Gordon Gerrard is a respected figure in the new generation of Canadian musicians. Trained first as a pianist and subsequently as a specialist in operatic repertoire, Gordon brings a fresh perspective to the podium. His passion and his dedication to producing thrilling musical experiences have endeared him to his fellow musicians and the public alike. Gordon was most recently appointed as the 15th Music Director of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, commencing in July 2016. He also currently holds the position of Associate Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, a position which was created for him after two highly successful seasons there as Assistant Conductor. For four seasons Gordon held the positions of Resident Conductor and Repetiteur for Calgary Opera. He led many productions while in residence in Calgary, including the Canadian premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women recorded for national broadcast on CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera; and a highly successful production of La Bohème chosen specifically to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the company. He was invited back to help launch Calgary Opera’s summer opera festival Opera in the Village with productions of Candide and The Pirates of Penzance. During his tenure at Calgary Opera, Gordon was honoured with the Mayor’s Award for Emerging Artists for his contribution to the musical life of the city of Calgary. Gordon has also conducted productions for Opera Hamilton to critical acclaim and was Assistant Conductor for several productions at Opera Lyra Ottawa. Gordon is also a regular guest conductor for Opera McGill, where he has led productions of Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro.

Recent productions include Maria Stuarda, Pirates of Penzance, and Mefistofele in Tennessee, Tosca for The Rheinsberg Festival just outside of Berlin, Lucia di Lammermoor for Edmonton Opera, Threepenny Opera for Studio Theatre, HMS Pinafore in Tennessee, La Bohème in Winnipeg, Aïda in Toledo and Charlotte, Manon in Montreal, The Pearl Fishers for Opera Hamilton, Don Giovanni for Toledo Opera, Die Fledermaus for Knoxville Opera, Fidelio for Edmonton Opera, Eugene Onegin for Opera Carolina, and Don Pasquale in Honolulu. Featured engagements include Turandot for Fort Worth Opera, Tosca for Opera Carolina, Don Giovanni, Manon and Turandot for Calgary Opera, The Elixir of Love and The Pearl Fishers for Arizona Opera, Nicholas Nickleby for University of Alberta's Studio Theatre, The Merry Widow in Honolulu, Aïda for L’Opera de Montréal, and Don Giovanni for Austin Lyric Opera.

For Edmonton Opera, Camellia has designed the sets for Carmen and HMS Pinafore and the sets and costumes for The Tales of Hoffmann and Mary Stuart. Other recent designs include collaborations with Minnesota Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Boston Lyric Opera, Against the Grain, Tapestry New Opera and the Canadian Opera Company. Recent designs for theatre and dance include collaborations with Ballet Jörgen, Cahoots Theatre Projects, Tarragon Theatre, The Second City, and the Shaw Festival. She has received six Dora Awards, a Sterling Award, a Chalmers Award Grant, and a Siminovitch Protégé Prize. Upcoming plans include The Orchard, Baroness and the Pig, and Henry V at the Shaw Festival. 

The Juno Award winning Tenor, John Tessier, has garnered international attention and praise for the beauty and honesty of his voice, for a refined style and artistic versatility, and for his handsome, youthful presence in the lyric tenor repertoire. He has worked with many of the most notable musicians of our day including Plácido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Emmanuel Haim, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Bryn Terfel, Sir Thomas Allen, Thomas Hampson, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Deborah Voigt, Samuel Ramey, Bobby McFerrin, John Nelson, Franz Welser-Möst, Donald Runnicles, Robert Spano, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Carlos Alvarez and Bernard Labadie.  Appearances of the recent past and near future include performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colon, Oper Frankfurt, Grand Théâtre de Genève, English National Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Wiener Musikverein, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Equally comfortable in the genres of opera, oratorio and recital, Mr. Tessier is also an award winning professor at the Univeristy of Alberta and is in high demand for coaching, master classes, and private consultations. His discography includes recordings on the Naxos, Telarc, BIS, Challenge Records and Dorian labels.

Alberta-born soprano Caitlin Wood earned impressive reviews as “absolutely vibrant”, with “great comic flair” (Vancouver Classical Music) in her acclaimed debut as Susanna in Vancouver Opera Festival’s 2017 production of Marriage of Figaro. As the feisty Despinain Against the Grain’s A Little too Cozy in Toronto, Caitlin displayed “a remarkable voice endowed with impressive agility and range… a scene-stealer” (OperaGoTo.com). As Giulietta in I Capuletti e Montecchiwith Opera in Concert, Caitlin displayed “her beautiful legato in a soaring voice… with ornamentation that appears effortless” (Paula Citron). 

Caitlin recently toured Ontario with Bicycle Opera Project, portraying a garment industry worker in their powerful a capella opera Sweat (Palmer/Chatterton). She begins her 2017 season in concert with Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s “Under the Stars”, followed by the world premiere as Ava in Marie Clements/Brian Current’s new opera Missing, which tells the story of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, co-produced by City Opera Vancouver and Pacific Opera Victoria. Caitlin is a guest soloist with Ottawa Choral Society in Finzi’s In Terra Pax, sharing the stage with baritone Russell Braun. Recent concert highlights include Carmina Burana with Okanagan Symphony and “Kisses on Broadway”with tenor Adam Fisher at Westben Arts Festival. Operatic engagements in 2018 include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro in concert with Windsor Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Franz. Caitlin joins the cast in the world premiere of The Overcoat, with libretto by director Morris Panych and music by James Rolfe, a co-production of Tapestry Opera, Canadian Stage and Vancouver Opera.

Praised by The Washington Post for her “consistently beautiful sound,” American mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko is rapidly gaining attention for her “rich mezzo soprano” voice and musicality. In the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Mesko returns to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Ines in Il trovatore while covering Arsace in Semiramide and Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. She also makes her New York Philharmonic debut in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and her Cincinnati Opera debut as Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. 

Hailed by the Ottawa Citizen as a singer possessing “…an instrument of rare beauty, majestic and commanding from the bottom of his range to the top…”, bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus is frequently heard with leading orchestras and opera companies in Canada and abroad. His operatic roles include the title role of Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello (Don Giovanni), Colline (La Bohème), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Albert (Werther), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia), Talbot (Maria Stuarda), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Masetto (Don Giovanni) and Angelotti (Tosca). He has been engaged by the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, L’Opéra de Montréal, Opera Atelier, Pacific Opera Victoria, Edmonton Opera, Opera Columbus, Opera Hamilton and Against the Grain Theatre.

Narda is a Calgary based Set, Costume and Lighting designer. Recent favorite designs include: Brontë: The World Without (Stratford Festival); Blow Wind, High Water (Theatre Calgary); Vigilante (Catalyst Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher, Venus in Fur, A Few Good Men (Citadel Theatre); To the Light, Gracie, Cockroach, The Circle, Red, Mary’s Wedding (Alberta Theatre Projects); The Mikado (Calgary Opera); Sweeney Todd, Turn of the Screw (Vertigo Theatre). Narda designed the costumes for The Freewill Shakespeare Festival for 16 seasons. She also designed the costumes for the feature film Cut Bank. Visit narda.ca to see images of her work.