Chamber Choir, Richmond Hill High School Vocal Fusion, and MacMillan Singers

Kathleen Allan, Yuan (Alba) Chen, Joanna Christopoulos-Sarganis, and Dr. Jamie Hillman, conductors

PROGRAM

Chamber Choir   

The Arrow and the Song
Laura Hawley 🍁
Yuan (Alba) Chen, conductor
Trinity Turino, soloist

Living Things
Ayanna Woods
Katherine Zhu, soloist
Elisa Ma, piano

In Shadow
Leslee Heys 🍁

Turning
Joni Jensen
Mark Fewer, violin

This recital is in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting.
Yuan Chen is a student of Jamie Hillman. 

Richmond Hill High School Vocal Fusion   

An Irish Lullaby
Alice Rose Denny, arr. Bruce Trinkley

Seasons of Love from Rent
Jonathan Larson, arr. Roger Emerson

MacMillan Singers

The Conversion of Saul
Z. Randall Stroope

Sing You Home
Maureen Ennis 🍁 & Mark Murphy 🍁,
arr. Mark Murphy, Dan Forrest, and Jamie Hillman 🍁
Belén Fazio, solo

Make Me a World
Ruth Watson Henderson 🍁
Lucas Kalechstein, baritone

MacMillan Singers

Hymn to Freedom
Oscar Peterson 🍁, arr. Paul Read 🍁

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CHAMBER CHOIR 

Kathleen Allan, conductor
Yuan (Alba) Chen, assistant conductor
Eunseong Cho, collaborative pianist
Marcel d’Entremont, vocal coach
David Archibald, composer in residence    
     
Soprano 1
Emilina Arduini
Esther Cabral
Eve Channell
Lauren Fajardo
Lindsay Faulkner
Rasa Ghaedi
Marina Kadri
Charis Li
Megan O'Donnell
Anastacia Zavgorodniy

Soprano 2
Giuliana Barrow Lattanzio
Josheen Bayabos
Elizabeth Gilerovitch
Jihye (Amy) Lee
Jenise Pan
Isla Parekh
Mac Reid
Sylvia Sass
Trinity Turino*
Jane Zelcer

Alto 1
Lauren Esch
Cheuk Yan (Josephine) Leung
Monica Lindsay
Danielle Millet
Vani Natarajan
Kaela Peever
Mona Subramani*
Mara Tanovich
Frankie Zhu
Yuan (Alba) Chen

Alto 2
Parnian (Pari) Bahrami Asl
Zhihan (Candice) Jiang
Tianhui (Elisa) Ma
Seyedeh Sepideh Mirkiyaei Tamijani
Marjorie Moskaluk
Mia Paunovic
Yana Shamis
Cathy Wang
Katherine Zhu

*ensemble manager

RICHMOND HILL HIGH SCHOOL VOCAL FUSION 

Joanna Christopoulos Sarganis, conductor
Jerry Cui, collaborative pianist

Soprano
Sama Alhinnawi
Analia Baregheh
Charlotte Chen
Shirley Chen
Lila Gratch
Naomi Kwan
Sandra Li
Eviee Lin
Reita Liu
Jasmine Ng
Liana Sadeghian
Vesta Shafiei
Tanya Sham
Nikita Shapiro
Ariny Tharsan
Virginia Tong
Cheryl Xiao
Lily Xiao
Isabel Ye
Brianna Zhao

Alto
Yasamin Ahmadi
Helen Alibadi
Hannah Cho
Attia Hadaf
Golshid Haghravesh
Rosha Jannati
Jasmine Leung
Melinda Li
Peilin Li
Jasmine Ng
Yutonfg Qin
Rozha Saeedi Nezhad
Phoebe Su
Andrea Tsui
Yura Yoon
Angela Zhai

Tenor
Alexander Dai
Ryan He
Frederick Jiang
Alan Lei
Allyson Mack
Ted Tang
Andrew Tsui
Sean Wang
Cathy Yang
George Zhang
Maxwell Zhou

Bass
Khashayar Bahrami
Ethan Chen
Vincent Cong
Bono Fu
Lucas He
Andrew Huang
Cody Mack
Ariyan Maljou
Leo Yang
Alexander Xu

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MACMILLAN SINGERS

Dr. Jamie Hillman, conductor
Jayden Browne, assistant conductor
Dr. Joy Lee, collaborative pianist
Minjoo Kim, composer in residence

Soprano
Muriel Falkenstein
Belén Fazio
Anastasia Galarneau 
Claire Jun
Isabella Milano Medina
Nadia Nikolov
Ariane Prescott
Emma Puscalau
Helena Webster*
Melanie Yirenkyi

Alto
Kimiya Afkhami 
Daina Babeckas
Yuan (Alba) Chen
Maria Conkey
Emma Lavigne 
Katerina Monaco
Théa Nappert
Sofia Radenko
Tannaz Rahmati
Ania Suri
Elienna Wang

Tenor
Denzel Chayson
Jean-Paul Feo Caicedo
Lucas Kalechstein
Hayden Thomas
Aquila Ying Faye Li

Bass
Jay-Daniel Baghbanan
Cameron Boulter
Will Brothers
Jayden Browne
Joaquin Justo
Nathaniel Kulin
Rocco Marciano
Cooper Pearson*
Adam Przyjemski
Mathias Seror
Vikram Srinivas
John Zhang

*ensemble manager

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Donors to Choral Studies
Advancement: James Conquer, Tyler Greenleaf, and Rachel Loo
Concert Office: Eric Chow
Graduate Choral Conducting Students: Jayden Browne, Yuan (Alba) Chen, Maria Conkey, Maura McGroarty, Tyrese Walters, and Melanie Yirenkyi
Librarian, Performance Collection: Karen Wiseman
Performance Office: Eddy Aitken, Amanda Eyer Haberman
Richmond Hill High School: Carol Diep, Joanna Christopoulos-Sarganis, Deborah Linkewich, Cameron Rawlins and Kyle Yuen 
Voice Studies and Faculty of Music Voice Faculty
Collaborative Piano Studies and Professor Steven Philcox

BIOGRAPHIES

Kathleen Allan
Kathleen Allan is the Artistic and Executive Director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and a member of the music faculty at the University of Toronto. In high demand as a guest conductor, commissioned composer, and clinician, she is equally comfortable working in early, contemporary, and symphonic repertoire.

Since the beginning of her tenure with the Amadeus Choir in 2019, the Choir has commissioned over a dozen new works, founded the Choral Creation Lab for emerging composers and poets, and formed new partnerships with diverse artists and ensembles throughout the GTA and beyond. From 2016-2023, she served as the Artistic Director of Canzona, Winnipeg’s professional Baroque choir, with whom she conducted many of the masterworks of the Baroque era. A devoted interpreter of early music and steeped in the practice of historically-informed performance, she is passionate about finding relevant contemporary context for the works of the past and sharing their universal power with broad audiences. Recent guest conducting engagements include the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Regina Symphony Orchestra, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Early Music Vancouver. In 2015, Ms. Allan made her Asian debut conducting Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Japan, and in 2016, she was the recipient of the Sir Ernest MacMillan Prize in Choral Conducting.

Her compositions have been commissioned, performed and recorded by ensembles throughout the Americas and Europe and have been featured at two World Symposiums on Choral Music. Her music is published by Boosey and Hawkes, Oxford University Press, and Cypress Choral Music, and she is a MusicSpoke composer. Inspired by her Celtic roots and musical upbringing in Newfoundland and Labrador, her compositions often fuse contemporary rhythms and harmonies with undertones of ancient folk music. Also an accomplished soprano, she has appeared as a soloist with the National Broadcast Orchestra, Berkshire Choral Festival, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In addition to freelancing regularly in Canada and the US, she has performed as a member of the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Vienna), Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Atlanta), Clarion Choir (New York), and the Yale Schola Cantorum (New Haven). 

As a passionate educator, she has served as Visiting Professor of Conducting at Western University (2019-2021) and now conducts the Chamber Choir at the University of Toronto. She holds a degree in composition from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in conducting from Yale University.

Yuan (Alba) Chen 
Yuan Chen holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in Choral Conducting from Memorial University. She is currently in her first year of the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Toronto. 

Previously, Yuan served as the Musical Director at Nomad Stages in Stephenville, Newfoundland, where she led her choir to win the Best Choir award at the Stephenville Rotary Music Festival. This summer, she also took on the role of Music Director for the 46th Stephenville Theatre Festival, further showcasing her exceptional leadership and communication skills. Additionally, she is a guest conductor for The Atlantic Boy Choir. 

With over a decade of experience conducting choirs of all ages—from children to university students and seniors—Yuan has garnered significant accolades. She led the Chorus of the Department of History at Fudan University to a Silver Award in the Annual Chorus Competition and directed the Chorus of East China University of Political Science and Law to a Third Prize, both starting from scratch with no prior music background.
In addition to her choral achievements, Yuan has a rich background in the performing arts as an improvisation actress, film producer, and director for five years.

Eunseong Cho
Being a versatile musician as an organist, conductor, harpsichordist and collaborative pianist, Eunseong Cho has contributed her talent to Toronto’s music community for many years. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a master’s degree in organ performance studying under Dr. John Tuttle. She studied with Sir Colin Tilney and was a harpsichordist for the U of T Early Music Ensemble under the direction of Jeanne Lamon. She also studied choral conducting with Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. She serves as music director at The Light Korean Presbyterian Church and as collaborative pianist for U of T’s Chamber Choir.

Joanna Christopoulos-Sarganis
Ms. Christopoulos-Sarganis is very proud to be part of an exceptionally strong music department. For the last 18 years, she has been teaching Vocal and Instrumental Music at Richmond Hill High School. Ms. Christopoulos-Sarganis began her musical journey playing the piano at age five, further showing interest in the Trumpet and French Horn before indulging herself in Classical Voice. She studied voice privately throughout this time until deciding to pursue it further in her post-secondary education. Ms. Christopoulos-Sarganis is a mezzo-soprano who majored in Classical Voice while completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music and Bachelor of Education at York University. She was fortunate to study with world-renowned Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin and soprano Stefanie Bogle at the Glenn Gould Studio. Some of her performance highlights include taking part in Summer Opera Programs such as The Marriage of Figaro and the Magic Flute. She currently performs with community ensembles and choirs in the GTA. 

At Richmond Hill High School, she continues to direct the Concert Band, Vocal Fusion and Chamber Ensembles. Outside of School, she keeps herself busy with her two energetic children and loving husband.   

Mark Fewer
Violinist Mark Fewer leads a multi-disciplined life in music. Violin soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, artistic director, conductor, arranger, teacher, jazz violinist, recording artist and occasional radio host, he has performed worldwide to great critical acclaim. Described as “intrepid” (The Globe and Mail), “genre-bending” (National Post), “profound” (The WholeNote), and “freaky good”(The Gazette), he has performed around the world in halls such as Carnegie, Wigmore and Salle Pleyel, and is equally at home in recital venues such as Bartok House (Budapest) to Le Poisson Rouge (NYC) to The Forum (Taipei).

As a soloist, he has performed with the symphonies of Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec, San Francisco and Melbourne, as well as with groups such as the Fodens-Richardson Brass Band (UK), the Zapp Quartet (Amsterdam), the McGill Percussion Ensemble, and as a featured guest with Stevie Wonder and his band. As a chamber musician he was a founding member of the Duke Piano Trio, has been a member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players for over 15 years, and was violinist with the St. Lawrence String Quartet at Stanford University, where he was Artist-in-Residence. As a conductor he has directed I Musici de Montreal, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, the Newfoundland Sinfonia, the McGill Baroque Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony and the choir Capella Antica. 

Mark Fewer has been Artistic Director of the SweetWater Music Festival for 16 years, and in 2019 was appointed as the new Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music. He is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. He is a Juno and Prix Opus winner.

Jamie Hillman
Jamie Hillman is a Canadian and American musician, active as a conductor, music educator, singer, pianist, and composer-arranger. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral degree programs in Choral Conducting. Professor Hillman is also cross listed as an adjunct faculty member in Emmanuel College's Master of Sacred Music program. In 2024, Dr. Hillman received the Faculty of Music's Teaching Award which recognizes excellence, commitment, and innovation in teaching.

Professor Hillman has served on the faculties of Boston University Metropolitan College/Prison Education Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Kodály Music Institute, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Toronto Summer Music. As a Boston University Prison Arts Scholar, he co-initiated an innovative vocal music program in the Massachusetts prison system.

Dr. Hillman is an examiner for Conservatory Canada and has adjudicated, guest conducted, performed, and presented throughout Canada and the United States, and in Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Portugal, and Taiwan. He has led All-State, festival, or honour choirs in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Rhode Island, Taiwan, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. Most recently he conducted two national festival choruses at Carnegie Hall with Manhattan Concert Productions and National Concerts. He returns to Carnegie Hall in 2025. Hillman has conducted world premieres by Shireen Abu-Khader, Matthew Emery, Sarah Quartel, and Marie-Claire Saindon, among others.

Dr. Hillman's schedule of upcoming engagements includes conducting the Alberta Youth Choir and honour choirs in Illinois, Louisiana and Virginia; serving on the international juries of the 14th World Choir Festival on Musical and Competition (Thessaloniki, Greece) and the Bali International Choir Competition (Indonesia); and residencies at several Canadian and international universities.

Professor Hillman is the curator and editor of The Jamie Hillman Choral Series published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing. He also edits Beckenhorst Press’ Concert Series and writes choral pedagogical curriculum with composer Dan Forrest. He has published articles on choral literature and pedagogy in several academic journals. 

Dr. Hillman earned an associate diploma (ARCT) from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and a Bachelor of Music from Western University (London, Canada). In 2024, he was inducted to Western's Don Wright Faculty of Music's Alumni Wall of Fame. He completed the Master of Music at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Doctor of Musical Arts at Boston University, where he studied with Ann Howard Jones. He is the 2012 laureate of the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council. 

Hillman is the 2012 laureate of the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council.

Dr. Joy Lee
Canadian pianist Joy Lee enjoys a multi-faceted career as a collaborative pianist, teacher, soloist and adjudicator. She has performed at esteemed venues including the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and performance spaces in Inuvik and Yellowknife, NWT. In April 2023, she gave her debut performance (Canada at Carnegie) at Carnegie Hall. She is a winner of the 2017 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition (2nd), the 2018 Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky Prize, and the Maison Dutilleux-Joy residency and the recital in Candes-Saint-Martin, France, with soprano, Stéphanie McKay-Turgeon (November 2023).

After receiving an MMus in solo piano from the University of Toronto, her love of the voice and its literature led her to pursue further degrees in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan (MMus) with Prof. Martin Katz and the University of Toronto (DMA) with Prof. Steven Philcox.

Dr. Lee is a Lecturer of Music and Worship Arts at Tyndale University. She is a collaborative pianist for the MacMillan Singers and Graduate Choral Conducting Seminar at the University of Toronto, as well as the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto, Tyndale Community Choir and University of Toronto Choral Conducting Symposium.

Ticket Prices: $30 Adult, $20 Senior, $10 Student. 
University of Toronto students with a valid T-Card are admitted free at the door (space permitting, some exceptions apply). No ticket reservation necessary.