Kathryn Yusoff is Professor of Inhuman Geography at Queen Mary University of London and a leading theorist of geology, race, and extractive capitalism. She is the author of A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None and Geologic Life, influential works that examine how geology has been constituted as a racialized science and how extractive regimes have shaped both planetary matter and social life. Her research reframes geology as a historical and political practice, foregrounding the entanglement of earth sciences with colonialism, labor, and environmental violence. Yusoff’s work is foundational to contemporary debates in environmental humanities, critical geography, and art discourse, and has been widely engaged by artists and curators concerned with materiality, extraction, and planetary futures.

Elina Waage Mikalsen is a Sámi-Norwegain artist and musician from Romsa/Tromsø, Sápmi/Norway. She works in interdisciplinary ways with sound, textiles, text, performance and installations, based on a Sámi understanding of the world, hidden stories and knowledges. She works with a mix of field recordings, voice, electronics and home-built instruments, and seeks to creating sonic spaces that exist somewhere between reality and fantasy, where Sound acts like a time machine that causes time to collapse and sets both past and future in motion. Through Collecting fragments of stories, materials and practices she works with what lies in between. The holes that the Norwegian colonisation of Sápmi has created in the form of loss of language and cultural heritage have become a starting point for imagining what these holes might represent, what matter they constitute and how they continue to affect the people in our societies. 

Elina runs Šuvva, a platform for Sámi experimental music, sound and listening. She has a master's degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, and has exhibited and performed at the places such as Toronto Biennale, Singapore Biennale, Oslo Kunstforening, The Munch Museum, The National Museum in Oslo, Kunsthal Charlottenborg and Lofoten International Art Festival.

Jonathan Huard was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award

Born in Rimouski, Qc, Jonathan Huard holds a bachelor’s degree in percussion from the Rimouski Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree with distinction from the Quebec Conservatory of Music, and an Advanced Certificate in Performance from the University of Toronto. Passionate about contemporary music, improvisation, and orchestral music, he actively pursues these interests by collaborating with several specialized ensembles in Canada, including GGRIL (Rimouski), the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and Esprit Orchestra (Toronto). Jonathan has participated in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the So Percussion Summer Institute, and several competitions, including the Prix d’Europe and the Canadian Music Competition, where he twice won first prize in percussion. In 2026, he was awarded Fourth Prize, Prix de l’Académie de musique du Québec, and Prix du Centre de musique canadienne au Québec at the Prix d’Europe Competition. In recognition of his artistic quality, 
advanced playing skills, and determination to pursue his career, Jonathan has received the Award of Excellence from the Quebec City Symphony Orchestra Foundation.

He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Charles Settle’s studio. His career is marked by a constant pursuit of artistic excellence, great musical versatility, and a sustained interest in contemporary composition.

Katherine (Katie) Kirkpatrick is a Canadian soprano from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, currently based in Toronto. Recognized for her expressive stage presence and affinity for contemporary repertoire, she has recently appeared as Female Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Daria Garbinati in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma, Miranda in Kaija Saariaho’s The Tempest Songbook, and Janine/Ofwarren in Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale as part of  Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s 2025 Interplay program.

A dedicated performer of art song, Katie was a two-time finalist for the University of Toronto’s Norcop Prize in Song, receiving Second Prize in 2025. This summer, she will travel to Tours, France, to study French mélodie at the Académie Francis Poulenc. Katie holds both a Master of Music in Opera and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto and will continue her training as a Rebanks Fellow at The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School during the 2026–27 season.
 

Armenian-Canadian soprano Diana Agasian is an emerging artist on the international operatic and art song scene. She returns to Toronto as a Rebanks Family Fellow at the Royal Conservatory of Music for the 2026/27 season, following a summer as a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Most recently based in Vienna, she studies voice with Kammersängerin Olivera Miljaković and coaches with Lieder specialist Helmut Deutsch. A graduate of The Glenn Gould School of Music, Diana has performed across Canada, including appearances at Koerner Hall and the Orpheum Theatre, and as a featured soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for their Traditional Christmas concert series.

Her operatic credits include the Woman/Siren in Handel’s Rinaldo and the Third Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. An alumna of the Franz-Schubert-Institut, she maintains a particular affinity for German Lied and has appeared in recital at Vienna's Ehrbar Saal and C. Bechstein Centrum.

Lauded for her “supple, pliant” voice and “considerable emotional range” (Opera Canada), Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó is widely recognized for her refined musicianship and compelling stage presence. In the 2025/26 season, she made her Manitoba Opera debut as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and returned to both Tafelmusik and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah. She also premiered two works by composer Jeffrey Ryan: Seven Scenes with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Mother/Land with the Vancouver Bach Choir.

Further recent concert highlights include Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Cleveland Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Music of the Baroque, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

A graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Szabó performs regularly across Canada and Europe. She made her debuts at Dutch National Opera and the Royal Opera House in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence, later recorded for a Grammy-nominated album. She is Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at the University of British Columbia and recently appointed Chair of Voice at the Glenn Gould School.

Each Zhang was generously supported by the Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment

Yichi Zhang is in his honours (fourth) year of studying with Lyndon Watts at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has played with the Melbourne Youth Orchestra and the University of Melbourne’s Philharmonic Orchestra, Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra. Highlights include concerts in Geelong, Sydney and Brisbane with the Wind Symphony, and the Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 international tour of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, where he played in Gustav Mahler’s first symphony, and premiered Hun Tur by Melody Eötvös, Senior Lecturer of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Yichi is an enthusiastic chamber musician, having been a member of multiple wind quintets during his time at the Conservatorium, performing works such as György Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles for wind quintet and Samuel Barber’s Summer Music. Him alongside his wind quintet were selected to participate in the Portillo International Festival and Academy in Chile for 2025, where they performed Wind Quintet no.1 by Jean Françaix.

He is also a passionate pianist and conductor, and has conducted Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Gran Partita with ensembles of his own making, as well as conducted compositions by his fellow students at the university.

Ciara Wrede was generously supported by Frederick Louis Crosby Memorial Endowment

Ciara Wrede is a horn player from Melbourne, Australia. In 2025, she completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where she studied under Carla Blackwood. Ciara discovered her passion for the horn in high school and transitioned fully to the instrument at the beginning of her undergraduate degree. 

Ciara has had the opportunity to participate in various inspiring masterclasses with Australian and international horn players,including Katy Woolley, Andrew Bain, Přemysl Vojta, Genevieve Clifford, Anneke Scott, and Simen Fegran. She is looking forward to studying with Benjamin Jacks and Peter Luff at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in 2026.

Chamber music has become an unexpectedly important part of Ciara’s musical journey, especially after co-founding Auralis Ensemble. In 2025, she travelled to Chile with Auralis and also performed as principal horn in the Portillo Festival Academy Orchestra, touring major concert halls and working with leading international tutors.

Ciara’s true passion for the horn lies in orchestral performance. She performs regularly with Orchestra Victoria, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphonic Cinema Orchestra. She has also been a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra.