Canadian soprano Stephanie Manias is a rising star of the North American concert stage, known for her lush voice and captivating stage presence. Based in Montreal, she is heard regularly as a soloist and chorister with some of Canada’s most celebrated ensembles, such as the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal (SMAM), la Chapelle de Québec, les Violons du Roy, the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul (A&P), and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal (OSM). Stephanie is at ease in many styles, eras, and genres of music, and particularly specializes in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. A prolific and versatile performer, she has been deemed at turns “angelic” and “fiery” (Montreal Gazette).

Stephanie’s recent performance highlights include a concert of female composers, “l’Italie Baroque au Féminin”, with guest conductor Suzie LeBlanc (SMAM); a “gender-bending” Messiah, singing arias usually sung by tenors (A&P); Richard Strauss’s Deutsche Motette for a cappella 16-part choir and soloists (Musica Orbium); Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles (Voces Boreales); Haydn’s Nelson Mass (OSM); the Opus-Prize nominated “Visages de Purcell” with Arion Baroque Orchestra (SMAM); and her National Arts Centre debut, singing Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (SMAM). Stephanie sings weekly with the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, where she has performed as a soloist in various orchestral masterpieces, including Bach’s Passions and Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem and Great Mass in C, and in contemporary choral works such as Arvo Pärt’s Passio, and David Lang’s Little Matchgirl Passion.

In addition to many live radio broadcasts on the BBC, CBC and Radio-Canada, Stephanie can be heard on recordings on the Atma, Analekta and Naxos labels. Originally from London, Ontario, Stephanie is a graduate of the Voice Performance program at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, where she studied with Michael McMahon, Valerie Kinslow, and Canadian soprano Joanne Kolomyjec.

Known for his “powerful singing” and “considerable mastery of diction”, baritone Clayton Kennedy has had an eclectic career in baroque and early music, has premiered contemporary works of Canadian composers, as well as collaborated with world-renowned artists, studios and producers.

In the field of early music and oratorio, he has appeared as a soloist on several occasions with Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal (SMAM), as well as Ensemble Caprice, the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul, Bande Montréal Baroque, I Musici de Montréal, Ensemble Vocal Katimavik, Les Idées Heureuses, Ensemble Telemann, Les Boréades, St. Lawrence Choir, University of King’s College Choir and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO). He has had multiple appearances at the Lamèque International Baroque Festival of Music and frequently been a soloist in the Arte Musica Foundation’s The Complete Cantatas of J.S. Bach series. He has also sang in many Passions by J.S. Bach, including the Opus-award winning Matthäus-Passion with the MSO, in the roles of Petrus and Pontifex. He made his MSO debut as baritone in Faure’s Requiem in 2013.

Clayton premiered the titular role in John Plant’s contemporary opera “I Will Fly Like a Bird: a Tribute to Robert Dziekanski”, receiving warm reviews from the Chronicle Herald and Opera Canada Magazine, which recently named it one of the “Best Operas of the Decade”. Clayton also joined Ensemble La Nef for an Opus award winning album, as well as a tour of Quebec, the Maritimes (via Musique Royale) and Western Canada for a program entitled “Sea Songs & Shanties”, and contributed to the soundtracks of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and Rogue video games with many of the same musicians. Clayton also sings with the Congregation Shaar Hashomayim choir on Leonard Cohen’s album “You Want It Darker”. He recently collaborated with composer Sebastian Hutchings in premiering and recording a revised song cycle for baritone, double bass, cello and drum kit, titled “Fury”, premiered at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He works frequently with composer Andre Pappathomas in original works that feature heavy elements of improvisation. He was bass soloist in the Monteverdi Vespers with SMAM, the NAC Orchestra and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at the National Arts Center in Ottawa. He was also a finalist in the inaugural Linn Maxwell Keller Distinguished Bach Musician Award through the Bach Festival of Grand Rapids Symphony, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also sang and acted in a small role in the film “Clouds”, which began streaming on Disney+ in October 2020.

The Ottawa Music Company was established as a collective of some of the city’s finest professionals. It was born in 2007 through its collaborations with various choral ensembles in Ottawa and since that time has appeared frequently with the Ottawa Choral Society and the Ottawa Bach Choir, and in presentations of the choirs of Christ Church Cathedral.

Jean-Sébastien Vallée is a renowned conductor, scholar, and pedagogue known for his expertise in vocal, choral, and orchestral repertoires. With a career spanning over several decades, Vallée has conducted numerous ensembles across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has prepared choruses for some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Chicago and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. This season, he looks forward to conducting Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Vallée is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the renowned 160-voice Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the 24-voice professional Toronto Mendelssohn Singers. In addition, Jean-Sébastien is Full Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Conducting & Ensembles Area at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.

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