Andrew Wan, piano

Andrew Wan was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in 2008. As soloist, he has performed worldwide under conductors such as Vengerov, Petrenko, Labadie, Rizzi, Oundjian, Stern, Shelley and DePreist and has appeared in recitals with artists such as the Juilliard String Quartet, Repin, Hamelin, Trifonov, Pressler, Widmann, Ax, Ehnes, and Shaham. His discography includes Grammy-nominated and Juno award-winning releases with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Metropolis Ensemble, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Jon Kimura Parker, James Ehnes, and the New Orford String Quartet. In the fall of 2015, he released a live recording of all three Saint-Saëns violin concertos with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano under the Analekta label to wide critical acclaim, garnering an Opus award and an ADISQ nomination. His 2020 release on Analekta with Nagano and the OSM featuring works for violin and orchestra by Ginastera, Moussa and Bernstein won the Juno award for best classical recording with large ensemble. Wan graduated from the Juilliard School with three degrees and is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Artistic Director of the OSM Chamber Soloists, Artistic Director of the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival, and was Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for the 2017–2018 season. He frequently serves as guest concertmaster for the major orchestras of Houston, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Toronto, and the National Arts Centre, and is a regular performer and faculty member at the Seattle Chamber Music, La Jolla Summerfest, St. Prex, Orford Musique, and Colorado College festivals. Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel’Angelo Bergonzi violin, and gratefully acknowledges its loan from the David Sela Collection. He also performs on an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow, graciously loaned by Canimex. Biography provided by the artist

Jonathan Crow, piano

Jonathan Crow has been concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2011. A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Jonathan earned his Bachelor of Music in Honours Performance from McGill University in 1998, at which time he joined the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Second Violin. Between 2002 and 2006 Jonathan was the Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; during this time he was the youngest concertmaster of any major North American orchestra. Jonathan continues to perform as guest concertmaster with orchestras around the world, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Filarmonia de Lanaudiere and Pernambuco Festival Orchestra (Brazil). Jonathan has also performed as a soloist with most major Canadian orchestras including the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, the Victoria, Nova Scotia and Kingston Symphonies, and Orchestra London, under the baton of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Kent Nagano, Mario Bernardi and João Carlos Martins. Jonathan joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as an Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. Current and former students of Mr. Crow have received prizes at competitions around the world, including the Menuhin International Violin Competition, Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, Shean Competition, CBC Radio's NEXT competition, Eckhardt-Grammatte Competition, Canadian Music Competition, and Stulberg International String Competition, and work regularly with orchestras such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Verbier Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Kammerphilharmonie and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto. In 2016 Jonathan was named Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music, which has enjoyed record attendance and rave reviews in all of his first three seasons. An avid chamber musician, he has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America and Europe including the Banff, Ravinia, Orford, Domaine Forget, Seattle, Montreal, Ottawa, Incontri in Terra di Sienna, Alpenglow, Festival Vancouver, Pernambuco (Brazil), Giverny (France) and Strings in the Mountains festivals. He is a founding member of the Juno Award-winning New Orford String Quartet, a project-based new ensemble dedicated to the promotion of standard and Canadian string quartet repertoire throughout North America. As an advocate of contemporary music he has premiered works by Canadian composers Michael Conway Baker, Eldon Rathburn, Barrie Cabena, Gary Kulesha, Tim Brady, Francois Dompierre, Vivian Fung, Ana Sokolovic, Marjan Mozetich, Christos Hatzis, Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan. He also includes in his repertoire major concerti by such modern composers as Ligeti, Schnittke, Bernstein, Brian Cherney, Rodney Sharman, Vivian Fung and Cameron Wilson. Jonathan has recorded for ATMA, Bridge, CBC, Oxingale, Skylark, and XXI-21 labels and is heard frequently on Chaîne Culturelle of Radio-Canada, CBC Radio Two, and National Public Radio, along with Radio France, Deutsche Welle, Hessischer Rundfunk and the RAI in Europe. Biography provided by the artist

Sharon Wei, alto

Canadian violist Sharon Wei is a dynamic and multi-faceted musician, establishing herself as one of the most respected violists on the scene today. She has appeared as concerto soloists with orchestras such as Symphony of the Redwoods, Kingston Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, Orchestra of Southern Utah, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra. She will premiere Richard Mascall’s “Ziigwan” viola concerto with the London Symphonia in 2022. She has performed recital tours under the auspices of Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut. As a chamber musician, she regularly takes part at international festivals such as Verbier, Marlboro, Prussia Cove, Banff, Seattle and Ravinia. Sharon has performed with renowned musicians including James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, Claude Frank, Joseph Silverstein, James Campbell, and the Amernet, New Orford and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Sharon co-founded Ensemble Made in Canada in 2006. Their recent Mosaïque Project was nominated for a 2021 JUNO and toured to every province and territory in Canada in both traditional venues and eclectic ones such as the seabed of Hopewell Rocks at low tide. Sharon has been guest principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, and Ensemble Matheus in Paris. She has been a guest violist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on their 2021 Grammy recording of Ives Symphonies. Sharon was on faculty at Yale and Stanford University and is currently Associate Professor of viola at Western University. She has given masterclasses at the American Viola Society Festival, Beijing Conservatory and universities across Canada. In summers she is a regular faculty violist at Curtis Summerfest, Scotia Festival, Tuckamore Festival, and Orford Academy. At Western Sharon has created a course for performance majors in which students learn off-stage initiatives such as networking, grant writing, website design, and managing finances. Sharon won the viola prize at Yale University and has been the recipient of grants through the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, FACTOR and Western University. www.ensemblemadeincanada.com www.mosaiqueproject.com Biography provided by the artist

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

Stéphane Lemelin, piano

Pianist Stéphane Lemelin is well-known to audiences throughout Canada and regularly performs in the United States, Europe and Asia as soloist and chamber musician. His repertory is vast, with a predilection for the German Classical and Romantic literature and a particular affinity for French music, as evidenced by his more than twenty-five recordings, which include works by Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Poulenc and Roussel. Stéphane Lemelin is director of the French music series “Découvertes 1890-1939” on the Atma Classique label, dedicated to the rediscovery of neglected early twentieth-century French repertoire and for which he has recorded works by Samazeuilh, Ropartz, Pierné, Migot, Dupont, Dubois, Rhené-Bâton, Rosenthal, Alder, Lekeu and others. He also recorded works by Saint-Saëns and Catoire for the Naxos label. Stéphane Lemelin studied with Yvonne Hubert in Montreal, Karl-Ulrich Schnabel in New York, and received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of Leon Fleisher. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University, where his teachers were Boris Berman and Claude Frank. He was a professor at the University of Alberta and the University of Ottawa, where he served as Director of the School of Music from 2007 to 2012. He is now Professor of Piano and Chair of the Department of Performance at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. A dedicated pedagogue, he has been invited to give master classes around the world. http://www.stephanelemelin.net Biography provided by the artist