Jazz & Sonic Arts Participant Concert 2

Cellist, improviser and composer Adèle Viret (born in 1999) is described as one of the most promising young musicians of her generation. Her singular musical universe was revealed with the creation in 2023 of her very first project, Adèle Viret Quartet, winner of numerous awards (Euroradio Jazz Competition 2024, FoRTE 2024) as well as laureate of the Jazz Migration scheme in 2023. The group has performed at renowned venues such as Jazz in Marciac (FR), Bimhuis (NL), Nuoro Jazz Fes val (IT) and was selected for the Jazzahead! 2025 showcase. The quartet’s debut album Close to the Water, released in October 2024, won the Jazz Magazine’s Revelation and Jazz News’s Indispensable awards. 

From an early age, Adèle studied classical cello at the Montreuil Conservatory, and went on to perfect her skills at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2023. At the same time, she started playing in improvised music, jazz and world music projects, performing alongside such luminaries as Magic Malik, Fabrizio Cassol, B.C. Manjunath, João Barradas. 

Lulled from an early age by the music of her father, a jazz double-bass player, she quickly developed a sense of improvisation and composition. Her curiosity drives her to join and initiate projects mixing aesthetics and disciplines (dance, literature, theater). In 2019, she created n’Être, a cello and dance duet whose music and choreography are jointly composed by the two artists. That same year, she joined the Medinea network, which brings together young artists from the Mediterranean basin to compose collectively an original repertoire under the mentorship of Fabrizio Cassol. Deeply influenced by the experience of intercultural creation, she created her own collective; Mosaïc in the company of Bulgarian, French, Portuguese and Tunisian musicians whose first album will be released in 2026. More recently she became co-leader of the trio Notes on the memory of notes, with Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch and Fabrizio Cassol. 

Besides her personal projects, she is playing as side-woman in diverse bands : Abhra (from Julien Pontvianne), Kaija String Quartet and internationally with Jawa Manla in the Netherlands, Zé Almeida’s quartet and Apophenia in Portugal as well as occasional guest for Aka Moon (Belgium). 

Alongside her instrumental practice, she was commissioned to compose a piece for solo cello by Les Ateliers du Violoncelle (2023 edition) and in 2025, the Klara Festival (Belgium) asked her to join the “Sounds of Brussels” project, assisting Fabrizio Cassol as artistic co-director.  

Adèle is a laureate of FoRTE (2023), Académie Musicale de Villecroze (2018) and the Prix Marion Bourgine awarded by the Jazz in Marciac summer camp (2017). She received the SACEM fund for auto-production (2025). Adèle is endorsed by Gewa.

Adèle Viret was generously supported by the Fondation David R. Graham Award.

alejandra borzyk is a Spanish-Belgian saxophonist, composer, performer, and writer based in Brussels. They are mainly active as a musician at the core of the creative and improvised music scene of the city. They are part of projects such as “Sound of Brussels Orchestra,” a collective creation directed by Fabrizio Cassol and Adèle Viret; the octet “I’m not done cooking” by Lara Humbert; and collaborates with artists such as Samuel Ber, Cyrille Obermüller and Diogo Alexandre.  Since 2022, they lead their quartet “bodies”, with whom they released two EPs independently, and performed in prestigious venues such as Ancienne Belgique and Flagey, being a milestone of the city’s emerging bands. They have as well a solo performance, where they explore movement, circular breathing, extended techniques and breath art. 

Although the majority of their professional work is in music, their artistic vision and creation span multiple disciplines: slam poetry, theater and performance, with a strong connection to the body and movement in their playing and approach to saxophone. Their research and writing focuses on the link between improvisation and sexuality from a feminist standpoint. 

Alejandra Borzyk was generously supported by the John Linn Memorial Endowment.

Alexandre Roux-Dufort stands out in Montreal as a rising talent in saxophone, composition, and arrangement. In 2023, he made his mark on the international stage by winning first place in the Léopold Bellan International Competition in Paris. Alexandre has been lauded as a “saxophonist and composer who has the wind in his sails” (ULaval Nouvelles). 

Raised in France, Alexandre has performed at festivals in Europe and Canada (Cap Ferret Music Festival, Québec Jazz en Juin) and collaborated with renowned artists such as the Lost Fingers, clarinetist Virginia MacDonald and pianist Rafael Zaldivar. As a saxophonist and arranger, he also works with the Montrealbased producer Teuteu, the gypsy jazz Delasalle Trio, and the gender-inclusive big band Jazz Coven. 

His playing experiences have shaped a distinctive approach to composition. Alexandre strives to create a sensitive and personal musical universe by exploring soundscapes that straddle the line between jazz and impressionism. The stylistic hybridization results in music that is streamlined, calm, and colorful. With Yannick Anctil on piano, Alex Le Blanc on bass, and Guillaume Pilote on drums, his quartet released its debut single titled Small Place in early 2024. 

Alexandre Roux-Dufort was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Álvar Llusá-Damiani (Buenos Aires, 1991) is an Argentinean/Spanish eclectic violinist, singer, guitarist and composer.

Graduated in 2016 as a Professor of Music and Violin from the Escuela Municipal de Bellas Artes "Carlos Morel" from Quilmes. He was awarded a grant by the National Fund for the Arts of Argentina to participate in the III Argentine Meeting of Improvisation and Musical Composition. Then he received a scholarship from the Fundació de Música Ferrer-Salat to pursue a higher degree in composition at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu, in Barcelona, degree that he has finished with honours in 2021.

Has a prolific career in classical and modern music, having played in different orchestras and groups from genres such as contemporary music, jazz, tango and progressive rock. Has collaborated as a sessionist with several artists -including Manu Chao- and worked in music for theater, TV and cinema.

Has released the albums ‘Sciophobia’ (2021), ‘The Locked Room’, ‘En Vivo CC Fylgja’ (2022), ‘Nothing Is Not A Flower’ (2023), ‘Más o Menos a Full’ (2024), ‘Isekai: historia de un secuestro’ and ‘A la Distancia’ (2025), among others. He is currently working on his debut album as a singer/songwriter.

Álvar Llusá-Damiani was generously supported by the Raul Urtasun/Frances Harley Argentina Artists' Scholarship.

Daniel is a guitarist, improvisor and composer whose work encompasses jazz, free improvisation and electronic music. Whilst he began his career as an astute student of jazz, his affinity for experimentation and freedom has led him to broadening his sonic palette and embrace unorthodox approaches to music making. Daniel completed his bachelor’s degree with Honours at Melbourne University and has studied and recorded in New York and Italy, taking lessons with Tony Malaby, Jay Anderson, Gilad Hekselman and more. Daniels work explores extended technique combined with effects pedal manipulation to create unique sound worlds that extend the typical capabilities of guitar playing. His passion for cultivating unique ensemble identities and his constant search for deeper musical meaning has led him to develop a very distinctive and personal musical voice. 

Daniel is currently performing regularly across Melbourne’s experimental/jazz scene as well as recording on a variety of different musical projects. His debut release Jawbone Arboretum is an experimental record released through Brisbane record label Made Now Music and is currently being toured across Australia. 

Daniel Waddingham was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Awards. 

Hailing from Brooklyn, Declan Sheehy-Moss is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who artfully blends genres to craft an incendiary fusion of sound. Studying Jazz Performance at New  England Conservatory and Studio Production at SUNY Purchase, his adeptness with digital production and recording techniques, coupled with his instrumental virtuosity, yields a unique digital-acoustic amalgamation.  

Declan’s performances have graced venues like Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Symphony Space, and The Jazz Gallery. He was also a 2023 recipient of the Composers Now IMPACT Award. He’s released 9 singles and 3 EPs since 2017 and has collaborated with diverse artists from Henry Threadgill to emerging talents like Mavi and Cisco Swank. 

Co-leading the band “More Better” for nearly 8 years, they’ve released two albums, and performed at venues like The Jazz Gallery and JCAL. He’s made his mark as an Audio Engineer at The Jazz Gallery and BRAC, handling sound for artists like Immanuel Wilkins, Sullivan Fortner, Jason Moran, Roscoe Mitchell, and many more. 

Declan also works side-by-side with Henry Threadgill, assuming a multifaceted role handling audio engineering, EWI/Saxophone, and additional odds and ends for Mr. Threadgill. Declan has worked intimately on projects “One”, “The Other One”, “BOTH”,  and “Listen Ship”. 

Declan Sheehy-Moss was generously supported by the Denis Jackson Memorial Scholarship Endowment. 

Derek Lewis is a pianist, composer, and educator based in New York City.  Growing up in Buffalo NY, he was exposed to jazz music from an early age by his father and brother, who are musicians as well.  Despite not initially taking to an instrument, he fell in love with the piano at the age of 15, and chose to pursue music from then on.  He is a graduate of The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and will be attending Manhattan School of Music this Fall pursuing a Masters in Music.  He believes strongly in the healing power of music, and in its ability to help people learn more about themselves and others.

Derek Lewis was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Filippo Deorsola (they/them) is an Italian pianist and composer based in Brussels. With a multidisciplinary background spanning music (BA) and Philosophy (MA), their practice is a hybrid encompassing group and solo projects, article publications and composing for diverse setups including chamber ensemble, Javanese Gamelan instruments and smaller electroacoustic line-ups.

Increasingly centered on a rhythmical and conceptual investigation of wood-based piano preparation, the resulting space of expression is kaleidoscopic, yet remains grounded through programmatic experimentation. These take multiple shapes, with one of them being their long-standing piano trio project, Anaphora. Releasing a first album for Auand Records (IT) in 2022, the group’s latest work, [Bloom], mixes jazz with textural and percussive influences from Balinese Gamelan and released on January 2025 for Swedish label Loumi Records.

A multi-awarded artist in solo (Best instrumentalist, Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon 2024) and with Anaphora (Burghausen Nachwuchs-Jazzpreis 2025, Jazz Migration 2025, Keep an Eye 2024, Goethe-Culture Moves Europe 2023, VGC 2023, Italy Music Export 2022) , Filippo has accumulated a variety of experiences both as project leader, composer and side-musician (Domen Cizej Duo with Clean Feed records). They are co-leading EMBAT, an international collaborative project between the gamelan ensemble Sandikala and Anaphora. Supported by Maison de la Musique Contemporaine. 

Filippo Deorsola was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Flora Carbo is a saxophonist, composer and music leader from Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Her unique practice creates novel musical environments that connect people through improvisation, composition and conceptual works, led by her explorations into the vocal qualities of the alto saxophone.

Her work traverses settings, methods and scales, with works devised for major festival stages at Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, Phoenix Central Park’s Strata Festival, Amersfoort Jazz Festival, and alongside luminaries of Australian jazz and improvised music like Andrea Keller, Helen Svoboda and Harry James Angus. 

Flora’s recorded projects are acclaimed documents of moments in this scene. Her albums are MAGNIFY (2023); Arthur’s Walks (2022); VOICE (2020); and Erica (2018). 

Flora was the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Take Note Leader for 2022. She was a finalist for the Freedman Jazz Fellowships 2022 and 2021; for the Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2019 Australian Jazz Bell Awards; and for the 2016 National Jazz Award; and won the James Morrison Scholarship at the Generations in Jazz Festival in 2017.

Flora Carbo was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Photo credit: Celeste De Clario Davics

Florence Beauquier-Léger is an alto and soprano saxophonist and composer from Montréal. Throughout her undergraduate degree at McGill’s Schulich School of Music, she has had the privilege to study with musical legends such as Camille Thurman, Christine Jensen, Marianne Trudel, and Philippe Côté. Her primary project, the Florence Beauquier-Léger Quartet, has performed in some of Montréal’s most iconic venues, Upstairs Jazz Bar and Casa del Popolo, and at the Rimouski Festijazz. She has also performed as a sideperson in major festivals such as the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal , Osheaga, Francofolies, and Festival d’été de Québec. She writes with sensitivity inspired from life events and different works of art and likes to include free improvisation sections in her compositions as a way to connect on a deeper level with her fellow musicians and add another level of spontaneity to performances. 

Florence Beauquier-Léger was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Canadian cellist George Crotty has forged his own exciting vocabulary, pushing the boundaries of the cello. Following his graduation from the Berklee College of Music, Crotty immersed himself in New York’s jazz and world music scenes, playing with several ensembles, such as the Brooklyn Raga Massive, and Detroit-based National Arab Orchestra. Crotty has also worked with esteemed musicians such as Bob Ezrin, Adam Rudolph, Simon Shaheen, and Paquito D’Rivera. Crotty has performed as a soloist and bandleader in The Americas and Europe and enjoys active collaboration in film & theatre. He toured North America with award-winning Broadway musical, “The Band’s Visit,” and played on the video game soundtrack for “Assassin’s Creed Mirage.”

Formed in 2019 in Brooklyn, The George Crotty Trio (GC3) makes multicultural chamber music that is both cinematic and conversational; using the language of other cultures to speak new things. “I’m not at home in any one culture,” muses Crotty, “so the trio became my home.” The GC3 has performed at the 21C Festival, Small World Music Festival, Copenhagen Vinterjazz Festival, and the New Directions Cello Festival. They have toured internationally in cities such as Toronto, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Bogota, Sao Paolo, London, Berlin, Antwerp, and Copenhagen. The GC3’s new album, “Heart Music” will be released on June 6th, with summer tour dates in Canada & the US. 

George Crotty was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Hinano Fujisaki is a saxophonist, improviser and composer based in Eora/Sydney, Australia.  She just recently released her sophomore EP there is a rabbit on the moon in May this year. This music is an extension of the sounds explored in her debut EP Home Is (People Sound, 2023), where she blends together jazz, improvised, folk and ambient music, weaving folkloric melodies against shifting soundscapes and textures. Hinano recently featured on Simon Barker’s new release, Tymbal Echoes (2025) performing the music at Sydney’s notable Phoenix Central Park. She also performs with jazz quartet Zodiac, who released their album Wild Wild East (ABC Jazz Commission, 2024) and toured in Asia, performing the music in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Tokyo at the start of this year.

In 2024, Hinano was awarded the Judy Bailey Jazz Connection Emerging Composers Scholarship and she has collaborated with directors to compose for short films including Echoes of the Lake by Lonefish Productions (2024) and Essence of You by Mellowminh (2025).  She has completed a Bachelor of Music (Performance) majoring in jazz saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2021. 

Hinano Fujisaki was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Jen Yakamovich is a Vancouver-based drummer and improviser who works across disciplines as a performer, composer, researcher, and educator. She sees her relationship with the drum set—a system of interrelating sounds and parts— as an inquiry into relationships with both her own internal system and wider socioecological webs. Her approach to improvisation and spontaneous composition is rooted in the Creative Music Workshop in Halifax, NS, where Yakamovich grew up. From 2024-2025 Yakamovich studied with drummer, composer & field recordist Susie Ibarra (New York/Berlin).

Over the past year Yakamovich has worked with the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin / bauhaus Campus Stadt Nature program, Now Society’s 8east, Vancouver Coastal Jazz, Active Passive Performance Society, The Only Animal, and grunt gallery. She has recently contributed to projects with percussionist Adrian Avendaño (Vancouver), artists Roxanne Nesbitt & Ben Brown (Montréal), guitarist Sam Wilson (Halifax), Persian psych artist Niloo (Victoria), art rock group Heaven For Real (Montréal), producer Miguel Maravilla (Vancouver), improvisers Mustafa Rafiq (Edmonton) & Jairus Sharif (Calgary) for Active Passive, and Balkan folk group Fetele Din Balkani (Vancouver). She regularly performs with experimental pop artist Wallgrin (Vancouver), and recently formed the improvisation duo Notice Flower with pianist Bahar Khazei. She has a solo experimental folk project called Troll Dolly.

Yakamovich has a progressive vision impairment called retinitis pigmentosa. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Dalhousie University.

Jen Yakamovich was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Karl A. Rozankovic is a pianist, composer, and improviser based in Montreal. Trained in classical music, his path expanded through jazz studies at McGill University, where he studied with major figures of the Montreal scene such as Marianne Trudel, Jean-Michel Pilc, and John Hollenbeck. Improvisation has since become a central focus of his artistic approach, allowing him to revisit classical repertoire with a fresh perspective, compose his own pieces, and adapt them for various ensembles. 

He is the co-founder of the group Solarium, with whom he won First Prize at the Sutton Jazz Competition as well as the Grand Prize at the Festi Jazz de Rimouski. Their album aube/nocturne was nominated for Jazz Album of the Year at the 2024 GAMIQ awards. He also received the Emerging Artist Prize at Université Laval’s music competition. 

To date, Karl A. Rozankovic has released three short solo piano albums under his name and taken part in numerous projects as a pianist, accordionist, arranger and composer. His musical research is rooted in a sensitive exploration of sound and presence, through an approach that is both rigorous, intuitive, as well as deeply personal.

Karl A. Rozankovic was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist' Awards. 

Lauren White is a genre-defying bassist and vocalist based in Sydney, known for her grounding bass, soulful melodies and down-to-earth style. Bridging contemporary jazz, Brazilian music, blues and funk, she brings a unique and versatile voice to the Australian jazz scene.

She tours internationally as the bassist for David Campbell and Matthew Ifield, and performs regularly with celebrated artists including Justine Clarke, Marlene Cummins, Ashli and Ali Pahlavan. Her own projects have appeared at major festivals and venues such as the Melbourne Jazz Festival, Sydney Women’s Jazz Festival and at the Sydney Opera House. She has also recorded for Netflix and Marvel Studios productions, Sydney Theatre Company and video game soundtracks.

Lauren studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the esteemed Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA in Los Angeles, and has studied with renowned mentors such as Tamir Hendelman, Donny Benet, Nicki Parrot and Stu Hamm. In 2023, she attended the Siena Summer Jazz Workshop in Italy, where she studied with Linda May Han Oh and Matt Penman.

In 2024, Lauren was awarded the Ken Weatherley Jazz Scholarship which supported the writing and recording of her debut album. Her compositions draw from poetry, impressionist, landscape and still-life painting, and the wide spectrum of music she plays, resulting in a sound that showcases the eclectic and versatile musician that she is.

Lauren White was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Lisa Yoshida is a violinist, composer, and educator currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research reimagines the role of the violinist as an autobiographical multimedia performer, integrating audio-visual technologies to expand the expressive possibilities of the violinist. Lisa was recently named the winner of the 2025 UCI Concerto Competition, performing Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto with the UCI Symphony in June 2025.

As a performer-composer, she has attended the Darmstadt Summer Courses’ Violin Studio, June in Buffalo, Domaine Forget Music Festival’s New Music Program, and NiefNorf’s Composer-Performer-Improvisor Summit. Her composition, Hana No Tayori (2024), received a Merit Award for the Tribeca New Music 2025 Young Composer Competition. Lisa has also served as Assistant Orchestra Manager for the Pacific Music Festival for three summers in Sapporo, Japan. 

She studied under Moni Simeonov at California State University Long Beach for her Master of Music in Violin Performance, and was the Strings Graduate Student Assistant and a member of the CSULB University String Quartet. Lisa has a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and a French minor from Chapman University, where she studied with Prof. William Fitzpatrick. 

Lisa Yoshida was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Roman Munoz is a guitarist, composer, and improviser based in Montreal, Quebec. He is a graduate of the Jazz Performance programs at Cégep Saint-Laurent (2012) and McGill University (2017). Over the years, he has had the opportunity to collaborate with some of his mentors and teachers, including Chris McCann and John Hollenbeck, as well as inspiring musicians from the Montreal scene such as Simon Millerd, Claire Devlin, Jay Atwill, Eli Davidovici, and Cole Birney-Stuart.

Roman’s playing spans a wide range of styles, from avant-garde and contemporary music to jazz and folk. His first album as a leader, Enchantements, was recently recorded and is set to be released in the fall of 2025. 

Roman Munoz was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Ryan Daunt is an in-demand drummer, composer, and improviser based in Perth, Western Australia. He has performed at major festivals including the Perth Festival (2024), Perth International Jazz Festival (2017–2021, 2023), Lyric Lane Jazz Festival (2024), and Fringe World (2017–2025). International appearances include the Terni Jazz Festival (Italy), Jazz Dock (Prague), and the Memphis International Blues Challenge (USA).

His trio releases, Fragile Information and Essence, have received praise from All About Jazz, JazzWeekly, and Jazz Da Gama, with Essence earning a WAM nomination for Best Jazz Song. Ryan has recorded in the studio with many artists; some highlights include releases with MELVE, Gemma Farrell, and Brass Party. In 2016, he placed in the top 10 of Drumtek’s Australia’s Up and Coming Drummer Competition. Ryan proudly endorses Bosphorus Cymbals, Protection Racket, and Pro Music Australia.

Ryan Daunt was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Sam Little is a bassist, composer, artist, and community organizer splitting time between Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada. He is actively involved in both cities’ jazz and creative music communities and is deeply committed to both artist practice and community education. After returning from an extended engagement in Paris, Sam has been active recording and performing, and is poised to release several new recordings, forthcoming in Fall of 2025. Sam has also been an active collaborator in a range of projects including Winnipeg based alt-pop project Bluebløøds, hip-hop band Super Duty Tough Work, trap-jazz band Game.Set.Trap. 

Sam’s involvement in art bridges the two, sometimes distinct, worlds of theory and praxis, acknowledging that while there is frequently friction between these approaches, friction can often be creatively generative. As a fellow at Massey College, Sam worked actively to place the disparate worlds of theory, community engagement, and artistic practice in conversation with each other to build bridges across disciplines. 

An active educator, Sam has organized many masterclasses, music salons, and community aimed events through his involvement with both the University of Toronto and Massey College.  

Sam Little was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Sarah Rossy (she/they) is a Lebanese-Canadian performer, composer, producer, and educator based in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal. Her multidisciplinary work blends jazz, live-processed electronics, and visual projections into autobiographical and socially engaged soundscapes.  

In 2019, Sarah began ancestral research with the Arrivals Legacy Project, a process that now deeply informs her creative work. She has collaborated with artists such as Meredith Monk, GEORGE, Thanya Iyer, No Cosmos, and many more. In 2021, Sarah was appointed Artistic Director of the feminist choir Chœur Maha, and joined the faculty of Dawson College as a Professor of Music. The interdisciplinary nature of Sarah’s artistic practice now includes education as a tool for social justice, empowerment, and transformation. 

Recent projects include WASH, a solo performance addressing immigration and Arab erasure; Indra’s Net by Meredith Monk (NYC); and ongoing work with GEORGE and self-led ensembles on an international level. A debut album entitled “LUCID” is set for release in 2025. Compositionally, Sarah explores experiential processes which traverse through a feminist lens and nurture the ecosystems of artistic community, unifying her passions for social justice, representation, and unity. Sarah Rossy’s work is a unique and compelling representation of art, culture, and the human experience. 

Sarah Rossy was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

I’m an Audio Engineer from Chicago, currently studying at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins. I feel most at home creating and recording experimental music. My time at Peabody has sharpened my ability to capture realistic, lifelike recordings, but much of my personal work is spent deconstructing this realism to craft unique atmospheres. I thrive on the challenges our artform presents and believe that it’s often in the limitations and disagreements where the most exciting innovation occurs. 

In addition to experimental music, I also enjoy recording and producing folk, jazz, and country music. Growing up in Chicago exposed me to a wide range of musical styles, and I’ve developed a deep appreciation for each of them. My work has also led me into the world of experimental film, where I explore the intersection of visual and auditory expression. 

Jessie Gosling is a recording engineer and musician based in Toronto, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Humber Polytechnic, where she studied jazz and music production. Her coursework in recording techniques, mixing, and immersive audio has shaped her technical and artistic approach to sound. Jessie has recorded indie artists, jazz ensembles, and singer-songwriters in Toronto, working as both a Studio Assistant and a freelance engineer. With experience on both sides of the studio glass, she brings a deep understanding of musicality to her engineering work. 

As a performer, she has played at venues across Toronto and released music both as a solo artist and as part of Carmine, Humber’s 2023 Intercultural and Creative Music Fellowship band. Carmine’s EP, Something Is Awake, was released in 2023, and Jessie’s latest single, Slow Descent, came out in February 2024. Jessie is eager to expand her expertise in recording and collaborative studio work at the Banff Centre and is looking forward to working with experienced mentors and peers. With plans to further her studies in sound recording at McGill this fall, she is committed to refining her craft as an audio engineer and producer. 

Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Simon Williams is an emerging pianist, composer, producer, and audio engineer.  Having graduated from Humber Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Music program (Toronto) in 2025, Simon is an exciting new voice on the Canadian music scene, having already performed and worked across the country.  Simon has performed interprovincially as a pianist, notably at the Winspear Centre, the Aga Khan Museum, Massey Hall, Koerner Hall, the Yardbird Suite, and Hermann’s Jazz club.  After participating in the 2023 Intercultural and Creative Music Fellowship, Simon developed a keen interest and passion for production and recording, beginning by working as an assistant engineer at teh Gordon Wragg Studios in Toronto.  There, he continued developing his skills as a recordist, becoming particularly interested in non-standard stereo recording techniques and applications.  Since then, he has studied audio recording and theory, contemporary production, aesthetics of recorded sound, and immersive audio production.  Simon is excited to continue studying at the Banff Centre and hopes to attain a graduate degree in recording. 

Tanner Reid is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and audio engineer with a deep love for music. Hailing from Cold Lake, Alberta, he began producing independent hip-hop at 15 years old, developing a hands-on understanding of the creative process. Tanner further refined his skills at MacEwan University in Edmonton, earning a Bachelor’s in Recording and Production. While there, he co-founded and played drums for the pop-punk band Misfortune Tellers, performing in countless successful local shows and two western-Canadian tours. He recorded artists across many genres, including folk, jazz, pop, hip-hop, alt-rock, and punk.

Now pursuing a Master’s in Sound Recording at McGill University in Montreal, Tanner has expanded his expertise through numerous classical and orchestral recordings, while continuing to apply his refined skills to new projects. He remains passionate about both the creative and technical sides of the recording arts, spending the first few months of 2025 producing and recording a folk-jazz album for artist Sophie Lane while creating his own sound design plugin. With a true dedication to capturing the “lightning in a bottle” that occurs in a recording session, Tanner is relentlessly motivated to breathe life into artists’ musical visions.

Theresa Leonard is a highly sought-after audio professional with extensive expertise in all aspects of music production, including audio post-production and broadcast. Her impressive portfolio of work comprises hundreds of high-profile, award-winning, and nominated recording projects, with a diverse range of international artists such as the Gryphon Trio, The St. Lawrence String Quartet, The Dover String Quartet, Pacific Opera Victoria, Victoria Symphony, and The National Arts Centre Orchestra. 

Theresa has received international recognition for her unwavering commitment to excellence in audio training and research, which she demonstrated during her tenure as Director of Audio at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Through her leadership, she has provided unparalleled educational opportunities for multiple generations of audio engineers, both through the Banff mentorship program and her presidency and fellowship with the Audio Engineering Society. As a result, she has been instrumental in shaping the careers of future leaders in the field, preparing them for major positions in the music technology and audio industries. 

Theresa's expertise extends beyond production and engineering, as she continues to serve as a consultant, director, and/or faculty, with several international music festivals and academic institutions, including Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and the Verbier Festival Academy. Theresa holds a Master of Music degree in sound recording from McGill University and bachelor’s degrees in both music and education.