" "... classical music without pretence... " is Alissa Cheung's approach to her multi-faceted career. A native of Edmonton (Alberta) violinist and composer, Ms Alissa Cheung (BSc '07, BMus '09, MM '13), is a tenured member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) since 2010 and will move to Montréal in January 2015 to join the Bozzini Quartet.

She has been involved with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada, USA, Europe and Japan. Career highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall and Suntory Hall, and solos with the ESO and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra. Ms Cheung has been featured in Vue Weekly Magazine and Edmonton Sun, and was aired on CBC, CKUA, and WKPN Radio.

An adamant interpreter of new music, Alissa has performed numerous contemporary works and was an Artist in Residence at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival (2011), at the and at the Lucerne Festival Academy (2013).

As a composer, her works have been performed at the Tonus Vivus Festival of New Music (Edmonton), Jordan Hall (Boston), Morse Recital Hall (New Haven, CT), and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Upcoming projects include a commission by the Arx Duo and the Bass Line Road Ensemble. Ms Cheung studied composition with Hannah Lash (Yale) and Piotr Grella-Mozejko (Edmonton).

In addition to private teaching, Ms Cheung has been Sessional Instructor at King's University College and faculty member of the Alberta College Conservatory of Music. Educational outreach initiatives include being a Teaching Artist with ESO's Adopt-a-Player Program and with the National Arts Centre's Music Alive Program.

Ms Cheung's principal violin teachers were Marian Moody, Ranald Shean, Broderyck Olson (Edmonton), Thomas Williams (McGill), and Ani Kavafian (Yale). Other influential coaches include Malcolm Lowe, Mark Fewer, Rafael Rosenfeld, Kyoko Hashimoto, and members of the former Tokyo, Juilliard and Concord string quartets."

"Clemens Merkel's unconventional sound defines a new sensibility in contemporary music, through its intimate purity of tone, its settled understanding of microtonal or unconventional harmonic language, and its unhurried sensitivity. He is well known for innovative interpretations of Bach and John Cage, and is sought after by composers worldwide as an inspiration for new repertoire. His diverse collaborators range from the Wandelweiser collective to Montréal's Musique Actuelle community, and from emerging experimentalists to today's most revered composers.

For over a decade, Merkel's unusual sound has fused with that of the Quatuor Bozzini, considered one of the world's leading string quartets. Together they have mentored an entire generation of creators through the Composer's Kitchen; have released numerous critically acclaimed albums on their collection qb label; undertake multiple tours annually to be featured at festivals worldwide; and maintain a profound impact on the music scene across Canada and Europe in particular. They nourish Montréal audiences with unusual self-produced events that bridge worlds and cross boundaries of style, generation and culture.

Following an early career in Europe, where he contributed to the continent's leading ensembles, Merkel has made Montréal his home since 2000. He supports and advocates for new music in Québec and in Canada, and is regularly sought after as speaker, curator and adviser. His presence is felt in academia as well, through articles written for the Revue Circuit, and through his teaching at Concordia University. He's a passionate chef and lives in Montréal's Portuguese neighborhood together with his wife Isabelle Bozzini and children Félix and Béatrice."

"Stéphanie Bozzini. Born Montréal, Québec, 1974. Performer (viola)

Stéphanie Bozzini is a founding member of the Bozzini Quartet, a new music string quartet which performs regularly in major festivals throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and South America. Her curiosity and interest in a number of musical styles, from historically informed period instrument playing to contemporary improvisation, have led her to become a remarkably versatile musician.

Solo performances include Huddersfield (UK), Ostrava Days Festival (Czech Rep), NY MUSIK (Sweden), and REDCAT CalArts (Los Angeles). She is principal viola with Arion, and plays regularly with other baroque music groups including Tafelmusik, Theatre of Early Music and SMCQ. Stéphanie has been a long-time collaborator with contemporary ensembles Bradyworks and Kore, as well as Ensemble Lunaire (Zürich). Major orchestral engagements include the Tonhalle of Zurich and the Winterthurer Stadtorchester, and chamber orchestras such as I Musici and Les Violons du Roy. Other chamber music projects have led to performances at The Banff Centre for the Arts, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the Festival des Îles du Bic. Stéphanie Bozzini teaches viola at the Music Department, Concordia University in Montréal."

"Isabelle Bozzini. Born Montréal, Québec, 1969. Performer (cello).

A passionate chamber player, cellist Isabelle Bozzini is dedicated to exploring two parallel worlds - new music of all kinds and music on period instruments. This endeavour continuously challenges her and nourishes her artistic aspirations.

She is a founding member of the Quatuor Bozzini which since its inception in 1999 has become one of Canada's leading string quartets on national and international scenes. Playing close to forty concerts per year, the Bozzinis produce their own concert series in Montréal including the Salon des compositeurs + Composer's Kitchen event. They tour several times per year in Europe, the US and Canada and have launched the label collection qb in the Fall of 2004 in collaboration with DAME. Isabelle Bozzini also works with Kore Ensemble, and various improvising artists such as Malcolm Goldstein, François Houle, Benoît Delbecq, Diane Labrosse and Jean Derome. Having collaborated for many years with Joël Thiffault and the Montréal Baroque Orchestra, Isabelle Bozzini now plays regularly with Ensemble Arion. She also plays with Idées Heureuses, Ensemble Caprice, the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, and French harpsichordist and conductor Hervé Niquet."

Natasha Kanape Fontaine is an Innu poet, writer, performer, visual artist, and actor from Pessamit, Quebec. Her poetry and multidisciplinary work address Indigenous identity, language, memory, environmental responsibility, and the relationship between people and the land.

Lyne Allard is a Montreal violinist and violist active in orchestral and contemporary music. She performs with the Orchestre Metropolitain and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and teaches violin and viola at Cegep Marie-Victorin.

Marie-Claire Vaillancourt is a Quebec violinist and member of the Orchestre Metropolitain and I Musici de Montreal. A graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, she is also a founding member of Quatuor Andara and has appeared as a soloist with several Quebec orchestras.

Taylor Mitz is a Montreal-based violinist active in orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music, performing with ensembles including the Orchestre Metropolitain and Orchestre de l'Agora and appearing in Canadian chamber music festivals and new-music projects.

Julien Patrice is a Montreal violinist who serves as principal second violin and artistic operations director for Orchestre de l'Agora. He also performs with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivieres, Sinfonia de Lanaudiere, and numerous Quebec orchestras.

Born in Chisinau, Moldova, and based in Montreal, Veronica Ungureanu is a classically trained violinist with a strong interest in Romanian and Eastern European musical traditions. She performs with the klezmer and world-music ensemble Oktopus and in orchestral and chamber settings.

Olivier Allard is a Quebec violinist active in Montreal's orchestral and chamber music community, performing contemporary and classical repertoire with ensembles including Orchestre de l'Agora.

Xavier Lepage-Brault is a Montreal violist active in orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music, appearing with Orchestre de l'Agora and other ensembles across Quebec.

Sarah Eve Vigneault is a Quebec violist whose work encompasses orchestral, chamber, and contemporary repertoire, including performances with Orchestre de l'Agora.

Marie Lise Ouellet is a Quebec violist active in orchestral and chamber music, performing established and contemporary repertoire with ensembles including Orchestre de l'Agora.

Thomas Beard is a Canadian cellist and principal cello of Orchestre de l'Agora, as well as assistant principal cello of the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke. He also coordinates Agora's concert-workshops at the Montreal Detention Facility and the University Institute for Mental Health in Montreal.

Marc Labranche is a Quebec cellist active in orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music, including performances with Orchestre de l'Agora.

Samuel San Vachon is a Montreal double bassist working across orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music, including projects with Orchestre de l'Agora.

Ben Heard is a Canadian double bassist active in orchestral and chamber music, performing classical and contemporary repertoire with ensembles including Orchestre de l'Agora.

Noemie Caron-Marcotte is principal flute of Orchestre de l'Agora and a Montreal performer active in orchestral, chamber, and world music. She also works as a freelance musician with the Orchestre Metropolitain, Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivieres, and the klezmer ensemble Oktopus.

Melissa Tremblay is a Quebec oboist active in orchestral and chamber music, performing classical and contemporary repertoire with ensembles including Orchestre de l'Agora.

Pedro Molina is a Peruvian-born clarinetist who studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Peru, the Conservatoire de Bordeaux, and the Universite de Montreal. He has performed as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral player in Canada, France, and Peru.

Victor Alibert is a French-born clarinetist based in Montreal whose work spans symphonic music, contemporary chamber music, and Eastern European traditions. He performs with Orchestre de l'Agora, Ensemble Paramirabo, Magillah, and Fanfare Carmagnole.

Karine Breton is a Quebec bassoonist active in orchestral and chamber music, performing both established and contemporary repertoire with ensembles including Orchestre de l'Agora.

Guillaume Roy is a Montreal horn player, arranger, orchestrator, and educator. Trained at the Conservatoire de musique de Rimouski and McGill University, he performs regularly with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout Quebec.

Felix Gauthier is a Quebec trumpeter active in orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music, including performances with Orchestre de l'Agora.

David Therrien Brongo is a Montreal multi-percussionist, educator, and researcher. He is principal percussionist of Ensemble Paramirabo and principal timpanist-percussionist of Orchestre de l'Agora and the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

Nicolas Ellis is the founder, artistic director, and conductor of Orchestre de l'Agora, music director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne, and principal guest conductor of Les Violons du Roy. His work combines wide-ranging orchestral programming with educational and community-based initiatives.