Bailey Wantuch, violin

Bailey Wantuch shares her passion for classical music through creative performances and thoughtful violin pedagogy. Her musicianship and teaching artistry have brought her from the US and Canada to Africa, Europe, Latin America, and South America. As an avid chamber musician, she founded the ensemble Quatuor Æternum in Germany in 2019. Previously, her piano trio won first prize at the 2017-18 McGill University Chamber Music Competition. 

In addition to performing, Wantuch has taught at schools worldwide including Cuerdas Frotadas Osorno (Chile), La Escuela Superior de Música de la UJED (Mexico), and El Sistema Kenya. Devoted to the intersection of social change and music education, she completed the Global Leaders Program, a year-long certificate program for socially-minded musicians and teaching artists. 

Wantuch is pursuing a Doctorate of Music in Performance Studies at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music under the guidance of Violaine Melançon. She holds a Master of Music from McGill and a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, where she studied with Blair Milton. 

Troy Stephenson, viola

Troy is a violist from Houston, Texas. Having started playing at the age of 11, he began to develop a love for music from the very beginning. From there, he went on to pursue music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Kirsten Docter. In 2020, Troy graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the McGill University Schulich School of Music with Andre Roy.

Troy has participated in festivals and masterclasses across North America and has worked with artists such as Jeffrey Irvine, Andrew Wan, James Dunham, Merry Peckham, the Jupiter Quartet, and more.

An advocate for equity, Troy initiated a series of discussions entitled “Black Voices in the Conservatory”, a round table discussion that has inspired administration and faculty alike to change the education, systems, language, and student life at his alma mater.

Zou Zou Robidoux, cello

Zou Zou Robidoux is a Montreal-based cellist working across classical and contemporary genres. She has performed throughout Canada in band, musical theatre, and orchestral settings, including performances at the Montreal Jazz Festival, National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, and Vancouver Folk Festival. She is a founding member of the Stoughton Chamber Music Festival (stoughtonchambermusicfestival.com), a chamber music festival in her home state of Wisconsin, and recently orchestrated a string trio score to Julia Donaldson’s The Snail and the Whale for SCMF’s 2021 Children’s Concert. Zou Zou is thrilled to perform with Bach Before Bedtime and continue combining her love of music-making and story-telling.

Dorothy Fieldman Fraiberg, piano & narration

Pianist, founder and Artistic Director of Allegra Chamber Music and Bach Before Bedtime, Dorothy Fieldman Fraiberg studied with Paul Loyonnet and Nadia Reisenberg of New York. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Montréal. Co-founder of the River Tree Arts Festival in Kennebunkport, Ms. Fieldman Fraiberg taught at Sir George Williams University and was Director of Music at the Saidye Bronfman Centre. She has performed as a soloist with the McGill Chamber Orchestra and as a chamber musician in Canada, the United States, India, Singapore and Russia, as well as recorded on the Atma label.

Julien Deguire, clarinet & narration

Julien holds a master's degree in music from the University of Montreal (André Moisan) and also studied with Manuel Metzger in Paris. He performs with several ensembles, including as principal clarinet within the Montérégie Symphony Orchestra in numerous editions of the Festival Classica. An avant-garde musician, he also collaborates with Canadian, American and French composers and presents creations in Montreal and internationally. Along with his career as an orchestral musician, chamber musician and soloist, Julien teaches clarinet in various Montreal schools and teaches the clarinet and saxophone class at the Verdun School of Music since 2016. Julien is also the music teacher at Collège St-Jean Vianney.

Emily Burt, oboe & narration

Originally from Taber, Alberta, Emily has been actively involved in the Montreal arts scene for the past 10 years as a performer, educator and administrator.

An active freelancer, she can be heard performing with various orchestras throughout Quebec, such as Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique de Trois Rivières, Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville, amongst others.  Outside of orchestral playing, Emily is the Oboist and Program Director for The Allegra Foundation’s beloved children’s chamber music series, Bach Before Bedtime.  She is also the General Manager of the Chœur des enfants de Montréal. 

Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Oboe Performance from the Hartt School of Music, a Master’s Degree in Oboe Performance from McGill University, as well as an Executive Graduate Certificate from the Global Leaders Institute, Emily’s professional career has taken her to North and South America, as well as Europe.  Emily is also a recipient of the Hildegard Behrens Foundation 2021 Global Humanitarian Entrepreneur Prize.

Catherine Chabot, flute

French-Canadian flutist Catherine Chabot fell in love with her instrument at age 9. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and went on to pursue graduate studies at DePaul University (Chicago, USA) with Mathieu Dufour. While in Chicago, Catherine was offered a position with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and joined the International Chamber Artists of Chicago. Familiar with competitions, she took home the Special Prize for the best interprétation of a Canadian Work from Prix d’Europe in 2015, won the First Prize at the DePaul Concerto Competition in 2014 and the Second Prize at the Canadian Music Competition in 2009. Know to be an inspired and sensitive musician, Catherine enjoys a solo, chamber and orchestral career around North America, France, Germany and Japan.

Victor Alibert, clarinet & narration

In 2007, Victor received his classical training from Richard Rimbert and Stéphane Kwiatek at the Bordeaux Conservatory in France. In 2012, he moved to Canada to study with André Moisan at the University of Montreal where he completed his undergraduate degree. During his studies, Victor attended numerous masterclasses and had the chance to meet many great masters of the clarinet, such as Philippe Berrod, Martin Fröst, Jérôme Voisin and Philippe-Olivier Devaux. Versatile musician, Victor Alibert has always been interested in classical and traditional music. Playing clarinets from the Eb to the bass, Victor actually performs in various styles going from Symphonic concerts with the Orchestre de l'Agora, Eastern European music with the Magillah and the Fanfare Carmagnole, and contemporary chamber music with the Paramirabo Ensemble. With social projects at heart, Victor frequently collaborates with Les Porteurs de Musique, a social ensemble that hosts events in venues like shelters, hospitals and psychiatric institutes. Victor is also a percussionist in the batucada Movimento. He has been teaching clarinet since 2013 at Collège Notre Dame, and has been invited to teach masterclasses at the Domaine Forget and the Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Session with the Paramirabo Ensemble. In 2013, Victor Alibert was also the winner of the Concerto Competition at the University of Montreal and was awarded the second prize at the Festival du Royaume.

Antonin Cuerrier, clarinet & narration

Recently appointed solo clarinet of the Drummondville Symphony Orchestra and teacher at the Conservatoire de Musique de Gatineau, Antonin Cuerrier has played with numerous ensembles on the Quebec scene including the Laval, Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke Orchestras, the Grands Ballets Orchestra and Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime. Having played the first Weber clarinet concerto with orchestra at 16 years old, this alumni of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal has recently studied in Germany and in Switzerland with Chen Halevi at the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen and with Romain Guyot at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, learning historical clarinet with Ernst Schlader in the process. This continuous work will lead him to win the first prize of his category at the Canadian Music Competition in 2013, the prestigious Hnatyshyn scholarship in 2014 and the DAAD prize of the Trossinger Wettbewerb in 2016. Parallel to his work as an interpret Antonin Cuerrier has worked for different student organisations, administration councils and artistic projects as manager, music librarian and administrator. He’s also had the chance to teach his passion at the Notre-Dame College, the CAMMAC Music Camp, the Asbestos Music Camp and the St-Edmont high school.

Marie-Michèle Bertrand, french horn

Marie-Michèle Bertrand obtained her Master’s degree from New England Conservatory and her Undergraduate degree from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. As a student, Marie-Michèle has played throughout Canada and the United States with the Orchestre de la Francophonie, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Orford Academy Orchestra, and has participated in the Domaine Forget Academy where she worked with horn masters Radovan Vlatković, James Sommerville, and Frødis Ree Wekre. Today, Marie-Michèle performs regularly with different ensembles and teaches horn in schools around the Montreal area. In addition to her career as a musician, Marie-Michèle is passionate about making music accessible to all and acts as director of the Young Musicians of the World school in Laval, an organization that provides free music lessons for kids in underprivileged neighbourhoods.

Frédéric Ellis, artist & illustrator

Nurtured by his musical upbringing and his love for drawing, frédéric Ellis is an illustrator with childlike wonder and imagination.  His work draws principally upon musical subjects. He his the co-creator of the educational series "Les Ellistrations" developed in partnership with the Agora Orchestra. 

​Frédéric collaborates with different ensembles and orchestras working on illustrated concerts going from  Les violons du roy, the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. 

​"Le dessin au quotidien" (Bouquin Bec 2022), is Frédéric's first self-published book presenting a collection of drawings inspired by every day objects.

Leah Tremblay, dancer & choreographer

Leah Tremblay was born in Montreal, where she currently lives. She studied contemporary dance at the École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal where she had the opportunity to dance pieces by choreographers Darryl Tracy, Edgar Zendejas, Anne Theriault, Alan Lake, Marie Chouinard and more. After her graduation in 2019, she danced pieces by Pauline Gervais in the Festival Quartiers Danses in the 2020 and 2021 editions. She has been doing corporate events with Manina World for many years, and also participated in various artist’s videoclips, notably Patrick Pleau and Claude Bégin. She has been collaborating with Bach Before Bedtime for their annual Nutcracker for the past two years.

Pauline Gervais, dancer & choreographer

A graduate of Quebec's École supérieure de ballet , Pauline Gervais has worked with Ballet Ouest de Montréal, Lina Cruz and Johanne Madore. She also  collaborated with the visual artist Herman Kolgen on video installations presented at Le Grand Théâtre of Quebec and in Montreal’s Contemporary Art Museum . With her company Pauline Berndsen Danse, she has participated in the Festival Quartiers Danses (Montreal), Festival Amène ta chaise (Sherbrooke), Festival Vue sur la Relève (Montreal), Guelph Dance Festival (Ontario), WestFest (New York) and Plateforme Danse (Corsica). She also directed two short films on dance in collaboration with the Festival Vue sur la Relève and the Festival Quartiers Danses. 

Basile Philippe, acrobat

Basile Philippe is a young acrobat from France who established himself in Montréal four years ago. After training at the École Nationale de Cirque de Châtellerault in France, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to perfect his skills at the École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal (ENC). Over the past few years, he explored acrobatics using various acrobatic equipment and everyday objects. His goal is to develop physical skills, but also an acrobatic vocabulary that transcends towards contemporary and circus writing. He oscillates from solo work to collective work, depending on the project. As a circus artist, he opens himself to, and discovers, the performance scene in Montréal with special thanks to P. James, who guided him during his research, training and stage explorations at the ENC. Through his work, he continuously questions the role of the acrobat and objects on stage. Philippe is based in France as well as in Canada, where he continues his work on solo and collective projects, as well as organizing events to promote experimental circus in Montréal. Being active in the community encourages all to collaborate together. Furthermore, he trains in the world of contemporary art by meeting and collaborating with other interdisciplinary artists from all around the world.

To learn more, visit www.basilephilippe.eu

Ensemble Paramirabo

The intrepid and dedicated members of Ensemble Paramirabo come together as a single voice to perform contemporary music, showcase emerging Canadian composers, and expand the boundaries of the traditional concert experience. As a creator of innovative events, the group provides young composers with a venue for refining their trademark within Montreal’s vibrant new music scene and act as a springboard for exposure abroad. The ensemble’s flutist, Jeffrey Stonehouse, has been the group’s artistic director since its founding.

To learn more, visit www.ensembleparamirabo.com

Deborah Goodman Davis, author

Deborah Goodman Davis is an art advisor and curator based in New York City. She is the author of three books: Speeding Down the Spiral, about a family’s trip to the Guggenheim Museum which received the Mom’s Choice Silver Medal Prize, PhotoRX: Pharmacy in Photography Since 1850, a catalogue dedicated to the renowned art collection of Pharmascience and A Catalogue of Blessings, about her late mother, Rosalind Goodman. In addition to running her Art Advisory business, Deborah is on the on the board of the New York City Center, the American Friends of the Israel Museum, and the Advisory Council of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum, at Cornell University. She is also on the board of the Hillel at Brown University. Deborah grew up in Montréal. She received a BA from Cornell University and an MA from the University of Chicago, both in art history.

To learn more, visit www.dgdavisfineart.com

Ranee Lee, author and jazz singer

Ranee Lee is now celebrating over 45 years in Montreal, Quebec, where she enjoys a successful, multi-faceted career as one of Canada’s most popular jazz vocalists, an award-winning actress, a songwriter, and a proud author of the children’s book Nana What Do You Say?, inspired by her song of the same title, from the 1994 release, I Thought About You. Ranee has recorded twelve albums on the Justin Time label, a proud discography of acclaimed recordings that feature some of the finest jazz musicians of our time among its sidemen. Ranee’s impressive discography is filled with masterworks: “The Musical, Jazz on Broadway”, being one of them, was a successful marriage of jazz standards and the music of Broadway. In 1994 and again in1995, Ranee received the Top Canadian Female Jazz Vocalist Award presented by Jazz Report magazine.  She has been nominated for several Juno Awards and in 2010 - won the Juno for Vocal Jazz Album of the year for her recording "Ranee Lee Lives UPSTAIRS."  Her latest release "What's Going On" is an inspired and deeply moving collection of originals, standards and some surprises!  Throughout her career Ranee has performed with many jazz notables, including Clark Terry, Bill Mayes, Herb Ellis, Red Mitchell, Milt Hinton, Oliver Jones and Terry Clarke, to name a few. Lee is no stranger to the road; she has toured with her own group in the United States and has played at many prestigious jazz festivals throughout Canada as well as Spain, France, England and Haiti. For outstanding service to jazz education, at the twenty-first IAJE conference in 1994, Ranee received the International Association of Jazz Educators Award. As an educator, Ranee has been part of the University of Laval faculty in Quebec City and The Schulich School of Music of McGill University faculty for over twenty years.  She was appointed as a Member Of The Order Of Canada and in 2007 was given an award for appreciation and contribution to the development of the McGill Jazz Program by the McGill Schulich School of Music.

To learn more, visit www.justin-time.com

Stefania Skoryna, dance

Since graduating from l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM, 2015), Stefania Skoryna performed for Mélanie Demers (OFFTA 2016), the theater company PETRUS / Jérémie Niel (Théâtre de Quat'sous 2019) and 14 LIEUX/ Martin Messier (FTA 2019). In parallel, her enthusiasm and initiative give her the chance to choreograph for events at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Chalet du Mont-Royal, the Butterflies Go Free exhibition  at the Botanical Garden of Montreal and co-produce, choreograph and perform at the Monument National as part of the Zoofest Festival (2015-2019). Stefania worked on several collaborative projects including Souvenirs de mariage presented in Quebec City (Action Theater), the dance video Contemporary Christmas that she produced and choreographed, directed by the collective Flamant and Les Galanteries Sauvages with Ensemble Volte & Raphaëlle Renucci. Her piece Ellipses (2018), created during the seminar Composing and Interpreting music for dance at the University of Montreal, under the direction of Ana Sokolović and Sarah Bild, was presented at Dance Matters in Toronto, Festival ZH. & Danse Buissonnières 2019 in Montreal. Her involvement in the community plays a key role in her practice, in September 2020 she began her 10th year of teaching dance, she also manages mentoring for the first years at l’EDCM, is a guest lecturer for graduates and co-founder of the non-profit Nous Sommes L’Été, which has been organizing a summer laboratory since 2014 in Montreal and Quebec City.

Chanelle Allaire, dance

Originally from Lévis, Chanelle Allaire began dancing at the age of 3.  In 2016 she joined l’École de danse de Québec to perfect her technique in both classical and contemporary dance. She finished her studies at l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal, receiving her degree in 2019.  She has collaborated with artists such as Sophie Corriveau, Anne Le Beau, Bernard Martin, Marc Boivin, and Esther Rousseau-Morin.  Chanelle has performed the works of the Marie Chouinard company, Virginie Brunelle, O Vertigo (Ginette Laurin) and Maribé.  In 2019, Chanelle was in the cast of Completement Cirque’s production of “Candide”.

Marie-Ève Dion, dance

A graduate of UQAM in contemporary dance performance, Marie-Ève is actively involved in the Montreal arts scene. Collaborating with several companies, she dances for Espace Danse River, Fourth Sex / GEAN BINDLEY Art and The BLACK HOLE - choreographic art. She also works with choreographers Chloé Bourdages-Roy, Geneviève Lauzon and Claudia Chan Tak, among others. She has performed at many festivals such as Just for Laughs, Fringe, Quartier Danse, ZH, Entractes, Air, FAR, and has twice appeared on Tangente's boards as an emerging artist. It is with joy that Marie-Ève has accepted for a second consecutive year to be a judge for THE BEAT dance competition.