Maxime Goulet 

An orchestral suite meant to accompany chocolate tasting, a piano concerto as a soundtrack for a chess game, a cabaret-opera based on a comic book, a fishing story mimed by a costumed clarinetist… With his communicative musical language and the originality of his concepts, the Montreal based composer Maxime Goulet connects with audiences from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences, from youth audiences to savvy music aficionados. 

His classical music compositions, such as Symphonic Chocolates and On Halloween Night are now part of orchestra’s regular repertoire and have been performed across the world by leading ensembles such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Liege Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Aahrus Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera, the Regional Orchestra of Normandie, the National Art Center Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble symphonique de Neuchâtel, Angèle Dubeau & la Pietà, and the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Driven by the desire to make music more interactive, Maxime Goulet scored more than 30 video games such as Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, Roller Coaster Tycoon World, The Amazing Spider-Man, Dungeon Hunter, Shrek Forever After, Iron Man 2 and Brothers in arms. 

Maxime Goulet is the creator of The Montreal Video Game Symphony, a multi-media concert that combines the power of the symphony orchestra and the immersive and interactive world of gaming, premiered by the Orchestre Métropolitain, during the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal.

Une suite orchestrale destinée à accompagner une dégustation de chocolats, un concerto telle une trame sonore pour une partie d’échecs, un opéra-cabaret basé sur une bande dessinée, une histoire de pêche mimée par un clarinettiste costumé… Par l’originalité de ses concepts et par son langage musical communicatif, le compositeur montréalais Maxime Goulet rejoint un public de tout horizon, allant du public jeunesse au mélomane averti. 

Ses œuvres de musique classique, tells Chocolats symphoniques et Par un soir d’Halloween font maintenant partie du répertoire régulier d’orchestre et ont été jouées à travers le monde par des ensembles prestigieux tels l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, l’Orchestre Philharmonique royal de Liège, l’Orchestre symphonique de Detroit, l’Orchestre symphonique de Aahrus, l’Orchestre symphonique de Toronto, l’Orchestre symphonique de Houston, l’Orchestre symphonique de Vancouver, l’Opéra de Vancouver, l’Orchestre régional de Normandie, l’Orchestre du Centre national des Arts, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, l’Orchestre symphonique de Toledo, l’Ensemble symphonique de Neuchâtel, Angèle Dubeau et la Pietà et l’Orchestre Métropolitain.

Animé par un désir de rendre la musique plus interactive, Maxime Goulet a composé plus de 30 trames sonores de jeux vidéo dont Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, Roller Coaster Tycoon World, The Amazing Spider-Man, Dungeon Hunter, Shrek Forever After, Iron Man 2 et Brothers in Arms. 

Maxime Goulet est le créateur de La Symphonie du jeu vidéo de Montréal, un concert multimédia alliant la puissance de l’orchestre symphonique à l’univers immersif et interactif du jeu vidéo, créé en par l’Orchestre Métropolitain, pour le 375e anniversaire de la ville de Montréal.

Glynis Leyshon 

Glynis was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and immigrated to Canada as a child. She grew up in North Vancouver on the traditional land of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Her ancestors are all Celtic. Her father’s family are from the small coal mining village of Pencoed, Wales and her mother’s family were rural farmers near Aberdeen, Scotland. After the Second World War, her parents journeyed across the Atlantic and made a home on the west coast of Canada. Glynis Leyshon is one of Canada’s most respected opera and theatre directors.

During her long-standing relationship with Pacific Opera Victoria, Ms. Leyshon has created over 20 new productions. While the majority of this operatic work has been in the traditional repertoire, Ms. Leyshon’s experience as a dramaturg and director of new theatre work has led her to develop and direct a number of new opera productions. She is the former Artistic Director of both the Playhouse Theatre Company in Vancouver and the Belfry Theatre in Victoria.

Upcoming productions include Pagliacci/Gianni Schicchi for Opera Kelowna, Rigoletto for Pacific Opera Victoria and working as dramaturge on expanded version of The Flight of the Hummingbird for Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas 

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a visual artist, author, and mischief-maker. His art lives in public spaces and private collections around the world, including the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Humboldt Forum in Berlin, Seattle Art Museum, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, and Vancouver Art Gallery.

His publications include Flight of the Hummingbird, RED: a Haida Manga, Carpe Fin, and War of the Blink. In 2021, UBC Press published a catalogue of his work, Mischief Making: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Art, and the Seriousness of Play, by Dr. Nicola Levell. His most recent book is the critically-acclaimed JAJ, published by Douglas & McIntyre in 2023.

Yahgulanaas creates art inspired by almost four decades of political experience in the Council of the Haida Nation, a decade as a trustee for a philanthropic foundation, and an upbringing in a lineage of accomplished artists and hereditary leaders.

He has traveled extensively through a wide geography of diverse Indigenous, pastoral, and resilient communities. Brimming with curiosity and ideas, he carries a traveler’s ticket in one hand and a sketchbook in the other.

Barry Gilson

Barry Gilson was one of the co-librettists of the opera The Flight of the Hummingbird. He was also one of the designers of the physical aspect of the initial production of the opera (props, sets, and costumes). Barry Gilson was the principal of award-winning architectural interiors company RED Design. He had strong technical and business qualifications with an impressive track record of more than 35 years of hands-on experience in strategic planning, business unit development, design, project management, and facilities planning. From his teenage years in musical theatre to President of the Burnaby Art Gallery, founding member of a theatre company and partner in Y Public Art with Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, the arts played a major role in his life.

Barry Gilson passed away on March 22, 2021.

Nate Ben-Horin 

Nate Ben-Horin divides his time as a pianist and vocal coach between the US and Canada. He recently completed a 10-month residency with Opera Columbus, where he was also an adjunct professor at Capital University. He has worked widely in his native San Francisco Bay Area, including many seasons with West Edge Opera as a repetiteur, continuo harpsichordist, recitalist and choir director. He completed his education at McGill University under Michael McMahon and Stephen Hargreaves, and supplemented his training at Highlands Opera Studio, Lachine Vocal Academy and the CoOperative Program. He formerly served as a staff pianist and assistant choir director at UC Berkeley.

Recent and upcoming engagements include Eugene Onegin with Opera Columbus and a staff appointment with Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Alongside soprano Jaclyn Grossman he is the co-founder, pianist, and composer/arranger of Likht Ensemble, a duo dedicated to music from the Holocaust. Of his work there, reviewer Lynn Slotkin wrote, "Nate Ben-Horin is a graceful pianist and a gifted arranger of the music to best serve the song." In his free time he enjoys encountering animals, walking or driving while listening to audiobooks, and consuming snacks. 

Marcel d’Entremont

Tenor Marcel d’Entremont is recognized across Canada for both his powerful voice and sincere stage presence. A former first prize winner of the Atlantic Young Artist Competition, Marcel also placed first in the vocal division of the National Music Festival of Canada and claimed the Grand Award for overall best performer. In 2018, he won the Wirth Vocal Prize from McGill University, which resulted in solo recitals at La Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montréal and the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto.

Marcel is an alumnus of the Equilibrium Young Artist program, for which he was specifically chosen by soprano Barbara Hannigan. He has also been a resident artist at the National Arts Center of Canada, Toronto Summer Music, and was a Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist with the Vancouver Opera.

Marcel’s operatic performances include La bohème with Opera Saskatoon, touring productions of Roméo et Juliette and La traviata with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, and Don Giovanni with Opéra de Rouen in Rouen, France, and at the Château de Versailles. In concert, he has performed Elijah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the PEI Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include a recital tour with Debut Atlantic, A Little Night Music at Koerner Hall, and solo recitals at the Festival de Febrero in Ajijic, Mexico. In 2020, Marcel was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 classical musicians in Canada by CBC Music.

Olivia Kang 

Soprano Olivia Minhee Kang joins Pacific Opera Victoria and Vancouver Opera in the original opera The Flight of the Hummingbird role of Dukdukdiya (Hummingbird). The opera will be performed publicly and embark on a BC school tour in the Spring of 2024.

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Kang completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance at the University of Seoul. After developing a strong desire to explore the world, she moved to Victoria, BC in 2012. Falling in love with the country, she began a new chapter of her life while studying with Nancy Argenta and Ingrid Attrot. She completed a Master’s in Voice Performance at the University of Manitoba under the guidance of Tracy Dahl. Currently, Kang performs and teaches British Columbia.

Among her recent projects, Kang directed, performed, and created A Lesson to a Life Journey, a captivating video collaboration with Manitoba Opera. This showcased her deep passion for art songs, delivering a message of love and unity. Additionally, she curated a spellbinding Korean art song concert in 2023, fostering cultural understanding across generations, with support from the Manitoba Arts Council. Last season, she performed in the chorus and understudied the role of Despina in Manitoba Opera’s Così fan tutte by Mozart.

Kang’s career highlights include winning first place at the Manitoba Provincial Music Festival and the Winnipeg Music Festival Scholarship, along with being a runner-up at the Winnipeg Music Festival Rose Bowl in 2021. She also won the University of Manitoba Concerto Competition in 2020.

Perri Lo

Perri Lo is a pianist and vocal coach, working in opera, chamber music, and dance. She has worked with opera companies across Canada including Montreal’s Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal, Toronto’s Opera Atelier, and at the Banff Arts Centre’s Opera in the 21st Century Program. Perri has performed and coached singers with West coast companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, City Opera Vancouver, Re:Naissance Opera, Burnaby Lyric Opera, and Sound The Alarm Music Theatre – both in traditional and contemporary repertoire.

She was most recently Répétiteur with Vancouver Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte (October 2023) and debuted with Opera Kelowna’s concert series with soprano Melody Courage.

Perri is a company pianist for Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella Dance Company, and will be collaborating with dancers and singers for a premiere Canadian work with Vancouver-based dance company Belle Spirale’s Dance Deck this August 2024.

Keely McPeek

Keely McPeek is a member of the Anisininew (Oji-Cree) Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, with Irish and German settler roots. She holds a Bachelor of Music and Post-Baccalaureate in Vocal Performance from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. Winning the Rainbow Stage Trophy at the Winnipeg Music Festival encouraged her stage performance career. You may have seen Keely in Manitoba Opera’s Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North as Marie Serpente, Manitoba Theatre for Young People's recent seven-month tour of Frozen River, Dry Cold’s production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, or the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. 

Bruno Roy 

A native of Montréal, baritone Bruno Roy is an acclaimed performer of opera and a broad range of works with orchestra and art song. He is most at home in repertoire from the French canon in addition to new works. In recent years he’s performed with the Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Opera de Québec, Oper Frankfurt, Against the Grain Theatre, Tapestry Opera, Saskatoon Symphony and Bradyworks. During his time at the COC he appeared on the mainstage in The Magic Flute,Tosca, Louis Riel, Arabella, Rigoletto, Dido and Aeneas and The Nightingale and Other Short Fables.

In addition to performing, Bruno’s toured with children's operas and outreach concerts (Hansel and Gretel, La bohème, Le nozze di Figaro) in the Greater Toronto Area and Frankfurt, Germany. He has been involved in multiple new opera workshops, most recently collaborating with composer Danika Lorèn on a new opera based on Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler.

Recent credits include Moralès/Dancaïre in Carmen (Edmonton Opera), Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles (Jeunesses Musicales on tour), Baryton-Martin in Vivier’s Kopernikus and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro (Against the Grain Theatre), Marcello in La bohème (Highlands Opera Studio), Belcore in L’elisir d’amore (Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal and Opera McGill) and Carmina Burana (Ottawa Choral Society and OPCM).

Bruno is a graduate of McGill University, the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble studio program, Edmonton Opera’s Emerging Artist program, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Opera in the 21st Century program and a Western Canada District Winner of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

Matt Udry

Matt Udry is a cellist from Kenosha, Wisconsin currently based in Vancouver, BC. He has appeared in performances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was featured as a soloist with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Racine Symphony Orchestra, and Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.

Matt is interested in many different forms of music-making and sound. He previously served as the music director of Low Strung, a 12-cello ensemble performing rock and pop hits. He has performed in baroque operas and is the recipient of Early Music Vancouver’s BC Scholarship for baroque cello study. Outside of cello, he enjoys learning jazz bass and composes his own music. He also programs custom digital audio effects and generative music algorithms, using his tools to experiment with new sounds in his compositions.

Matt is currently pursuing a graduate diploma in Cello Performance at the Vancouver Academy of Music, where he also serves as a student mentor for ensembles at the school. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Computing and the Arts from Yale University.

Elsa Orme

Elsa Orme grew up in Victoria, BC on the lands of the Lekwungen and WSÀNEĆ peoples. She moved to Montreal to study design and theatre at Concordia University in Tiohtiàke/Montreal where she quickly fell in love with stage management. Select credits include Attempts in Flight (Dai Bao Productions), Morag, You’re A Long Time Deid (Touchstone Theatre), The 39 Steps (The Grove Theatre), Queen of Carthage (re:Naissance Opera), Future Mythologies (re:Naissance Opera), Inheritances (Music On Main), and Confluence (Raven Spirit Dance).

Elsa moved to Vancouver in 2022 to join the Vancouver Opera production team as Assistant Production Manager.  She is excited to be returning to work with VO as stage manager for The Flight of the Hummingbird!