Consort Members 2021–2022

McKenzie Warriner, soprano

McKenzie Warriner is a Toronto-based, but Saskatchewan-born-and-raised soprano bringing music and text to life in a variety of contexts. Especially passionate about the very old and the very new, she has performed dramatic and musical roles in productions by early music presenters including the Eastman Collegium Musicum and the Eastman Bach Cantata Series, while also working alongside organizations including Winnipeg’s Camerata Nova in showcasing new works. Recent highlights have included the presentation of Rameau’s solo cantata Le Berger fidèle at the Rochester Early Music Festival and her solo role in a multi-province tour of Ana Sokolović’s song cycle dawn always begins in the bones by the Universities of Manitoba and Toronto. This season, she is excited to sing Abigail Richardson-Schulte’s Alligator Pie with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

On the operatic stage, McKenzie has performed roles including Bessie Brent in The Shop Girl (COSA Canada), Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor (Eastman Opera Theatre), Gretel in Hansel and Gretel (University of Manitoba School Tour), and La Novizie in Suor Angelica (Manitoba Underground Opera). In 2018 she sang the role of Queen Tye in a concert presentation of excerpts from Phillip Glass’s Akhnaten (Winnipeg New Music Festival) and was the 2020 winner of the Gordon C. Wallis Opera Competition.

Alongside composer Tristan Zaba, McKenzie most recently co-founded Slow Rise Music, a concert series devoted to creating cutting edge new vocal works. It is her mission with Slow Rise to make contemporary music more accessible by both prioritizing communication and exploring mixed-media presentation. McKenzie received her master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music and her bachelor of music from the University of Manitoba.

 

Rebecca Claborn, alto

Praised for her “mellifluous yet clear” singing [James Young, Music in Victoria], mezzo-soprano Rebecca Claborn performs with some of Canada’s finest ensembles. With a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present day, Rebecca has a particular passion for early music.

Rebecca's solo highlights include appearances with the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Victoria Baroque Players, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Musicians in Ordinary, the Choir of St. James Cathedral, and the Theatre of Early Music. This season’s highlights include Ottorino Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signore and Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, both with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Toronto Consort's program The Christmas Story.

In demand as a chorister and ensemble singer, Rebecca is a member of vocal octet Opus 8, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s professional core, and the Toronto Chamber Choir's Consort program. She appears frequently with the Toronto Consort and has also sung with such ensembles as the Tallis Choir, the Musicians in Ordinary, Pro Coro Canada, the Theatre of Early Music, and the Gabrieli Consort.

As a recording artist, Rebecca appears most recently on Opus 8's latest recording, Firsts (2019), and on the Toronto Chamber Choir’s 2019 release A Voice of her Own, featuring works by fourteen female composers. She is a featured soloist on two releases with the Theatre of Early Music: The Heart's Refuge (2014, Juno-nominated), and The Vale of Tears (2015), both on Analekta.

 

 

Anna Kwiatkowska, soprano

Anna Kwiatkowska is a soprano and violist, originally from Poland. After graduating from the Music Academy in Lodz, Poland, where she received a MMus in viola and in vocal and acting performance, she continued her education at the University of California in Los Angeles, CA (UCLA, Faculty of Opera Performance).

Ms. Kwiatkowska’s operatic roles include Tytania in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (UCLA), Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Seviglia, Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Sandrina in La Cecchina by Piccini (Musiakademie Rheinsberg).

Apart from her work as a soloist, Ms. Kwiatkowska has always had a strong interest in choral singing. From early childhood she regularly participated in choral courses in Poland and abroad (Landesakademie Ochsenhausen) and performed in professional settings (Philharmonic in Lodz, Poland, Grand Theatre in Lodz, Poland).

In 2008, as a member of the Wroclaw Philharmonic choir, she had the privilege to join the famous Gabrieli Consort and Players ensemble, directed by Paul McCreesh. The concert tour with Gabrieli included performances at Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Barbican Centre, and the Albert Hall in London (BBC proms festival).

In Canada, Ms. Kwiatkowska has appeared with Opera Atelier, the Gryphon Trio, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, the Toronto Chamber Choir, and the St. James Cathedral Choir.

Ms. Kwiatkowska is also a passionate teacher. Since coming to Canada in 2009, she has been giving instructions in voice, violin and viola, successfully preparing children and youth for various auditions, exams and performances.

 

 

Nicholas Nicolaidis, tenor

Bio and photo to come

 

David Yung, bass

Bio and photo to come

Consort Members from previous seasons

2019–2020

2018–2019

2017–2018

2016–2017

2015–2016

2014–2015

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