Having failed to become the first Belgian basketball player in the NBA, Pieter Matthynssens instead graduated as an art historian from the University of Ghent where he cherishes fond memories of Gerard Mortier’s lessons and his love for the work of Stanley Kubrick. Curator Stef Van Bellingen introduced him to the art world and played a crucial role in shaping his view of art.

However, to avoid a midlife crisis, he went on to study cello at the conservatory of Ghent. Playing the cello didn’t satisfy him completely, though, which resulted in exploring the aesthetic possibilities of a whammy-pedal (Steen-Andersen), balloons (Maierhof), and wigs and gloves (Marino). It still didn’t suffice – come to think of it, what is this guy looking for, actually?!

He conducts an amateur orchestra in Sint-Niklaas, his birthplace. With these wonderful musicians, he premiered works by Vladimir Gorlinsky Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Shalan Alhamwy and performed works by Iannis Xenakis, Dmitri Kourliandsky, Sofia Gubaidulina, Lars Petter-Hagen, Luc Brewaeys… With his partner-in-cello crime Benjamin Glorieux he performed the cello concerto by Friedrich Gulda. Both had the honour to share the stage with the legendary actress Viviane De Muynck and actor Johan Leysen.

Because the cello imposes certain linguistic limitations, he also gives frequent lectures and fiercely discusses music and the arts with Stefan Prins in the artistic board ofNadar, his favourite music ensemble. As guest professor, he teaches at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. If somehow possible, he would like to die (an old man, of course) in Vienn.

Derek Arnold is a performance choreographer with 15 years of experience working across the film and television industry. His specialist expertise lies in puppetry, creature performance, and creature suit work, bringing unique characters and physical performances to life on screen.

Throughout his career, he has worked on some of the industry’s most ambitious productions, collaborating with performers, puppeteers, directors, and creative teams to develop distinctive and believable character movement and performance. Working hand in hand with the world of visual effects he often collaborates with the industry's leading supervisors and visual effects producers. 

His credits include Project Hail Mary, Digger, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Life, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Star Wars: Starfighter, Star Wars: Andor Seasons 1 & 2, Star Wars: Episodes VII, VIII & IX, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars Ahsoka Season 2. 

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia, Canada, and the United States, including performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Prague’s Dvorak Hall at the Ruldofinum, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw’s National Philharmonic. Andrew’s orchestral engagements across the globe have encompassed a vast repertoire of more than 60 concertos with orchestra as well as solo recitals and in chamber music concerts at festivals around the globe. This 2026-27 season, Andrew joins longtime friend and duo partner, two-time winning violinist James Ehnes, in a cross-country tour of Canada, playing in each capital, province, and territory. In Tuscany, Italy, Andrew curates and hosts an annual Chamber Music Festival bringing together great music with magical venues and unforgettable experiences. Back in the States, year-round, Andrew directs and hosts four thriving chamber music series. Three of them are in South Carolina – in Beaufort (USCB Chamber Music), in Columbia (SC Philharmonic’s Andy & Friends), and in Greenville (Andy & Friends, at Furman University). He also directs New Canaan Chamber Music in Connecticut.  Andrew resides in Worcester, MA, with his wife Esty and their three children Jack (20), Elise (15), and Gabriel (9).

James Ehnes has established himself as one of the most sought-after musicians on the international stage. Gifted with a rare combination of stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism and unfaltering musicality, Ehnes is a favourite guest at the world’s most celebrated concert halls. 

Recent and upcoming orchestral highlights include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra. 

A devoted chamber musician, Ehnes is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society and the leader of the Ehnes Quartet. As a recitalist, he performs regularly at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Verbier Festival, Dresden Music Festival and Festival de Pâques in Aix.

During the 26/27 season, Ehnes will conclude his 50th birthday recital tour in his native Canada. The tour began during the 25/26 season with performances in every province and territory. In the spring, he will embark on a four-week tour in Asia, performing with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including two Grammys, three Gramophone Awards and twelve Juno Awards, the most of any classical musician in history. In 2021, Ehnes was announced as the recipient of the coveted Artist of the Year award at the 2021 Gramophone Awards which celebrated his recent contributions to the recording industry, including the launch of a new online recital series entitled ‘Recitals from Home’ which was released in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of concert halls. Ehnes recorded the six Bach Sonatas and Partitas and six Sonatas of Ysaÿe from his home with state-of-the-art recording equipment and released six episodes over the period of two months. These recordings have been met with great critical acclaim by audiences worldwide and Ehnes was described by Le Devoir as being "at the absolute forefront of the streaming evolution".

Ehnes began violin studies at the age of five, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin aged nine, and made his orchestral debut with L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal aged 13. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a Visiting Professor. Since 2024, he has been Professor of Violin at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music

Rick Miller (he/him) is a Dora and Gemini award-winning writer / director / actor / musician / educator who has performed in five languages on five continents, and who Entertainment Weekly called “one of the 100 most creative people alive today”. He has created and toured solo shows such as the BOOM Trilogy (BOOM, BOOM X, and BOOM YZ), MacHomer, Bigger Than Jesus and HARDSELL; and family shows with Craig Francis and Kidoons, such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Jungle Book, FRANKENSTEIN: A Living Comic Book, and HANS: My Life in Fairy Tales. With Robert Lepage, he has collaborated on Geometry of Miracles, Zulu Time, Lipsynch, Dragon’s Trilogy, and on the film Possible Worlds. Current projects in development include MONEY, and The Time Machine. Rick hosts an intergenerational podcast called Xing The Gap, and sometimes teaches an interdisciplinary class at the University of Toronto called The Architecture of Creativity. He lives in Toronto with his partner Stephanie Baptist. 

rickmiller.ca

Dora award-winning “triple-threat … coloratura” (Opera Canada) Maeve Palmer has performed with such organizations as the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, Tapestry Opera, Opera Atelier, Off Centre Music Salonga, New Music Concerts, Continuum Contemporary Music, Opera Atelier, the Brampton Rose Orchestra, and on tour with the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. A lauréat of the Jim and Charlotte Norcop Prize in Song (UofT) (2021 winner), Maeve is known for her interpretation of contemporary song, and Irish art music. Maeve is also an interpreter of many classic opera roles including Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sandrina (La Finta Giardiniera), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore).

Recent performances include the title role in The Czardas Princess, with Toronto Operetta Theatre (TOT), soprano soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Collingwood Chorale, Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale by Ruders, arr Schlossberg, at the Banff Centre, and Adina in Donizetti’s Elixir of Love, with Highlands Opera.

World premieres include “Vita Brevis” for soprano and chamber ensemble by Norbert Palej, and R.U.R. A Torrent of Light by Nicole Lizée.  Maeve’s voice is featured in the Hollywood film The Space Between Us, (2017).

Upcoming performances include Ava in the opera Missing by Brian Current, and the Dew Fairy and Sandman in Pacific Opera Victoria’s Hansel and Gretel.  

An alumna of the University of Toronto Opera School, and the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music,, Maeve holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Pedagogy and Performance from UofT during which time she resided as a Junior Fellow at Massey College. In her academic career, Dr. Palmer researches vocal function in sean-nós singing, and Irish song traditions within contemporary compositional idioms, and has taught English Song at UofT.  
 

Born in Lima, Peru, Chela De Ferrari is a director and playwright. She founded Teatro La Plaza, a non-profit institution established in 2003, and served as its artistic director until 2021.

Teatro La Plaza defines itself as a space for theatrical creation that investigates and interprets reality, developing critical perspectives that engage in dialogue with its community. Through new works and contemporary interpretations of classic texts, its programming is committed to creating theatre that challenges, reflects, and remembers—and in which no one feels excluded.

In 2013, De Ferrari created Sala de Parto, a Teatro La Plaza program dedicated to nurturing new Peruvian playwriting. Over its first decade, the program helped bring more than 50 plays to life through collaborations with local and international partners, including London’s Royal Court Theatre. In recent years, the program has placed particular emphasis on supporting women creators throughout the development of new works.

De Ferrari’s work as a director and playwright has focused on contemporary adaptations of Shakespeare—including Richard III (2013), Much Ado About Nothing (2016), and Hamlet (2019)—as well as new Peruvian playwriting. In close collaboration with Peruvian playwright Luis Alberto León, she created La cautiva (2014), Savia (2017), and La Barragana (2023), a trilogy exploring three periods of extreme violence in Peru’s history.

In 2024, she presented an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull featuring actors who are blind or have low vision. The production premiered at the Festival d’Avignon and Spain’s National Drama Centre.

She is also the director of Ser Hamlet (Being Hamlet), a documentary following the year-long creative process of eight actors with Down syndrome as they rehearse Hamlet.

Teatro La Plaza is a theater creation space that investigates and interprets reality to build a critical point of view that dialogues with its community. Opens its doors in 2003 with the purpose of connecting with its community by offering a production of works capable of questioning, provoking and surprising. Through texts of new playwrighting, as well as classics under a contemporary look, their proposals seek to formulate key questions that allow us to better understand our reality, the hectic times we live and the complex nature of human being. With the intention of collaborating in the development of local playwrights, in 2013 La Plaza created Sala de Parto, a program that stimulates the birth of new Peruvian plays and authors.