Joanne Na was generously supported by the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation Endowment

Joanne S. Na is a composer who shapes sound through the exploration of instrumental textures and colours, crafting musical narratives that evoke emotion and invite reflection. She often draws inspiration from nature, literature, place, and culture.
She is the recipient of the Ann Southam Prize of the Canadian Music Centre and the winner of several competitions, including the WASBE International Composition Contest, NAfME Student Composers Competition, and the Pioneering Voices Choral Series Composition Competition. Her music has been featured at the Du Vert à l'Infini Festival, LunART Festival, Northwestern University New Music Conference, Vancouver Sonic Boom Festival, University of Michigan Organ Conference, Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, Vancouver Chamber Choir concert, as well as on Arcade, an album by clarinetist Wonkak Kim, released by MSR Classics.
She has worked with prominent artists and ensembles, including Grammy-winning soprano Estelí Gomez, Wonkak Kim, Kenari Quartet, Saxophilia Saxophone Quartet, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Currently, she is pursuing a doctorate at the University of British Columbia, studying with Dorothy Chang and Keith Hamel, while serving as a coach for Contemporary Players Ensemble. She holds degrees from Rutgers University and the University of Oregon.
 

Sina Karachiani was generously supported by the Gladys and Merrill Muttart Foundation Endowment

Sina Karachiani (b. 1996, Esfahan, Iran) is a San Francisco-based Iranian-American composer, pianist, and artist whose work, rooted in story-telling, explores the intersections of identity, vulnerability, and the human experience. Drawing from his upbringing in Iran, Sina fuses Western classical music with Persian musical traditions, creating a voice characterized by intricate lyricism and vibrant orchestration.
His compositions have been performed by premier ensembles nationwide. Notable works include Orison, performed by the Bergamot Quartet, and Stranger of Kin—an exploration of memory loss—premiered by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, with a chamber version recorded by members of the International Contemporary Ensemble. His orchestral piece, Whirling Onward…, received the American Prize and was adapted into a dance film. Currently, Sina is a member of Salastina’s 2026 Composer Collective, collaborating with resident artists to develop a new work under the mentorship of Derrick Sky.
Sina graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Music Composition and Computer Science. A USC Renaissance and Discovery Scholar, his interdisciplinary focus spans his work as a sketch artist, his music, and his role as an engineer at Apple developing Vision Pro and spatial computing.

Amy Jordaan was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award

Amy Jordaan is a tenor and bass trombonist currently based in Ontario, Canada. As a member of the 2025 Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Amy is fortunate to learn from and play alongside the members of the TSO, as well as a variety of other passionate young musicians in Southwestern Ontario. Amy also performs with various ensembles at Western University, including the WU Symphony Orchestra, Los Gansitos salsa band, and a trombone quartet.
Amy is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Music at Western University, studying under Dr. Denis Jiron. Prior to her move to London in 2024, Amy spent two years working with Ilan Morgenstern at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She has previously worked as a stage manager for the UBC Bands (2023-2024), the International Trombone Festival (2025), and various student recitals. When she’s not playing her trombone or working backstage, Amy enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her cat, Jack.

Ryuto Hibino was generously supported by the David and Peggy Leighton Endowment

Ryuto was born in Kanagawa, Japan and completed his Bachelor degree at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music with Mr. Naoki Kurebayashi, and Master degree at the Tianjin Juilliard School with Prof. Lee Allen. During his study, Ryuto has received Seki foundation Scholarship and Maeda Memorial Scholarship. Ryuto is the finalist of American Trombone Workshop Solo Competition 2025 Division Ill and 1st place winner of the International Association of Professional Music teuchers Concours. Ryuto has joined several professional orchestras as a guest player such as Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra, Gürzenich Rochester Köln and so on.

Maxim Heijmerink was generously supported by the Maria Francisca Josepha Brouwer Fund for Dutch Artists

Maxim Heijmerink, born in 2000 in Amsterdam, is a Dutch pianist, composer, and storyteller. Internationally, Maxim has performed in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, and Israel, appearing in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and the Concertgebouw. He is a member of the vibrant Van Gogh Trio.

Awards
Maxim has won two First Prizes at the Prinses Christina Concours, the Classic Young Masters Award, the Steinway Award, First Prize at the Orbetello International Piano Competition (Italy), and was a laureate of the American Virtuoso International Music Competition (New York).

Highlights
In 2019, Maxim toured Canada and the United States. In collaboration with the Rotterdam Youth Orchestra (RYO), he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Rotterdam and Berlin and composed a work for orchestra, piano, and choir, which was performed as part of a charity initiative for an audience of 25,000 people at Ahoy.
Education

Maxim earned his bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam and his master’s degree in New York, where he studied with Jerome Rose. He is currently enrolled in the Meisterklasse in Leipzig, studying with Professor Markus Tomas. He has taken part in masterclasses with leading musicians such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jerome Lowenthal, and Boris Berman.

Recent
Most recently, he made his debut performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto in Leipzig with the Orchester der Musikalische Komödie. In the summer of 2025, Maxim was invited to a three-week residency at the prestigious Banff Centre for Arts in Canada and, together with his Van Gogh Trio, made his international debut concert in South Africa.

Aidan Garrison was generously supported by the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians

As avid chamber musician, Aidan Garrison has collaborated with members of the St. Lawrence string quartet, and Rosemary Elliot, and performed for artists such as Ani Kavafian, Dimitri Murrath, and Christian Colberg, as well as members of the Emerson, Shanghai, and Pacifica string quartets. He has attended the Aspen, Bowdoin, Blairsville, and Heifetz international music festivals, and was a fellow at the Napa Valley Blackburn academy.

Aidan is currently pursuing his Doctoral degree at Stony Brook University, studying with Lawrence Dutton and Matthew Lipman. While at Stony Brook his string quartet was awarded first prize in the school’s Ackermann chamber music competition. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the New England Conservatory, studying with Mai Motobuchi and Nicholas Cords.

While at NEC, his string quartet was chosen for the Community Performances and Partnerships Ensemble Fellowship, where they developed educational programs designed to bring chamber music to audiences beyond the scope of a formal concert setting. This has led to engagements across the US, including a teaching residency as part of the Virginia Arts Festival.

Beyond the scope of classical music, Aidan has collaborated with musicians from many different disciplines. He has performed with the Scottish fiddle duo Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, took part in the premiere of Wayne Shorter’s opera Iphigenia (co-written by Esperanza Spaulding), and performed as part of the backup string quartet for Jazz/Pop artist Laufey.

Sierra Gao was generously supported by the Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment

Sierra Gao is an oboe and cor anglais player based in Melbourne Australia. She recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where she studied under Jeffrey Crellin, former Principal Oboe of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

She has performed with ensembles including the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Youth Orchestras, performing major orchestral repertoire. Sierra has also participated in masterclasses with oboists including Johannes Grosso, Bobby Cheng, Eve Newsome, Ricardo Barbosa, and Federico Curti.

Sierra is a co-founder of Auralis Ensemble, a Melbourne-based wind quintet dedicated to collaborative and expressive chamber music performance. The ensemble has performed at venues including Tempo Rubato, a well-known Melbourne concert venue recognised for its intimate chamber music programming, and Lennox St Gallery. Their repertoire spans core wind quintet works such as Barber’s Summer Music and Françaix’s Wind Quintet No.1, alongside Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano and Winds and contemporary Australian composer Ross Edwards’ Incantations. In 2025, Auralis attended the Portillo Music Festival in Chile, further expanding their international artistic collaborations.

Maija Flood was generously supported by the Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment

Maija Flood is a clarinettist from Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Australia. Maija completed her Bachelor of Music (Hons.) at the Melbourne Conservatorium in 2025, learning under the tutelage of David Thomas and David Griffiths. Maija is an avid chamber musician, performing across Melbourne with her group ‘Auralis Ensemble’ and participating in the 2025 Portillo International Music Festival in Chile. In 2026, she is excited to continue progressing her musical identity through the Banff Chamber Music Residency and to travel to Europe for further development of her clarinet playing, including through the Voksenåsen Summer Academy. Maija has a particular interest in exploring the relationship between fine arts and music, which saw her receive a grant from the University of Melbourne in 2025. With this, she presented a curated chamber music concert in collaboration with Lennox St Gallery, responding to Jason Cordero’s surrealist landscape exhibit, ‘The Place of Concord.’

Cian Bryson was generously supported by the Lucy and Stephen Maxym Endowment

Cian Bryson is a bassoonist from Toronto, Ontario, currently completing his Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto studying under Eric Hall. He spent the third year of his Bachelor’s in Finland, studying at the Sibelius Academy under Jaakko Luoma, and while there, performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, and as guest principal with the Tampere Philharmonic, among others. He has attended festivals including Music Academy of the West, Round Top Festival Institute, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, and Lucerne Festival Academy, where he performed in a revitalization of Pierre Boulez’s Poesie Pour Pourvoir and in the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s Ritual. Cian was the first prize winner of the International Double Reed Society’s Norma Hooks Competition for bassoon in 2025, the Council of Canadian Bassoonists’s Frank Marcus award in 2024, and has performed as soloist with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, and will be performing André Jolivet’s Bassoon Concerto with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2026.

Ido Akov was generously supported by the Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts

Ido Akov (b. 1993) received his B.Mus in piano performance from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he studied piano with Ron Regev and Allan Sternfeld, and composition with Amnon Wolman. He has won prizes in competitions including Bay Area Chopin, Fremont Symphony, “Piano Forever,” “Haim Kalmi,” and “Young Artist,” and has performed with orchestras such as the Fremont Symphony, Ashdod Symphony, Israeli Chamber Orchestra, and members of the Israeli Philharmonic.
Akov is a four-year recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship (in both piano and double bass) and participated in the Jerusalem Music Center’s program for piano excellence. Active in contemporary music, he performs with the Israel Contemporary Players and has taken part in Ensemble Meitar’s Tedarim project and CEME masterclasses, studying composition with Philippe Leroux and Fabian Panisello.
His works have been performed by ensembles including Meitar, Musica Nova, and Modalius. His debut album, The Triangle Becomes a Line (2020), was released through Kame’a Music, followed by a live album of Renaissance keyboard works. In 2023–2024, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy.