STEPHEN DETURBIDE

The Old Grey Donkey Eeyore Stood for soprano and piano

Stephen Deturbide is in his last year of studying composition and voice at the Fountain School, an intersection that has involved writing art songs set to classic literature from the sublime to the ridiculous (Yeats to Winnie the Pooh…though he can’t say which is which – you decide!). He also loves writing for orchestra, singer-songwriters and electronic instruments. 

Last summer he finished a composer’s residency at the highSCORE Festival in Belluno, Italy. His acting background includes work with Festival Antigonish; a few independent films; and DalOpera’s Cunning Little Vixen, Le Chanson de Fortunio, and Little Women. He also spent a summer studying screen acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. If you’re out on the town you might catch him singing folk, bluegrass and dad rock with his band The Rotators. He is thrilled to be living his dream of writing music day in and day out and hopes to compose for entertainment media in the future. 

KIP JOHNSON

Shore for tenor, viola, and piano

Baritone, composer, and conductor Kip Johnson (he/him) is a graduate of the Fountain School of Performing Arts in Halifax. Currently in his second season with the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Kip is also a section lead at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver. He has conducted the Bowen Island Community Choir for their 2024/25 season, building on conducting experience as the Graduate Conducting Fellow of the King’s College Halifax Chapel Choir under Neil Cockburn, and as the assistant director of the King’s Chorus. 

While in Halifax, Kip was a choral scholar at the Cathedral Church of All Saints Halifax under Paul Halley, lent his voice to Helios Vocal Ensemble, joined Musique Royale for yearly tours of a “pocket sized” Messiah, and sung the title role in James Rolfe’s opera Aeneas and Dido.

His compositions have been performed at the Open Waters Festival in Halifax, the Fountain School Concerto Night, and been used in multiple stage productions. These works have seen him awarded first place in the Arcady Ensemble Emerging Artist Composition Competition, as well as receiving the Owen Maitzen award for composition in 2023.

Kip also performs on banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bouzouki with a number of different folk projects, playing original and traditional music on stages and street corners across North America. 

GARRETT NIALL

Dance of the Lillies for violin, viola, and piano

Garrett Niall (he/they) is an African Nova Scotian composer-percussionist from Punamu’kwati’jk  (Dartmouth), Nova Scotia. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the University of King’s College & Dalhousie University, studying under Matthias McIntire in composition and Mark Morton in percussion. He has served as the principal percussionist in the Dalhousie Symphony Orchestra since 2023.

Their works have been featured by Alkali Collective, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, Open Waters Festival, Nuovo Contemporary Concert Series, and Dalhousie Theatre’s showing of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

HSIU PING PATRICK WU

That Last Moonlight for soprano, viola, and piano

Taiwanese-born Canadian Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu is an award-winning composer, violinist, and multimedia artist whose music bridges cultural identity through a fusion of neoromanticism, avant-garde soundscapes, theatrical elements, and improvisation.

Patrick has collaborated with ensembles such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Loadbang, Neave Trio, GAIA Quartet, Hypercube Ensemble, and Alkali Collective. His music has been featured at international festivals including highSCORE, Zodiac, Atlantic Music Festival, and ICEBERG New Music Institute. He is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, affiliated with the Canadian League of Composers, SOCAN, and ASCAP.

Patrick is pursuing a DMA at the University of Toronto under Dr. Norbert Palej, and holds degrees from Longy School of Music and Dalhousie University.