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Anne Bornath, Soprano
This is Anne’s first season with the Elmer Iseler Singers. She
currently studies voice with Marjorie Sparks, is a member of the Amadeus Choir
and a soloist in her home church choir at Zion Lutheran. Anne’s passion for
social justice has her organizing and performing in fundraising concerts;
offering classical and sacred music to benefit victims of natural disasters and
HIV-positive orphans in Tanzania through Olive Branch for Children. Anne is an
aerospace engineer and is currently the Director of ACS Programs for an
engineering firm specializing in micro-satellites. She lives in King City with
her husband Brian and her daughter Brianna and is grateful for their unwavering
support. |  | Joan Campbell, Alto
Joan began singing for the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2005. A physician in her other life, she practices radiology in Mississauga. Joan has been a long standing member of the Amadeus Choir and is an avid gardener and amateur bassoonist. A native of Toronto, she currently resides in the Beaches with her two sons Patrick and Colin. |  | Matthew Gaskin, Tenor
Matthew has joined the Elmer Iseler Singers for the 2008-2009 season. His biography will be posted shortly. |  | Olena Jatsyshyn, Alto
Olena was born in Cleveland, Ohio of Ukrainian immigrant parents. Her Ukrainian family and heritage, her music/choral/theater training, experiences and solo work have enriched and shaped her life, and have given her the base upon which she has developed her many talents. Olena moved to Canada in 1979. She sang with the EIS for 15 years until 1994. She now returns to the alto section in 2006. As a part-time Outreach & Communications consultant for the Elmer Iseler Singers, Olena works towards ensuring that the legacy of this fully professional Canadian choir continues to grow. |  | Alexander Jozefacki, Bass
Alex was born in Toronto, Ontario. He became a member of the Festival Singers in 1976 and then the EIS in 1979 and continued until 1981. He then left the Singers to go to law school, but continued to sing with Dr. Iseler as a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He returned to the EIS in the fall of 1996. Alex now has his own law practice, Jozefacki•Fielding. Alex and his wife have three children, twins David and Alexis and elder daughter Dianne. |  | David King, Baritone
David studied vocal, choral and instrumental music and education at the University of Western Ontario where he received the Don Wright Choral Scholarship and conducted the UWO Choir. He has sung in and directed choirs, musicals and operas including various works for Mooredale Concerts, and was quest choir director for the Canadian Brass at their annual Roy Thomson Hall Christmas Concert. David has been a clinician at CAMMAC, Long & McQuade's Music Education Centre and for various schools including Earl Haig S.S. Claude Watson Arts Program. He also conducts All The King's Voices, a mixed-voice semi-professional choir that has performed on CBC and at Roy Thomson Hall, The Glenn Gould Studio and The Toronto Centre For The Arts. |  | Gisele Kulak, Soprano
Gisele studied music formally in middle and high school, singing and playing piano and French horn. She earned degrees in Music Education and Arts from University of Saskatchewan, and has been teaching voice for nearly 20 years, during which time she has found her students, themselves, to be her most valuable teachers. Singing alone and in choirs has always been a source of immense delight.
Since arriving in Toronto in 1991, Gisele has enjoyed a variety of professional opportunities in opera, operetta, and as soloist with symphonies, chamber ensembles, choirs, jazz ensembles, and a popular music group. She is currently 2nd soprano section lead at Metropolitan United Church and also sings with VOXWORKS. |  | Nelson Lohnes, Bass/Baritone
Nelson was born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Organist and music director at St. James The Apostle, Brampton. Occasional teacher for the Dufferin Peel Roman Catholic School Board and Peel Board of Education. Grade 10 Silver Medal and A.R.C.T. Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Music Associate and Music Licentiate Diplomas from the Western Board of Music. Solo work during career has included opera, musical and choral societies in England, the United States and Canada. Recent solo work was in August at Niagara on the Lake International Festival singing several Spanish Tango pieces with chamber quartet. Nelson will soon be recording a new solo CD, including "Song for the Mira". |  | Andrea Ludwig, Alto
Mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig is a Canadian Opera Company Ensemble graduate who has appeared with them as Moira in Poul Ruders "The Handmaid's Tale", following performances as the First witch/Spirit in "Dido and Aeneas", Liesgen in "The Coffee Cantata" and the Second Niece in "Peter Grimes". She made her company debut in the 2001/02 season as Nireno in Sartorio's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" and went on to sing Nireno in Handel's "Julius Ceasar", Delia in "Il viaggio a Reims". Flora in "The Turn of the Screw" and Jano in Janacek's "Jenufa".
Her many concert appearances have included Mozart's Mass in C Minor as well as Handel's Dixit Dominus and Copland's In the Beginning with the Amadeus Choir and Mozart's Requiem with The Elmer Iseler Singers. |  | Eric MacKeracher, Tenor
Eric is from Pickering, Ontario. He joined the EIS in September 2000 and in the same month became the music director at Kingston Road United Church in the Beaches area of Toronto. He also sings tenor in the Amadeus Choir. In his spare time Eric likes to read - preferably with one of his several cats curled up in his lap! | 
| Michael McBride, Tenor (On leave this season)
Canadian Tenor Michael McBride was described as a "mellifluous tenor" in Mozart's The Magic Flute, conducted by Sir Colin Davis (Colin Anderson, Classical Source). Mr. McBride holds a Master's of Music degree and Opera Diploma from London's Royal Academy of Music, where he performed Tamino, in Mozart's The Magic Flute, with Sir Colin Davis conducting, and Romeo, in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, with the British Youth Opera, to encouraging reviews. From 2006-2008 Michael was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera. He also sang for BMW, and hundreds of international media, at the grand opening of the BMW Museum and Flagship center, in Munich. (Michael McBride is on Leave of Absence January, February, March 2009.) |  | Claire Morley, Soprano
Claire joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2007. She began her musical training in her hometown of Owen Sound, where she studied with Nancy Stewart. Claire has sung with the Ontario Youth Choir (2005, 2007), National Youth Choir (2006, rec. in 2008) and Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto. She studied English at the University of Toronto. Claire currently works as Publications Coordinator for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, running and experimenting in the kitchen! |
 | Joanne Nasmith, Soprano
Joanne joined the Elmer Iseler singers in 2004. She grew up in the Bradford area, north of Toronto. Joanne has both a Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Western Ontario. Her principal instrument at university was the piano. Since graduating, Joanne has been teaching private piano lessons at Willowdale Christian School and in students' homes. She has done some work as an educational assistant in the primary and junior grades and in a special education program. Joanne is a member of the Amadeus Choir as well as the Armour Heights Presbyterian Church choir. She resides in Pickering with her husband Jim and their cat, Molly. |  | Mitchell Pady, Tenor
A Graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Mitchell Pady pursued his studies in composition and voice. He has performed and participated in many festivals and conferences including the national conductors' conference run by the Association of Canadian Orchestras. He has acted as choral adjudicator for both the Kiwanis and Music Fest Canada competitions and is the Choral Conductor for the acclaimed Inter-Provincial Music Camp. During the last six years Mitchell has worked with teachers and students as a choral clinician for a number of professional development workshops across the Toronto District School Board. |
 | Bud Roach, Tenor
Bud Roach joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2005, and since that time has
performed with many of Canada’s prominent musical organizations, including the
Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier, The Toronto Consort, the Aradia Ensemble,
Soundstreams, and La Chapelle de Quebec. He has recorded Handel’s Israel in
Egypt (2008) and Samuel Arnold’s Polly (2010) with the Aradia Ensemble for the
Naxos label. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the the Musicians in
Ordinary, the Toronto Consort, Capella Intima, and touring with EIS and
Soundstreams, singing the role of “Trickster” in The Journey, an opera in the
Cree language by Melissa Hui. More information is available at
www.budroach.com |  | Cathy Robinson, Soprano
Cathy joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2005. She has an extensive operatic career, including the role of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust with Premier Opera, Fiordiligi in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte with Oberlin's Summer Opera Program in Casalmaggiore, Italy. Cathy has also appeared in three operas with the New Opera and Concert Centre in Toronto, and was the winner of the 1996 Oshawa-Whitby Kiwanis Senior Rosebowl Competition. Cathy maintains her role as a soprano with the Amadeus Choir, in which she has sung for many years. | 
| Graham Robinson, Baritone
Graham Robinson joined the Singers in the summer of 2007. He received his Bachelors of Music in Voice at the University of Victoria, where he studied under Dr. Bruce More, Alexandra Browning, and Susan Young. Graham was a featured performer for the University of Victoria Chorus and Chamber Singers, and the Victoria Chamber Orchestra In addition to his role as a soloist, Graham has managed a vocal studio and provided vocal coaching to the Cantiamo Youth Choir. After spending time in Cuba and Japan, he now resides in Toronto. In addition to singing with Elmer Iseler Singers, he is featured regularly with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Univox, Humbercrest United Church, and All The King’s Voices. |  | Alison Roy, Alto
Alison was born in Ottawa, Ontario and has been with the Elmer Iseler Singers since 1994. She works for the Toronto District School Board as a Music Itinerant. Alison is Second Alto Section Lead at Metropolitan United Church and Alto Section Lead for the Amadeus Choir. In her spare time (whenever that is!), she does studio work, and writes. |  | Michael Sawarna, Tenor
Michael began singing with the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2004. He is the second Iseler Singer to originate from Kemptville, Ontario a small town south of Ottawa. Now living in Toronto he is a Tenor Section Lead for the Amadeus Choir and St. Andrew's United Church Choir. He is studying voice with Catherine Robbin at York University. In his spare time Michael hopes to become as good a hockey player as fellow tenor Ed Wiens. |  | Kathleen Tapp Mock, Soprano
Kate was born in Hamilton, Ontario and graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a music degree in performance. She has been with the Iseler Singers since 1995. Before joining the EIS she sang with Dr. Iseler for many years in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Kate teaches voice privately in Mississauga and is Soprano Section Lead in the Amadeus Choir. She is also Soprano soloist at Kingsway Lambton United Church in Etobicoke. Kate and her husband Ed have two wonderful sons, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter. |  | Michael Thomas, Baritone
Baritone Michael Thomas was born in Scarborough, Ontario and has been with The Elmer Iseler Singers since January, 1998. He is a freelance singer and has preformed with many musical organizations around Ontario. He also works as a Music Instructor for the Toronto District School Board—East. He loves photography, motorcycling and is an avid scuba diver. Michael and his wife, Hope, have a new baby girl, Megan Elizabeth, two cats, Elliott and Belle, and a dog named Morgan. |  | Rebecca Whelan, Soprano
Rebecca Whelan is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a degree in voice performance. Her vast experience as a soloist has taken her throughout Europe and North America and although she originally joined the Elmer Iseler Singers in 1993 and sang with them until 2001, she took a brief hiatus until rejoining again in 2007. Now married, and a mother to her four year old son Julian, she continues to be in demand as a freelance solo artist. 2007 saw the release of her first independent CD recording of original songs called Shades of Innocence, written and produced by her friend and colleague Chris Dedrick. |  | Edward Wiens, Tenor
Ed was born in Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan, and has been with the Iseler Singers since its inception. He is also the librarian for the group. Ed sings as a tenor lead at St. Paul's Bloor Street Anglican Church Choir and freelances when the EIS schedule permits. His hobbies include playing hockey, horseback riding and reading. Lately he has been enjoying watching fellow tenor, Mike Sawarna, chase the impossible dream - by playing on his hockey team! |
 
This page was last edited 26 September 2009.
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