Bruce Fifer – Bass-Baritone
Phyllis Knox – Soprano
Garth MacPhee
–
Organ
Sarah Myatt,
Mezzo-Soprano
Trio 1795
(Megan Boyko, Peter Dunn, Brian Start)
THE MUSICIANS:
Bruce Fifer,
Bass-Baritone
Bruce
Fifer has sung with many leading orchestras and vocal ensembles in
the USA and has performed as a soloist under some of the world’s
most esteemed conductors (Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Sir
Neville Mariner, Michael Tilson Thomas and Robert Shaw). Mr. Fifer
has done extensive opera work, with over 40 opera roles in his
repertoire. He can be heard in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,
Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and
Mulan. He is a co-founder of the Philadelphia Singers
and Chorus America. For 22 years, Mr. Fifer worked in New York’s
Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Currently, he is Head of the Arts
Department and Choral Director at the Taft School in Watertown,
Connecticut.
Phyllis
Knox, Soprano
Phyllis
Knox has sung oratorio and recital repertoire across Canada. Ms.
Knox is a favourite of the 'Summer Festival' circuit including
performances at the Stratford Summer Festival and the International
Baroque Festival in Lameque, N.B.. She has performed in Grand
Manan with Duo New Brunswick for the New Brunswick Summer Festival.
Opera Nova Scotia featured Ms. Knox in a cameo version of Mozart’s
great Countess Donna Almaviva, and she has sung with The Sopranos
Vocal Ensemble Concerts in Rothesay, N.B. Recently she sang with
Trio 1795 at St. George’s Round Church in Halifax. Ms. Knox
studied primarily with Carol Lynn Reifel of Queen’s University and
Hugette Tourangeau in Montreal. Ms. Knox teaches from her studio in
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
Garth MacPhee, Organist
A
Native Nova Scotian and graduate of McGill University (M.Mus 06),
Garth MacPhee has been active as a church musician since the age of
twelve. Garth was an assistant organist at Christ Church Cathedral
in Montreal under the direction of Gerald Wheeler, one of Canada’s
foremost church musicians. He was Director of Music at St. George’s
Round Church in Halifax, NS and Saint John the Divine, Victoria,
BC. He is currently the Director of Music at Saint John the
Evangelist in Montreal.
Sarah Myatt,
Mezzo-Soprano
Sarah Myatt is a
native of Bedford, Nova Scotia. After having completed her
Artist Diploma at McGill University (Master of Music from McGill in
2005),she joined the young artist program of l’Atelier Lyrique de
l’Opera de Montreal for their 2007-08 and 2008-09seasons. Recent
opera roles include Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor),
Stefano
(Roméo et Juliette), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and the Mother
(Madama Butterfly) with l'Opéra de Montréal; Concepcion (l`Heure
Espagnole) with l`Atelier Lyrique; Erika (Vanessa), La Tasse
Chinoise & La Chatte (L'enfant et les sortilèges), Radamisto (Radamisto),
the Composer (Ariadne aufNaxos) with Opera McGill; Dinah (Trouble in
Tahiti), Mastrilla (La Périchole), and the Mother (The Tales of
Hoffmann) at Opera NUOVA. She has been a featured soloist with
Arion Baroque Orchestra, les Violons du Roy, Sinfonia de Lanaudière,
Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, the St.Cecilia Concert
Series, Tempest Baroque Orchestra, the Theatre of Early Music, the
Lamèque International Baroque Festival, Symphony Nova Scotia, the
Orchestre Symphonique de Trois Rivières, and Newfoundland Symphony
Orchestra. She recorded arias from Carmen for the Bravo-Canada
program "Death at the Opera," which was broadcast in May. Sarah was
a soloist with Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal for their CD
recording Roma Triumphans ATMA Classique).
TRIO 1795
Trio 1795 was formed
in 2006 to present music from the Rococo and Romantic styles. Music
of this period is often unrewarding for cellists because composers
tended to give them uninteresting parts. The smaller sound of the
fortepiano compared to its modern successor restores the importance
of the cello with its ability to sustain the bass line far more
effectively than the piano alone. Balance between the three
instruments is better than with modern piano, which easily
overwhelms the strings. Trio 1795 has given several concerts in
Halifax and Prucell’s Cove, which have included guest artists
Phillis Knox, soprano and Leon Cole, piano. This will be it second
appearance at Crousetown. The members of the trio are:
Megan Boyko, cello; Peter Dunn,
violin and Brian Start, fortepiano.
Megan Boyko, cellist:
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Megan
studied music and history at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) in
Waterloo, ON. For the duration of Megan’s studies in performance
she was a student of Paul Pulford, formerly of the Penderecki
String Quartet. While at university Megan was a member of the
WLU Symphony Orchestra, the WLU Baroque ensemble and numerous
chamber ensembles. Megan participated in The Vancouver Early
Music Festival at the University of BC where she studied baroque
cello and cello continuo under Viola de Hoog ('cello) and
Jacques Ogg (harpsichord). Megan is drawn greatly to the music
of the Baroque period but is also actively involved in the New
Music community often premiering new works for various different
ensembles by student composers. Megan and her husband Jacob now
live in Boutilier’s Point, NS with their young daughter and many
animals. Megan is proud to be a member of the Bluenose Quartet
and works as a freelance cellist and as a faculty member of the
Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Peter Dunn, Violin
Peter
Dunn graduated in Violin Performance in Halifax, Nova Scotia in
1983. From the beginning, his objective has been to teach violin
for a living and to play violin for pleasure. He has been
teaching violin for 24 years. In the early years he travelled an
average of 5 towns a week, playing and teaching, and estimates
he went the equivalent of 6 and 1/2 times around the world!
Happily, he now teaches from his studio next to his home in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. You can visit his website - Violin Works Music -
at www.violinworks.net
Brian Start,
Fortepiano and Organ
Born in Japan to Anglican
medical missionaries, he began piano studies there and later in Brantford,
Ontario. He studied organ with Douglas Bodle in Toronto. Brian has held
several church music positions in Kingston, Ont. and in Truro and Halifax, NS.
He is on the Board of the Nova Scotia Early Music Society. His interests are
now focused on the harpsichord and fortepiano as well as on the construction and
repair of instruments. For a number of years he has acted as a music producer
for CBC Radio.
wheelchair accessible