Composers
Joseph Glaser
Described as “a voice to watch out for” by CBC’s Bill Richardson, Joseph Glaser’s music creates space for performers and audiences alike to have out-of-the-ordinary experiences.
Having had many years of training as a dancer, Joseph looks at composition with a choreographic eye leading to pieces that are as much about physical movement as they are about sound. Joseph holds degrees from McGill University and the University of British Columbia. Notable performances include premieres by the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble, Caution Tape Sound Collective, the Gryphon Trio, the Amici Chamber Ensemble and a one-act opera with FAWN Chamber Creative.
Lauren McCall
Lauren McCall is a composer and educator from Atlanta, Georgia. She completed her Master in Music Composition at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is currently studying music technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her compositions have been performed around North America and Europe, including her piece for piano: Shake the Earth, performed in Morehead, Kentucky at Morehead State University’s Contemporary Piano Festival, and at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium. Her arrangement of the spiritual I’m Troubled was performed in Lakeland, Florida at Florida Southern College for the Grady Rayam Prize in Sacred Music, and her graphic score composition The Fish Wife was performed in Montreal, Canada by the ensemble Amis Orgue Montreal.
Julia Mermelstein
Toronto-based composer and interdisciplinary artist, Julia Mermelstein blends electronic soundscapes and choreography into performances that create a space for introspection and the surreal.
Her music has been performed across North America by Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, North/South Chamber Ensemble, Ilana Waniuk, Barbara Pritchard and interdisciplinary collaborations with Leslie Ting, Din of Shadows, and Angela Blumberg Dance.
Julia's music has also been featured at Vancouver New Music, NottNOISE New Music Festival (UK), Opena Waters Festival (Halifax), CEMIcircles Intermedia Festival (Texas), OUA Electronic Music Festival (Japan), and Festival of Original Theatre (Toronto).
Leah Reid
American composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works have been described as “immersive,” “haunting,” and “shimmering.”
Leah has received numerous awards and honors, including first prize in the Tesselat Electronic Music Competition 2020 for her piece Sk(etch), a commission from the Concavo & Convesso 2020 Competition, IAWM’s Pauline Oliveros Prize, the Film Score Award and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Sa
Reid received her D.M.A. and M.A. in music composition from Stanford University and her B.Mus from McGill University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia where she teaches courses in music composition and technology.
Homa Samiei
Composer and Pianist Homa Samiei, was born in Tehran, Iran. She is the co-founder of Najva Ensemble as well as the co-founder of Himeh Cultural House.
With the Najva Ensemble she has performed as in Tehran, Amsterdam, Mexico City, and Tišnov.
Homa has attended numerous festivals as a composer and pianist, and has collaborated with several ensembles through such as the International Contemporary Ensemble in New York, Thin Edge New Music Collective and Art Song Collaborative Project in Toronto, and Lucca Contemporary Music Festival in Italy.
Samiei is currently pursuing her master's degree in community music at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Keane Southard
Described as “a hugely prolific musician with a wide variety of skill sets", Keane Southard is a composer and pianist who believes deeply in the power of music to change how people think, feel, and act, and that it can be a catalyst for positive change in the world. His works reflect his many diverse musical tastes, from medieval chant to 70's rock, Bach to the Blues, and 19th century romanticism to Latin dance forms. He was recently awarded a residency at Copland House and was the winner of the Yale Glee Club’s Emerging Composers Competition. Keane earned his M.M. at the University of Colorado-Boulder in composition and is currently a Ph.D. student in composition at the Eastman School of Music. Keane spent 2013 in Brazil as a Fulbright scholar studying music education.
Matthew Tozer
Described as ‘highly lyrical’ and ‘rich in harmony’ Matthew Tozer’s music explores the juxtaposition of sound and silence and the evolution of musical timbres over time.
He holds a PhD in Music Composition and currently resides in London, Canada where he works as a freelance composer, sessional instructor, and operates a private piano, theory, and composition studio.
Matthew is actively involved in the creation of new work through the collaborative process and has been performed and programmed across Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Roydon Tse
Toronto-based composer Roydon Tse seeks to communicate to audiences through works that
engage with a range of topics, from the intersections of Eastern and Western traditions, visual arts, and the global climate crisis, to psychology, places of being and loss.
Roydon immigrated from Hong Kong to Canada before studying composition at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto (D.M.A).
2020 saw commissions from Vancouver City Opera and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, while 2021-22 will feature collaborations with the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, Esprit Orchestra, and the International Double Reed Society, among others.
Alondra Vega-Zaldivar
Cuban born soprano and composer Alondra Vega-Zaldivar has made Toronto her home where she vehemently strives to promote and disseminate contemporary music. Her music is inspired by the natural world and the sonic capabilities and colours of the acoustic instruments with a flare for the theatre and drama.