Angela Casagrande - Oboe

Originally from Ottawa, Angela Casagrande received both a baccalaureate and a master's degree in Music from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She pursued additional studies through the Orchestral Training Program offered by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Angela then returned to Ottawa, where she has had the opportunity to play various positions with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de chambre de Hull, as well as performing as an extra musician with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Thirteen Strings. She also played with the Bel Canto Wind Quintet from its inception until 1995. Angela currently works as a freelance solo, chamber and orchestral oboist throughout the National Capital Region. She has been heard as a soloist and chamber musician on both CBC and Radio-Canada, and performs frequently in these capacities throughout the region. In addition, she is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa, and operates a large private teaching studio. Angela also works as an arranger, and sells handmade oboe reeds throughout Ontario. In 2002, she wrote a textbook for the study of music theory, which she markets through her own company, Pink Flamingo Press.

Rebecca Danard - Clarinet

Performer, educator, scholar and entrepreneur, Rebecca Danard is the founding director of Musica Nova Ottawa and a doctoral candidate in clarinet performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). She has been invited to perform at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, MusicX, and the Midwest Composer's Symposium. Rebecca's current projects reflect her passion for playing contemporary music and working with composers. She is recording Kelly-Marie Murphy’s “Postcards from home” to be released on the Carleton University label and TR Beery's “Seven Breaths” for speaking clarinetist will be included on the 2010 Indie Music Cancer Drive: Songs for the Cure. As part of her doctoral research, she has commissioned twelve pedagogical pieces featuring extended techniques for the clarinet from composers across Canada. In 2008, she premiered these pieces at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and at the 12:30 Friday concert series at the University of Western Ontario. She also presented a lecture recital about this project at the Canadian University Music Society Conference in May 2009. The Avondale Press has expressed interest in publishing this collection. Also an enthusiastic teacher, Rebecca is on faculty at the Preparatory Department at CCM as clarinet and theory instructor, coaches woodwind ensembles for the Accent Chamber Music Program and leads sectionals for the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble (CYWE). Rebecca has commissioned a concerto from the CCM faculty composer David Schneider which she will premiere with CYWE in March 2010. Rebecca currently lives and makes music in both Cincinnati and Ottawa. For more information please visit www.rebeccadanard.com

Aura Giles - flute

Aura’s studies with Camille Churchfield at the University of Ottawa, Aura is experimenting with the expression of voice through many genres of musical performance, improvisation and composition. Aura is the winner of the 2008 University of Ottawa Concerto Competition and the 2006 Alberta Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition. Ms. Giles has experience performing solo, orchestral and chamber music and has performed in masterclasses with renowned flutists Ian Clarke, Robert Cram, Eyal Ein-Habar and Peter Lloyd. She is also a methodical and creative instructor, providing a positive and engaging musical experience for her students.

Joan Harrison - Cello

Cellist, Joan Harrison is a dynamic and versatile musician who maintains an active teaching and performance schedule on both modern and baroque cello. She has taught at prestigious institutions including the Juilliard School, Princeton University, The Perlman Music Program, the United Nations International School and New York School for Strings. Joan has been an adjunct professor at Carleton University and is currently teaching Music Education at the University of Ottawa where is also pursuing her PhD in the Faculty of Education. She presents her research and gives master classes at conferences internationally and has published numerous articles on teaching and the philosophy of curriculum development. Ms. Harrison is often heard on CBC radio in performance as principal cellist of both the Aradia Baroque Ensemble and the Toronto Chamber Orchestra. Her other orchestral positions have included assistant principal cellist of the New York City Opera Orchestra and section cellist in the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Along with performing, Joan is dedicated to promoting music education for young children and is the founder of The Enterprising Rabbit™ (www.enterprisingrabbit.com), where she develops and sells motivational materials for young musicians. Joan is looking forward to the 2110 release of her new cd – When Music Sounds: Music for cello and piano by Canadian composers that she recently recorded with Dr. Elaine Keillor. During any spare time, Joan can be found cavorting with one of her numerous animals, creating fibre art, or gardening.

Jean-Sébastien Lacombe - Percussion

Jean-Sébastien Lacombe started playing the West-Indian steel pan at age twelve. He competed twice in Trinidad’s famed Panorama Competition with the top steelband, the BWIA Invaders. Aspiring to be an orchestral timpanist, he graduated with a Master’s from the University of Ottawa where he studied with Ian Bernard, Jonathan Wade and Kenneth Simpson. A winner of the 2004 National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary, and the University of Ottawa Concerto Competition (2004, 2006), he regularly plays with the Ottawa Symphony and National Arts Centre orchestras.