamm, Julie Hereish
Hindemith: Des Todes Tod
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, Keith Hamm, Julie Hereish, Jordan Frazier
Lembit Beecher: Duo for Violin and Cello from A Year to the Day
Edwin Huizinga, Karen Ouzounian
Schumann: String Quartet #3
Sheila Jaffe, Amy Hillis, Karen Ouzounian
Performance Sponsored by Medley Family
FREE EVENT
Sound Journey
Saturday, September 14, 9:00am
Harmony Centre
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Sound healing is one of the oldest and most natural forms of healing. The power of sound can restore one’s mind, body, and spirit back to a state of balance. Bring a yoga mat and join us for a healing meditation featuring Celeste Sounds.
FREE EVENT
Music for Munchkins
Featuring Amy Hillis, Violinist
Saturday, September 14, 10:30am
Harmony Centre Auditorium
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Geared towards young children and the young at heart! Step into a world of classical music enchantment for a captivating experience designed especially for kids and families. There will be dancing and fun and musical learning with violinist Amy Hillis!
Amy is a founding member and manager of the prairie-based Horizon String Quartet, a group dedicated to engaging K-12 students with live chamber music. During seven different tours, the HSQ has performed over 200 interactive concerts for school assemblies in 100 different Canadian cities. At McGill University, Amy established a course titled "Chamber Music and Engaging New Audiences". She created this course in order to give undergraduate students the tools to communicate their own musical inspirations to younger audiences unfamiliar with the chamber music genre.
Sponsored by Beckett Tree Service
FREE EVENT
Canadian Chamber Choir
Saturday, September 14, 12:00pm
Kelso Beach Amphitheatre at Nawash Park
Rain venue: Harmony Centre
We are sorry to announce that due to COVID within the choir, the Canadian Chamber Choir will no longer be performing as part of the Festival this weekend. We are sorry to cancel the free noon hour concert at the Kelso Amphitheatre at Nawash Park.
FREE EVENT
Luthier Exhibit
Saturday, September 14, 2:00pm
Harmony Centre, The Commons Room
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Our annual exhibit of luthiers features some of Canada’s top string instrument makers. Meet the makers and hear their new instruments tested by SweetWater artists.
Sponsored by Fulford Bathware
Strings Jam Session Tchaikovsky Seranade
FREE EVENT
Saturday, September 14, 2:30pm
Harmony Centre, The Commons Room
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Bring your instruments and join us for a classical jam session of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Local musicians are invited to play along with featured SweetWater musicians led by Artistic Director Edwin Huizinga. Anyone who plays a string instrument, no matter your level of expertise, is welcome to be a part o f this fun, community-building experience in a comfortable, welcoming environment! Everyone is welcome to attend this free event. You can join in the Jam as a player or sit back and listen to this unique, community music-making experience.
Please note only prepare the first two movements.
Sponsored by Jill & Stan Willington
FREE EVENT
Choral Jam Session
Saturday, September 14, 2:30pm
Harmony Centre Auditorium
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Appropriate for singers of all ability levels, ages 12 and up.
This afternoon workshop will cover warm-ups, stylistically flexible vocal technique, and repertoire using Paul Aitken’s highly accessible but hauntingly beautiful “Peace Flows Into Me” as the vehicle for exploration.
Sponsored by Grey Bruce Community Foundation
MAINSTAGE CONCERT
Sun on Water
Saturday, September 14, 7:00pm
Georgian Shores United Church
997 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
This moving evening of music will feature a Handel Aria by Rachel Fenlon, Lembit Beecher: Listening to Eghin Havasi in Van Cortlandt Park (World Premiere), featuring Karen Ouzounian, and Grieg's Holberg Suite. We are sorry to announce that due to COVID within the choir, the Canadian Chamber Choir will no longer be performing as part of the Festival this weekend.
Performance Sponsored by Ruth Cathcart
Zombie Blizzard with Measha Bruegergosman-Lee
MAINSTAGE CONCERT
Saturday, September 14, 9:30pm
Doors open at 8:30pm
Heartwood Hall
939 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
“Zombie Blizzard”, a new song cycle composed by Aaron Davis and sung by world reknowned award winning soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, setting Margaret Atwood’s poems to music, written for brass ensemble, rhythm section and voice. The brass quintet will include trombonist, David Pell and other members of the Hannaford Street Silver Band, who commissioned the song cycle. “Zombie Blizzard” has a unique blending of the classical concert aria and jazz-influenced art song where Atwood’s lyrics tackle issues of sexism, humour, gender inequality, and grief.
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee (vocals), Aaron Davis (piano), George Koller (bass), Mark Mariash (drums), David Pell (bass trombone), William Carn (trombone), Chris Passmore (horn), Jason Logue (trumpet), Mike Fedyshyn (trumpet)
FREE EVENT
Sound Journey
Sunday, September 15, 9:00am
Harmony Centre
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Sound healing is one of the oldest and most natural forms of healing. The power of sound can restore one’s mind, body, and spirit back to a state of balance. Bring a yoga mat and join us for a healing meditation featuring Celeste Sounds.
FREE EVENT
Next Wave Showcase
Sunday, September 15, 12:00pm
Harmony Centre Auditorium
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON
Enjoy performances by some of the best up and coming local talent who will be in residence working with SweetWater artists all weekend long.
Performance Sponsored by Jean Medley SweetWater Memorial Endowed Fund
MAINSTAGE CONCERT
SweetWater Jamboree
Sunday, September 15, 3:00pm
Meaford Arts Centre
12 Nelson Street East, Meaford, ON
Our epic not-to-be-missed festival finale will feature Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and a Canadian Premiere of Anna Clyne's Shorthand.
We are sorry to announce that due to COVID within the choir, the Canadian Chamber Choir will no longer be performing as part of the Festival this weekend.
Performance Sponsored by the Betty & Joe Gray Family Foundation
Meet the Musicians
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Soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee’s engaging personality, exceptional musicianship and powerful voice have taken her to the major orchestras and concert halls of every continent, as well as the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, and a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II.
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The JUNO-nominated Canadian Chamber Choir (CCC) is Canada’s only professional choir with national representation. Led by Julia Davids (Artistic Director) and Joel Tranquilla (Associate Conductor), it is comprised of singers from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia to the Northwest Territories. The CCC creates, celebrates and communicates Canadian identity through choral performance and education, and it is passionate about building community through choral singing. Their Summer 2024 tour celebrates the release of a new album, Where Waters Meet, in collaboration with Cree-Dene artist Sherryl Sewepagaham – a unique musical reflection of a multi-year journey together. For more information about the Canadian Chamber Choir, please visit canadianchamberchoir.ca.
Soprano
Julia Davids – ON
Julia Frodyma – ON
Catherine Lippitt – AB
Liz Mitchell – ON
Danielle Sirek – ON
Chloé Thiessen – MBAlto
Deborah Buck – SK
Karla Ferguson – MB
Sandy Jasper – MB
Naomi Russell – MBTenor
Bill Hamm – AB
Chenuka Lakwijaya – BC
Scott Reimer – MB
Andrew Whiteside – ABBass
Matthew Adam – QC
Christopher Lane – NB
Christopher Mallory – ON
Joel Tranquilla – NS
Jereme Wall – MBJulia Davids – Artistic Director
A founding member of the Canadian Chamber Choir and its Artistic Director since 2003, Dr. Julia Davids has led the ensemble on concert and workshop tours of every province, and conducted four recordings including their Juno-nominated 2015 release, Sacred Reflections. Born in London, Ontario, she grew up singing in the Amabile Youth Singers, the Ontario Youth Choir, and the National Youth Choir, for whom she was the first Apprentice Conductor. She is currently the Stephen J. Hendrickson Professor and Director of Choral Activities at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. She is passionate about mentoring the next generation of choral conductors and committed to giving emerging and established Canadian composers a forum for their work.
Joel Tranquilla – Associate Conductor
Dr. Joel Tranquilla is a conductor and music educator noted for his versatile musicianship and creative programming. Associate Conductor of the Canadian Chamber Choir since 2015, Joel also recently returned home to the Maritimes to assume the positions of Artistic Director of the Halifax Camerata Singers and Chorus Master of Symphony Nova Scotia. Formative choral experiences include touring with the American Boychoir as a boy soprano and singing as a member of the Nova Scotia and National Youth Choirs. He holds degrees from Mount Allison University, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University where his doctoral research was in the area of Canadian choral-orchestral works.
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Marjut Hirvonen harnesses the transformative power of sound to create deeply immersive sound journeys. Her soundscapes are meditative, uplifting and healing sonic experiences, where a harmonious blend of quartz crystal singing bowls, chimes, tuning forks, gongs and various other instruments transport the participants to a realm of deep relaxation, rejuvenation and introspection. Each soundscape is an intuitive journey, carefully crafted to harmonize the mind, body, and soul.
Marjut is a certified Sound Healing Practitioner, Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Reiki Practitioner. She resides in Campbellford, Ontario, where she facilitates sound journey events in her home studio, as well as in different locations locally and in the surrounding areas. She has also facilitated sound journeys in Mexico, and she is looking forward to bringing her soundscapes to California this winter.
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Pianist
Aaron Davis is an eclectic composer, arranger and keyboardist based in Toronto, Canada, who is perhaps best known as a founding member of the Holly Cole Trio and as a composer of music for film.
In 1979 he helped found world beat-jazz band Manteca, for whom he wrote and played keyboards from 1979 until 1991 and then again in 2008. In 1983 Aaron released his own album, "NOUVELLE AFRIQUE". Davis's second album, "NEON BLUE" was released in 1988, with Molly Johnson singing the title track.
In the late eighties Davis and bassist David Piltch formed a group with singer Holly Cole. As well as being a co-arranger of the Holly Cole repertoire, and writing some of her songs, Davis has done all of her orchestral arrangements, which have been performed by symphonies across Canada, the U.S. and Japan. He has also done orchestral & choral arrangements for other artists, including Alison Krauss, Natalie McMaster, David Clayton Thomas, Eliana Cuevas, Leahy, the Ennis Sisters, Eleanor McCain, the Canadian Brass, Quartetto Gelato, Sophie Milman, Kevin Breit and the Iseler Singers.
Other artists that Aaron has worked with include: Molly Johnson, John Alcorn, David Myles, Sarah Slean, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Selena Ryder, Hawksley Workman, Angelique Kidjo, the Parachute Club and Rose Cousins, Jane Siberry.
Since 2011 Aaron has been working on multi-media interactive art installations with, visual artist Candida Girling. They created “Marcovaldo’s Bench”, an installation which was part of Toronto’s “Nuit Blanche” festival in Oct 2011. Other installations include “Simply Breathing”, "A City Slice of Sky" and "A City Slice of Green” in Toronto and Buffalo, NY.
Davis continues to work with Holly Cole and Measha Brueggergosman, and over the last couple of years has recorded new CDs with Buffy St. Marie, Amelia Curran and Rose Cousins. He has also worked as a mentor at the Banff Centre for The Performing Arts and put together a Leonard Cohen Tribute with resident musicians there.
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Pianist/Soprano
Rachel Fenlon offers “an extremely personal way of presenting music of the traditional recital canon… and brings spontaneous, relevant, and impromptu feeling” to well-loved music. (Schmopera)
Rachel Fenlon is a musical adventurer, a poet and producer of concerts that blur artistic boundaries in addition to performing song recitals as both singer and pianist accompanying herself. She tours internationally as a recitalist, as a solo pianist and singer, and on the opera stage. For the Coast Recital Society, she presents Franz Schubert’s “Die Winterreise”, a sublime song cycle that takes listeners on a musical journey through the landscape of unrequited love.
Praised for her “unusually shaped recitals in keeping with her extraordinary talent” Fenlon was born in the UK, raised on the west coast of Canada, and is now based in Berlin.
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Double Bassist
Bassist, Jordan Frazier, has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra since 1993 and was appointed a member of the orchestra in 2006. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and currently is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic, Little Orchestra Society, and the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra in California. Jordan has also performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among many others. Jordan has also performed and recorded with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, both in Toronto and at the Klang und Raum Festival in Germany.
As a Chamber musician, Jordan has performed with the Helicon Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Horozowski Trio and the Corigliano, Jupiter, Parker, and Daedalus Quartets. His recording credits include Sony Classical, Harmonium Mundi, Nonesuch, London, Decca/Argo, EMI, Koch, Musical Heritage Society, Blue Note, and Deutsche Grammophon, including two Grammy winning recordings with Orpheus; “Shadow Dances”, music of Stravinsky, and the Blue Note recording, Emanon, with the Wayne Shorter Quartet. He is also a founding member of Gerard Schwartz’s All-Star Orchestra and has recorded 20 episodes for Naxos and PBS.
A native of Cleveland, Jordan received his musical training at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Manhattan School of Music. He has been on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music and has given masterclasses at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Yale and Rice Universities and at the National Orchestral Institute.
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Violist/Violinist
Originally from Calgary, AB, Toronto based violist Catherine Gray is a JUNO nominated ensemble and orchestral musician. Ms. Gray is a tenured member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and regularly performs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. She has been heard on CBC Radio, CBC Television, and BBC3, and has been described as "glorious... Gray is an immense talent... performer of superb musicianship and high quality" (Ludwig Van, Toronto 2020).
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Violinist/Violist
Michael Gurevich enjoys a varied performing career. He is a member of the London Haydn Quartet and appears on their critically acclaimed recordings of the complete quartets by Haydn. With them and as a guest with other chamber groups such as the Nash Ensemble, he has performed worldwide, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Edinburgh, Verbier and Aldeburgh Festivals. As guest director and soloist he has performed with ensembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and English Chamber Orchestra and as guest concertmaster with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Dunedin Consort, Haydn Philharmonie and Concerto Copenhagen. He has led numerous productions with early music ensemble Arcangelo, recording albums on Hyperion and Alpha. Michael taught at Chetham’s School of Music for nearly a decade following teaching fellowships at the Royal Northern College of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He continues to teach in chamber music and violin masterclasses worldwide.
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Violist
Keith Hamm received his training at the Glenn Gould School of Music and at the Mount Royal Conservatory. While still a student, Keith was named Principal Violist of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and performed there for eight seasons. In 2019, Keith joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as principal violist. A dedicated chamber musician, Keith has been invited to perform at the Ravinia Festival as guest violist with the Royal Conservatory’s Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Sweetwater Music Festival, Edmonton Recital Society and Music By The Sea in Bamfield, BC. Keith is Founder and Artistic Director of the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Rosebud, Alberta and co-founder of the Rosebud String Quartet.
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Cellist
Julie Hereish pursued her studies in Montreal and then in Vienna, Austria. In 2019, she joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Cello. Previously, she held the same position in the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Julie has been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and Radio-Canada. Julie has performed in festivals across North America, including Music By The Sea in Bamfield (BC), Sweetwater Music Festival in Owen Sound (ON), Rosebud Chamber Music Festival (AB), Rendez-vous musical de Laterrière in Saguenay (QC) and Rockport Music Festival (Massachusetts). Julie is currently a member of the Polyphonie String Quartet, based in Edmonton, AB and, she cofounded The New Cohort, a viola and cello ensemble born at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
Performances sponsored by Douglas Mary and Bruce Hutchinson.
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Violinist
Amy Hillis strives to build community relationships inside and outside the concert hall through performance and education. As a solo violinist, she has commissioned new works by Canadian composers including Ontario’s Matt Brubeck, Fjóla Evans, and Randolph Peters. With her duo partner and pianist Meagan Milatz, Amy was selected for the inaugural "Pan-Canadian Recital Tour" to perform 50 recitals across all thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. Amy is also winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank Competition, an artistic residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and the Sylva Gelber Foundation Music Award.
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Violinist
Edwin Huizinga is an accomplished violinist, a fiddler, a composer, and an improviser. Along with his role as SweetWater Artistic Director (he assumed this position in October 2019), he performs regularly with the folk and baroque duo Fire & Grace and internationally-acclaimed early music, 12-piece baroque ensemble ACRONYM.
He has performed with orchestras and ensembles worldwide including Carmel Bach Festival, Amsterdam Conservatory, Baroque Orchestra, and Tafelmusik. Huizinga has released numerous recordings including Partita Americana, fusing classical and bluegrass music. He premiered a new composition commissioned by Opera Atelier for soprano Measha Brueggergosman in late October 2020.
This coming year he will premiere another composition commissioned by the National Arts Centre. Huizinga is also Baroque and Classical Academy Director for the Carmel Bach Festival.
Edwin Huizinga’s performances at SweetWater 2023 are generously sponsored by the SweetWater Music Festival’s Board of Directors.
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Violinist
Sheila Jaffé was born into a musical family in Montreal, Canada. She grew up in south Florida, where she was initiated to the violin at the age of six by her grandmother, a music teacher from northern Quebec. Four years later she began taking lessons from Sergiu Schwartz, then violin professor at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton. During that time she was concertmaster of the Florida Youth Orchestra and participated in chamber music, voice and piano courses at Harid Conservatory’s preparatory school. At thirteen, she left home to return to Quebec and study with Catherine Dallaire at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, where she stayed for two years and began to participate in regional and national competitions in which she won many first prizes and scholarships.
After finishing high school in Montreal, she was accepted with scholarship into an accelerated program at the University of Montreal where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2010. During her degree she participated in numerous chamber music projects with students and professionals in and outside of the University and held the concertmaster position in the school’s orchestra as well as working with many orchestras in and around Montreal, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
She also has performed and participated in many festivals including Domaine Forget in Quebec, Valhalla Summer Music in British Colombia, Toronto Summer Music Festival, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove in England and Aurora in Sweden. She has also performed concertos with a few small orchestras in the Montreal area. She is now continuing her studies at the prestigious Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Germany.
Sheila plays on a Francesco Gobetti violin (1710-15) generously loaned to her by Canimex
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Pianist, Next Wave Artist
Theadora Koski began formal piano studies at the age of six. She progressed to RCM Level 10 in just four years, earning First Class Honours with Distinction on exams, multiple Provincial medals and, in 2021, the National Gold Medal. Theadora placed first at the 2023 OMFA Provincials and won the Young Artist Trophy at the CCC Toronto International Music Festival the same year. In January 2024, after top marks at the SSP International Piano Competition, Theadora performed live at Carnegie Hall for the closing gala. Theadora enjoys
community involvement, serves as the collaborative organist for her church choir and loves sharing her music at special events. With plans for a career in performance and teaching, Theadora also enjoys keeping active as a freestyle skier and tennis player.
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Composer In Residence/Violinist
Matthias McIntire is a composer, performer, and educator active across a broad spectrum of contexts. His compositions reflect his eclectic background in performance (violin, viola, voice, and electronics), Western classical and new music, as well as jazz, fiddle, free improvisation, field recording, foley art, and electronic music.
Matthias creates varied work for acoustic instruments, with and without electronics. His music has found inspiration from a variety of sources including personal expression, reflections on the complexity of the human psyche and emotions, connection and collaboration with others, a love of nature, the act of making and using his own field recordings, birds, the urgency of climate change, a love of all things colourful, the spaces between musical genres he has studied, feelings of mystery and magic in the world, and his time spent time traveling, to name a few.
Matthias is the recipient of numerous awards and grants: the 2021 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music (University of Toronto); grants from the Toronto, Ontario, and Canada Councils for the Arts, as well as the University of Toronto, U of T Scarborough, and Ontario Graduate Scholarships; he was selected as 2020-21 Composer Fellow for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra; he was the 2016 Winner of the Lyra Society (Philadelphia) Costello Composition Competition – to name a few.
His compositions have been presented in Canada, the United States, and Europe by ensembles/venues including New Music Concerts (Toronto), the Canadian Music Centre (Toronto), Fall for Dance North, TEDx U of T, The University of Toronto, Array Space (Toronto), the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Nova Scotia), New Art/New Media (Ottawa), Ottawa Chamberfest, the Center for New Music (San Francisco), One Found Sound (San Francisco), the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), the University of Seattle (Washington), New Music for Strings (Iceland), among others.
Matthias holds a DMA in Composition from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Christos Hatzis and Eliot Britton. He also holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Violin Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Glenn Gould School (Toronto), respectively.
In August, Matthias will finish a two-year term as Composer-in-Residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Lamp) in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where he composed his 30 minute String Quartet No. 1 for the Verona Quartet, new songs set to poetry by Mi’kmaq poet Michelle Sylliboy, worked to finalize the visual album of his song cycle for soprano/pianist Rachel Fenlon, as well as a new live version with projections by Jamie AM, and composed a new work for violin/percussion Duo Holz commissioned by the Harbourfront Centre (Toronto). He is also currently composing a new work for violin, clarinet, percussion trio F-Plus, as well as a piano Nocturne featuring AI voice and text generation technology for pianist Tong Wang. In June 2024, Matthias returned as co-director and faculty for Lamp’s 2024 Composition Academy.
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Flutist
Stephanie Morin currently serves as Second Flute and Piccolo with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. She previously held positions as Assistant Principal Flute with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Principal Flute with the Laval and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean symphony orchestras. Stephanie is a laureate of the Canadian Music Competition, Prix d’Europe and the Orchestra Toronto Concerto Competition. She has participated in various summer music programs, including the Music Academy of the West, the NAC Young Artists Program and NYO Canada.
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Cellist
Described as “radiant” and “expressive” (The New York Times) and “nothing less than gorgeous” (Memphis Commercial Appeal), cellist Karen Ouzounian creates music from a deeply personal place. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, collaborator and composer, she is the recipient of the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award and sought after for her open-hearted, vibrantly detailed and fiercely committed performances. Recent projects include the creation of an experimental theater work with director Joanna Settle; the world premiere of Lembit Beecher’s cello concerto Tell Me Again; the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s Shorthand for solo cello and strings with The Knights, which she toured as soloist with The Knights throughout Europe and the U.S. and released on Avie Records; the release of Kayhan Kalhor’s Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur for solo cello, kamancheh and tabla; and the world premiere of Beecher’s A Year to the Day, filmed for The Violin Channel with Augustin Hadelich and Nicholas Phan. She was a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet for eleven years, during which time the ensemble was awarded major chamber music prizes on three continents and earned a GRAMMY nomination. She has toured with Musicians from Marlboro, appeared at the Ravinia, Caramoor and Ojai festivals, and performs regularly as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble and The Knights. Her evening-length video work In Motion, an exploration of heritage, family history and migration through interviews, her own compositions, and collaborations with visual artists Kevork Mourad and Nomi Sasaki and composer-percussionist Haruka Fujii, was presented by BroadBand. Recent compositions include works for the Silkroad Ensemble, Noe Music, and an upcoming work for solo cello, Armenian instruments and choir for Cantori New York.
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Vocalist/Composer
Sherryl Sewepagaham is of Cree-Dene ancestry from the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta. She holds a Bachelor of Music Therapy (Capilano University) and a Bachelor of Education (University of Alberta). Having taught elementary music for 14 years, Sherryl is an experienced elementary Music Educator focusing on Indigenous Music Education and First Nations songs for the classroom. Now as a Music Therapist, she works with Indigenous patients in the areas of Geriatric and Palliative Care at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, AB, but still continues to provide education workshops in schools on Fridays.
Sherryl is also a 22-year member of the 2005 Juno-nominated, Edmonton-based trio Asani and composes drum songs in the Cree language. Asani received a 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award, a 2010 Indian Summer Music Award, a 2005 Canadian Aboriginal Music Award, and many other music awards nominations. Asani toured extensively around the world performing at Carnegie Hall in New York, The Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C., and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver BC.
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Pianist, Next Wave Artist
Evelyn Tao is a pianist based in Toronto, originally from Upstate New York. An active soloist, Tao made her European performance debut in Spain in 2023, performing for the Gijón International Piano Festival. She has won top awards and music scholarships from competitions and organizations including the CCC Toronto International Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Ithaca College Summer Piano Institute, and Onondaga County Music Educators Association. She has had the privilege of playing in lessons with renowned pianists such as Logan Skelton, Marina Lomazov, Jose Ramon Mendez, Christopher Guzman, Douglas Humpherys, Jean Saulnier, James Giles, and Natalya Antonova.
As a chamber musician, Tao appeared in the 2023 world premiere of a Toronto piano trio and regularly performs with a variety of ensembles and instruments, such as strings, winds, and percussion. In August 2024, she performed in a piano and winds quintet at the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts in Maine. Tao was the pianist for the University of Toronto Wind Symphony’s 2022-2023 season. She also enjoys playing various musical styles including jazz, twice receiving the full scholarship to the CNY SummerJazz workshop. Tao is currently studying classical piano at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Dr. Younggun Kim
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Violinist
Yusuf Tajbakhsh is 15 years old and is a student at the prestigious Taylor Performance Academy for young artists at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He started playing the violin when he was 6. Before entering the Taylor Academy in 2020, he won numerous awards in local competitions including Kiwanis Festival of Toronto, North York Music Festival, Ontario Music Festival and the Canadian Music Competition. Most recently, he won the Concerto Competition of the Taylor Academy at the Royal Conservatory of the Music and the OYMI concerto competition. Yusuf made his Koerner Hall debut with the Royal Conservatory Concerto Ensemble on April 30th, 2023. He has played in many master classes by some of the most respected violinists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Timothy Chooi and Ray Chen. Yusuf has studied with Dr. Min-Jeong Koh and Mr. Jerzy Kaplanek and will be joining Mr. Atis Bankas’s studio in September. He is quite active when it comes to supporting local charities through his music. He has played in a number of fundraising events for Sick Kids Hospital, St. Michael's Hospital, CIBC Miracle Day and I Love First Peoples.
Edwin Huizinga
Artistic Director
Edwin Huizinga is an accomplished violinist, a fiddler, a composer, and an improviser. Along with his role as SweetWater Artistic Director (he assumed this position in October 2019), he performs regularly with the folk and baroque duo Fire & Grace and internationally-acclaimed early music, 12-piece baroque ensemble ACRONYM.
He has performed with orchestras and ensembles worldwide including Carmel Bach Festival, Amsterdam Conservatory, Baroque Orchestra, and Tafelmusik. Huizinga has released numerous recordings including Partita Americana, fusing classical and bluegrass music. He premiered a new composition commissioned by Opera Atelier for soprano Measha Brueggergosman in late October 2020.
This coming year he will premiere another composition commissioned by the National Arts Centre. Huizinga is also Baroque and Classical Academy Director for the Carmel Bach Festival.
Artistic Director Partner: Betty and Joe Gray Family Foundation
Matthias McIntire
Composer-In-Residence
Matthias McIntire is a composer, performer, and educator active across a broad spectrum of contexts. His compositions reflect his eclectic background in performance (violin, viola, voice, and electronics), Western classical and new music, as well as jazz, fiddle, free improvisation, field recording, foley art, and electronic music.
Matthias creates varied work for acoustic instruments, with and without electronics. His music has found inspiration from a variety of sources including personal expression, reflections on the complexity of the human psyche and emotions, connection and collaboration with others, a love of nature, the act of making and using his own field recordings, birds, the urgency of climate change, a love of all things colourful, the spaces between musical genres he has studied, feelings of mystery and magic in the world, and his time spent time traveling, to name a few.
His compositions have been presented in Canada, the United States, and Europe by ensembles/venues including New Music Concerts (Toronto), the Canadian Music Centre (Toronto), Fall for Dance North, TEDx U of T, The University of Toronto, Array Space (Toronto), the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Nova Scotia), New Art/New Media (Ottawa), Ottawa Chamberfest, the Center for New Music (San Francisco), One Found Sound (San Francisco), the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), the University of Seattle (Washington), New Music for Strings (Iceland), among others.
Matthias holds a DMA in Composition from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Christos Hatzis and Eliot Britton. He also holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Violin Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Glenn Gould School (Toronto), respectively.
SweetWater 2024 is supported by
Betty & Joe Gray Foundation
The Medley Family