Rebecca Claborn
Praised for her “mellifluous yet clear” singing, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Claborn has performed with some of North America’s finest ensembles. With a repertoire ranging from music of the Renaissance to the present day, Ms. Claborn has a particular passion for early music. Her solo engagements include appearances with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Victoria Baroque Players, the Choir of St. James Cathedral, the Talisker Players, the Musicians in Ordinary, the Theatre of Early Music, and the Toronto Consort. Active as a chorister, she has sung with Pro Coro Canada, the Choir of St. James Cathedral, the Theatre of Early Music, Opus 8, the Tallis Scholars, and the Gabrieli Consort. Ms Claborn can be heard on the Juno-nominated 2014 recording The Heart’s Refuge, with the Theatre of Early Music and Schola Cantorum, as well as The Vale of Tears (2015), both on Analekta. She is also featured on Opus 8’s debut recording Melancholy & Mirth (2017).
Rebecca Claborn holds a BMus in Music Education and a BA in Voice Performance from the University of New Hampshire, as well as an MMus in Voice Performance from the University of Alberta, with further studies at the University of Toronto and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Jenni Cook, Jolaine Kerley, Nancy Argenta, and Daniel Taylor. In demand as a teacher, Ms. Claborn has been on the faculty of the Victoria Conservatory of Music Summer Vocal Academy, and maintains a private teaching studio in Toronto.
Lawrence Wiliford
Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand in concert, opera, and recital repertoire ranging from works by Monteverdi to contemporary composers. His concert engagements encompass the major symphony orchestras and early music groups in the US and Canada. Recent concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra (US), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; the St. Matthew Passion with the Calgary Philharmonic, Oregon Bach Festival, Orchestre Métropolitain, and Toronto Bach Consort; Mass in B-minor with Music of the Baroque, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Naciónal de Mexico, Oregon Bach Festival and Toronto Symphony Orchestra; the St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Naciónal de Costa Rica; Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with I Musici de Montréal and Niagara Symphony; Haydn’s Elijah with the Handel and Haydn Society and Colorado Symphony; Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the Oregon Bach Festival; Mozart’s Requiem with the Indianapolis Symphony, Tafelmusik and the National Arts Centre Orchestra; Mozart’s Mass in C-Minor with the Jacksonville Symphony; Beethoven’s Mass in C-Major with the Houston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the National Arts Centre Orchestra; and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Houston Symphony.
Mr. Wiliford has collaborated with conductors such as Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Bernard Labadie, Grant Llewellyn, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Nathalie Stutzmann, Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Peter Oundijan, Trevor Pinnock, Helmuth Rilling, and Pinchas Zukerman. He has recorded projects on the ATMA Classique, Bridge Records, NAXOS, Chandos and Centrediscs labels. He recently released a critically acclaimed solo recording of sacred songs by Edmund Rubbra, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams entitled O Gladsome Light with Stone Records. In addition to his performing schedule, Mr. Wiliford is co-artistic director of the Canadian Art Song Project.
Lucas Harris
Lucas Harris discovered the lute during his undergraduate studies at Pomona College, where he graduated summa cum laude. He then studied early music in Italy at the Civica scuola di musica di Milano (as a scholar of the Marco Fodella Foundation) and in Germany at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen. After several years in New York City, he moved to Toronto in 2004 and became the regular lutenist for the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Toronto Continuo Collective, the Vesuvius Ensemble (dedicated to Southern Italian folk music), and the Lute Legends Ensemble (a multi-ethnic trio of lute, pipa, and oud). Mr. Harris plays with many other ensembles in Canada and the USA, including the Helicon Foundation (New York) and the Smithsonian Chamber Players (Washington, D.C.). He is on faculty at the Tafelmusik Summer and Winter Baroque Institutes as well as Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute, and has also taught for the International Baroque Institute at Longy and Vancouver Early Music’s Baroque Vocal Programme. In 2014 he completed graduate studies in choral conducting at the University of Toronto, funded in large part by a SSHRC research grant not often awarded to performers. Upon graduating, Mr. Harris was chosen as the Artistic Director of the Toronto Chamber Choir, for which he has created and conducted more than a dozen innovative concert programs. Mr. Harris has also directed projects for the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Ohio State University Opera Program, Les voix baroques, and the Toronto Consort.