The Soloists
Concert 1. Ancient and Modern
Devon Wastle – soprano
After earning her Licentiate in Vocal Performance from McGill (2001), Devon promptly launched into a professional career, singing with many reputable ensembles in the Montreal/Quebec area.
As a soloist, Devon has performed various oratorios, early music operas, concerts and recitals, working with le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal (SMAM), the Thirteen Strings, the Grand River Chorus, the Harmonia and Brahm’s Choirs of Ottawa, and the Carleton University Choir, among others. As an ensemble singer, she has performed with les Boréades (with whom she traveled to France and Prague), l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and SMAM. She has been a ten-year member of the elite Chapelle de Québec, performing extensively across Canada and North America, most notably at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her discography includes works with SMAM (soloist/ensemble), les Boréades, Cirque du Soleil and the Juno-award winning recording of Mozart’s Requiem with les Violons du Roy.
Devon has given master classes in French Art Song, conducted singing workshops for actors, and recently adjudicated for the Kiwanis Music Festival. She teaches voice and piano in Nepean, where she lives with her husband and young daughter.
Teresa Van Der Hoeven – soprano
Originally from Kingston, Ontario , Soprano Teresa van der Hoeven moved to Montreal to pursue musical studies at McGill university. At university, she studied with renowned vocal teacher Jan Simons. While still a student, Teresa began her solo career singing the Rutter Requiem with the Kingston Symphony, CoretteŐs Laudate Dominum with I Musici de Montreal, and the part of the Angel in the Mozart version of HandelŐs Messiah with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Other highlights include singing ŇAnitraÓ in GriegŐs Peer Gynt with the National Arts Center Orchestra under Franz-Paul Decker, and the Faure Requiem with Les Violons du Roy under Bernard Labadie.
Ms. van der Hoeven sings often with the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal under Christopher Jacks ±on. Solo appearances include the Montreverdi Vespers, HandelŐs Messiah and Dixit Dominus, PurcelsŐ Dido and Aneas, the Bach Magnificat, and the Lecons de Tenebres by Couperin among many others. Tours with the ŇStudioÓ took Teresa to France and Luxembourg singing Desmerest and to the east coast of Canada singing Monteverdi.
She toured toured Germany and the Czech Republic with the Ottawa Choral society singing the Brahms mass in G and the Mozart Requiem, and toured France with Les Violons du Roys singing works of Vivaldi.
Recent engagements included her debut with the LŐopera de Quebec singing the 2nd lady in MozartŐs Magic Flute, HandelŐs Messiah with the MeloŐs Ensemble in Kingston, works of Carrissimi at the Vancouver Early Music Festival under the direction of Herve Niquet, and a pops program of Sondeim and Weil with Orchestra London (ontario).
Teresa now makes her home in Toronto where she studies with Catherine Robbin.
Christopher Fischer – tenor
Tenor Christopher Fischer has earned a reputation as a versatile and intelligent performer in a great variety of roles, in both oratorio and recital. Primarily a specialist in Baroque and twentieth-century works for orchestra and chorus, particularly those of Handel and Britten, he has scored a number of recent critical and audience successes in both early and contemporary musical spheres. Working with such conductors as Gerald Neufeld, Robert Cooper and Boris Brott, Christopher has emerged as a compelling interpreter of the music of Monteverdi, Rachmaninov, Carissimi and Beckett. Highlights of the past season include: Mozart’s Requiem with the Menno Singers of Kitchener-Waterloo; the role of the Narrator in Beckett’s opera, Ruth, with the Arcady ensemble; excerpts from Mendelssohn’s unfinished oratorio, Christus, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, with the London Singers; Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil (“Vespers”) with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto; and Monteverdi’s virtuosic Vespro della Beata Vergine with the Guelph Chamber Choir and Musica Viva Orchestra. In 2010/2011, Christopher will be appearing in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Masterworks of Oakville, and also in a concert version of Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro, with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra.
Christopher holds an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Master of Music degree in choral music education from Arizona State University, and diplomas from Conservatory Canada and the Royal Canadian College of Organists. When not singing on the concert stage, he is the Director of Music Ministries at Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph, Ontario, in which city he also teaches private students in voice, piano and organ, and serves as the tenor section leader of the Guelph Chamber Choir. He looks forward very much to performing the beautiful Monteverdi Vespers once again, this time with the Grand River Chorus.
Kirk Lackenbauer - Bass
Kirk Lackenbauer, baritone, began his vocal training with baritone Theodore Baerg prior to attending Wilfrid Laurier University for his Honours Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance. Kirk now studies with internationally renowned mezzo soprano Laura Pudwell. Kirk has extensive choral and solo experience with various orchestras and choirs. He has performed leading roles in several musicals such as Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, Into the Woods, The Gondoliers, Annie Get Your Gun, ‘Father’ in the Children of Eden, and Bob in ‘The Old Maid and the Thief’ in Montpellier, Marseille, and Avignon France. He was recently nominated for a Grammy as part of the Elora Festival Singers cd of Eric Whitacre songs. Kirk also sings with Tactus and the Larkin Singers– both professional ensembles. He has also lent his vocal talents to several radio commercials. When he gets free time, Kirk loves to golf and study Krav Maga. Kirk resides in Waterloo.
Concert 2. Handel’s Messiah Singalong
Heather Plewes - Soprano
Soprano Heather Plewes has been described as “…indubitably talented. She possesses a clear and unforced soprano voice that is augmented with an appealing sense of phrase and emphasis” (Ontario Arts Review). Heather holds a BA Honours Music from the University of Western Ontario. She has appeared with Opera Hamilton, Boris Brott and the National Academy Orchestra, the Canadian Orpheus Male Choir, Vox Nouveau, Project Sing!, the Hamilton Children’s Choir, the Dundas Concert Band and many other choral and instrumental ensembles.
Heather’s recent performances include a solo recital of classical and contemporary Sacred works entitled “How can I keep from singing?” in April 2010, Massenet’s Messe de Minuit pour le Noel and Haydn’s Missa Brevis at CPC in Brantford, Handel’s Messiah with Arcady and the National Academy Orchestra, and ‘Mabel’ in excerpts from The Pirates of Penzance with the National Academy Orchestra. She was honoured to be selected as a winner of the 2008-2009 Arcady Young Artist competition and has received awards and scholarships from the Royal Conservatory of Music, the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association (ORMTA), and Kiwanis and Rotary Music Festivals in Toronto, Burlington, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Brantford. She was a featured soloist at Ryerson Festival 200.
Heather premiered a set of three Psalm settings written especially for her by award-winning Canadian composer Zachary Windus in recital in 2009 and is in demand as both a concert and church soloist. Heather’s sensitive and insightful interpretations and her clear, sweet tone have earned her praise as an artist on the rise.
Claudia Lemcke - Alto
Claudia Lemcke studied Piano and Voice in her native Germany. With her 'warm and clear voice and a reliable sense of style' (Rheinische Post, July 2010) she has established herself as a versatile Mezzo Soprano and Contralto, equally at home in art song and oratorio. Since 1996 she is a member of the German professional choir 'Vocalensemble Rastatt' under the baton of Holger Speck with whom she recorded frequently for CARUS. Touring and performing with this ensemble as well as giving solo recitals in Germany is always part of her summer schedule. Claudia has been a frequent soloist in Toronto and the GTA and has sung in several of Toronto's finest ensembles, such as Tafelmusik, Elmer Iseler Singers, Elora Festival Singers, Choir 21 and Aradia. and worked with renowned conductors like Doreen Rao, Helmuth Rilling and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She can also be found in Montréal, singing with La Chapelle de Québec and Les Violons Du Roy under the baton of Barnard Labadie.
Rob Cairns - Tenor
Jordan Stumpf - baritone
Jordan Stumpf is currently working on a Master of Science at the University of Guelph. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science and Music. Jordan had his first professional solo debut at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto in the Canadian premiere of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony. Since then, he has continued singing as a soloist around Southwestern Ontario with such groups as the Grammy-nominated Elora Festival Singers, as well as Arcady, Da Capo Chamber Choir, Renaissance Singers, and of course the Grand River Chorus. Past solo performances with the Grand River Chorus include the Rachmaninoff Vespers, Saul, Mass of the Children, and Brahm’s Requiem. Jordan also occasionally indulges in theatre, having performed with community groups such as the Community Players, in Joseph; The Singer’s Theatre, in Parade; and Royal City Musical Productions, in Iolanthe. He is also a budding composer, having recorded and released the music from his original musical entitled Beige in 2010. Most recently Jordan wrote a manual and taught a lecture-demonstration titled Anatomy of the Voice: an attempt to make the practical concepts of anatomy accessible to the average singer.
Concert 3. Gospel Glory
Jessica Lloyd - Mezzo Soprano
From concert hall to opera stage, from studio sessions to dimly lit nightclubs, Jessica Lloyd’s genre-crossing vocal abilities never fail to impress. Classical training blended with a deep love of language and culture has resulted in a singer that is equally at home singing an opera aria, an Argentine tango or a Motown classic. Jessica has been afforded opportunities to work with such ensembles as Tapestry New Opera Works, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, The Elora Festival Singers, The Orpheus Choir of Toronto, the Rice University Symphony Orchestra and the North York Symphony Orchestra. Currently Jessica is a member of the Canadian Opera Company Chorus. In her non-classical pursuits, Jessica was formerly the lead singer with the Billy Ledbetter Orchestra, a big band from Houston, TX. She was also a founding member of the a cappella trio, wayward sister, featured on the CD compilation, “Winter By the Lake” produced by Joe Wolf (Earth, Wind and Fire; Lionel Richie). For the last four years Jessica has collaborated with multi-instrumentalist and composer, Louis Simăo exploring the musical traditions of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds.
