Carolyn Warren has helped shape the cultural ecosystem in Canada over three decades of senior leadership roles with CBC/Radio-Canada, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Canada Council for the Arts. At the Council, she has led major arts investment strategies, national cross-sectoral partnerships and landmark digital and innovation programs supporting transformative change in the sector. At Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, she directed multidisciplinary programs and forged global partnerships that expanded the reach of Canadian artistic practice. Earlier in her career with CBC/Radio-Canada, she developed award-winning cultural programming across radio, television, and digital platforms. Known for her strategic vision, collaborative leadership and commitment to the role of culture in society, she is a trusted voice shaping the future of the arts.

Robin Sokoloski (she/her) is a dedicated arts and culture professional based in Tkaronto/Toronto with over two decades of experience in the field. Currently serving as the Director of Research and Programming at Mass Culture, she collaborates with academics, funders, and arts practitioners to mobilize the creation, amplification, and community-informed research that supports the arts sector’s growth and sustainability. 

At Mass Culture, Robin has spent the last three years project managing Research in Residence: Arts’ Civic Impact, a national research initiative that led to the development of three qualitative arts impact frameworks. These tools help arts organizations better understand their civic impact through qualitative indicators. She also leads Mass Culture’s Evaluative Thinking Initiative, which supports a culture of reflection and continuous learning across the arts sector, and stewards the DNA: Data Narratives for the Arts program, which integrates data practices into the daily work of arts organizations through training, tools, and collaborative learning. 

Robin currently serves on the Board of the Toronto Arts Council and as a member of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Free Expression’s Steering Committee. She has recently taught a course on Art Policy, Equity, and Activism for Centennial College’s Arts Management program, and developed and taught a course on Cultural Entrepreneurship for MacEwan University’s Arts and Cultural Management program. 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsokoloski/

Soni Dasmohapatra is a consultant who works with individuals, groups, public service institutions and community agencies to facilitate the development of tools that focus on building inclusive platforms that incorporate strategy, design, wellness and art for transformative change. She has thirty years of experience working internationally, nationally, provincially and municipally across arts, culture, heritage, health, and community sectors. She is a Doctor of Social Sciences candidate at Royal Roads University, holds a Master of Public Administration from University of Victoria, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Alberta and a certificate in Gender and Human Rights from Oxford University, UK. Soni’s expertise lies in developmental, participatory, and equity-focused evaluation, with a commitment to centering lived experience, arts based research methods and community knowledge. She has led numerous evaluations advancing social impact, equity, and cultural vitality, and currently is an assistant professor in Arts and Cultural Management at MacEwan University. She is an active member of Mass Culture,  and is Kathak dance practitioner. 

www.sonidasmohapatra.com

Composer Nick DiBerardino welds the weird machinery of music’s past to the post-genre present, crafting whimsical and thought-provoking sonic stories for our time. His inspirations span science, literature, and everyday life — from reef-saving coral research and Da Vinci’s failed flying machines to his morning coffee and favorite episodes of Star Trek. A Rhodes Scholar, he has received commissions from leading artists and institutions including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Sandbox Percussion, PRISM Quartet, New College Choir, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, and Star Trek’s John de Lancie. Nick is Provost and Dean of the Conservatory at Curtis Institute of Music, where he directs the Curtis New Music Ensemble and holds the Milton L. Rock Chair in Composition Studies. He also serves as a composition faculty member and program coordinator at the Tanglewood Music Center. He holds degrees from Oxford, Yale, Curtis, and Princeton.

Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch is a composer and sound artist. His interests goes from pure electronics to compositions for theater and dance, from soundtracks for images to interactive installations. In his compositions his interest is always focused on the idea of establishing new connections between elements that are otherwise distant : with projects outside Western aesthetics, such as those with Ballaké Sissoko or Amir Elsaffar, or with sound installations based on the inherent exoticism of environmental recordings, such as those for the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, or with compositions for contemporary dance for choreographers such as Michele di Stefano, Richard Siegal, Stijn Celis, or directors such as Adolphe Binder, which immerse the audience in a new soundscape through sound, but also through movement and, above all, space. In this sense, a large part of his work is devoted to 3D sound, multichannel and holophonic composition. He has received commissions from various institutions: Ircam-Center Pompidou, Musical Research Group (GRM), Venice Biennale, Gothenburg Opera, Musée du Quai Branly, Saarbrucken Opera, Ballet National de Marseille, RhurTriennale, Royaumont Foundation, Face Foundation, and many others … and has performed all over the world. 

He graduated in architecture (Italy) and composition (France) he moved to Paris. He founded the Label Ornithology Productions in 2022. He’s associated artist at Ircam – Centre Pompidou from 2019 – 2023. He is professor of Electroacoustic Composition at the Conservatory of Montbeliard, France. 

TO Live is one of Canada’s largest multi-arts organizations, operating three iconic venues: Meridian Hall, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, and Meridian Arts Centre. In addition, TO Live presents a full range of performing arts, theatrical, and concert events at these venues in both downtown and uptown Toronto. With these two hubs of creativity and content creation, TO Live has a unique place and perspective to activate creative spaces by inspiring local and international artists, connecting audiences, stimulating new ideas, and elevating artistic potential, becoming a catalyst for creative expression that is reflective of Toronto’s diversity. www.tolive.com