Brian Manker, violoncelle

Solo Cellist of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1999, Brian Manker enjoys a diverse and varied musical career as a performer and teacher. In addition to being a frequent concerto soloist with the OSM, Mr. Manker is also a member of the highly acclaimed Juno and Opus award winning New Orford String Quartet, whose members are currently joint Artistic Directors of the Prince Edward County Music Festival. An active teacher, Mr. Manker is an Assistant Professor at McGill University's Schulich School of Music, and gives annual summer master classes at the Orford Arts Academy. In 2007, Mr. Manker launched the Beethoven Project and founded the Adorno Quartet, which aimed to perform all the quartets of Beethoven in their proper context, the private salon. In 2010, he recorded the complete Bach Cello Suites on the STORKCLASSICS label. Brian Manker plays on a cello made by Pietro Guarneri of Venice ca. 1728-1730 and a bow made by Joseph René Lafleur ca.1850, graciously loaned by the Canimex Foundation. Biography provided by the artist

Angela Park, piano

JUNO Award winning pianist Angela Park is one of Canada's most sought-after pianists. Praised for her “stunningly beautiful pianism” (Grace Welsh Prize, Chicago), “beautiful tone and sensitivity” (American Record Guide), and for performing “with such brilliant clarity it took your breath away” (Chapala, Mexico), Angela’s versatility as both soloist and chamber musician has led to performances across Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has performed for such notable series as Montreal’s Pro Musica, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut Tours, Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Stratford Symphony, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.  Angela is a founding member of Ensemble Made In Canada, whose Mosaïque Album won a JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year (Solo or Chamber) in 2021. She is also a member of the Mercer-Park Duo with cellist Rachel Mercer, and the Seiler Piano Trio with violinist Mayumi Seiler and cellist Rachel Mercer. Angela was previously a pianist for Piano Six - New Generation, an organization that toured remote communities across Canada.  Past and future highlights include a world premiere of John Burge’s Second Piano Concerto with Sinfonia Toronto, solo recitals for Confluence Concerts in Toronto and Consortium Aurora Borealis in Thunder Bay, tours with Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic, performances with Lyrica Baroque in New Orleans, Louisiana, collaborative recitals at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Ensemble Made In Canada tours of Canada and the United States. Angela has recorded independent solo albums, and collaborative discs with cellist Rachel Mercer and Ensemble Made In Canada for labels including NAXOS Canadian Classics, Centrediscs, and Enharmonic Records. She is also featured on a recording of Srul Irving Glick's Suites Hébraïques with clarinetist James Campbell, saxophonist Wallace Halladay, and violinist Barry Shiffman.  In 2010 Angela earned her DMA in Performance from the Université de Montréal, and previously received her MMus and BMus degrees from the University of Toronto. From 2011-2014, Angela was Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She has been Artist-in-Residence at Western University with Ensemble Made In Canada since 2014, and Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano since 2019. Biography provided by the artist