Michael Jones, Executive Director

Michael Jones, Executive Director

In 2024, Michael Jones retired as CEO of SK Arts, the provincial arts funder for the province of Saskatchewan, where he oversaw almost $10 million in support to artists annually. His tenure at SK Arts saw a rebuilding of the relationships between the agency, the government, and the arts community. Prior to his move to Regina, he ran the performing arts program for the Metcalf Foundation, one of the largest private family foundations in Canada providing strategic support in the arts. He has also held senior administrative posts at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (now Dance Arts Institute), Arraymusic, the Muki Baum Association, and Choirs Ontario. He holds BMus and MA (music) degrees from Western University and has certification in public sector governance from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Since leaving SK Arts, Michael has established a sole proprietorship arts management firm based in Toronto, under which he provides cluster management services to small arts companies. In addition to his role at the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael is the Editorial Director for Opera Canada magazine and has completed short-term contracts for Arts Consultants Canada and SK Arts.

In 2022, his leadership in the arts sector was recognized when he was named one of the first 70 recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan).

As an artist, Michael’s career has focused on theatre, primarily working as a director or music director for organizations like Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, The Red Barn Theatre, Theatre Scarborough, Theatre Sheridan, and Victoria Playhouse Petrolia. Some of his favourite credits include Amadeus (director), Falsettos (director/music director), and Next to Normal (director/music director).

SPO Musical Visitors Program

With the support of funding from Canada’s New Horizon’s for Seniors Program, the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra is responding to a community need voiced by longterm care facilities. The benefits of live music to promote social interaction, lift spirits and spark memories is supported by medical research. We are looking for SPO Musicians interested in joining us for this pilot project.

This program will feature SPO musicians and a few others (e.g. a singer, pianist, or guitarist). It is a paying gig. Running from late August 2025 through March 2026, there are two components for the program.

  • Each selected ensemble unit will present a one-hour chamber music event to an audience of seniors, which will be presented three times in three different Scarborough seniors’ residences.  There will be approximately seven ensemble units selected for this program.
  • One musician will visit a individual seniors who have serious health issues and would appreciate some attention through music and conversation. 

Here are some details: 

1. Musicians can choose to be involved with one or both programs. It is possible a musician could play for both programs in a single visit. These programs will be co-ordinated by Ted Runcie. 

2. For the chamber music events:

  • A small ensemble of 2 to 4 musicians will be paid for one rehearsal and three concerts. An individual musician will be paid for three concerts.
  • Musicians will perform a program featuring accessible classical music and arrangements of more popular music (including movie tunes, Broadway songs, pop songs, etc.). There is a budget to buy sheet music for non-classical music.
  • The program will include performing music and interacting with the seniors, which could include providing information about the music, talking to seniors, asking them to sing along to a popular song, Christmas music, etc.
  • At the end of the event, musicians will ask for and record feedback from the seniors. This will be a short 5 to 7 min. session. Musicians will be given a form to work from.
  • Chamber music concerts/events will occur mainly on weekdays, morning or afternoon. An occasional evening or Saturday concert is possible. It could be possible to book two concerts in one day. 

3. For the individual senior visit program, musicians will coordinate with Ted Runcie for the specifics. 

4. Please contact the SPO for specific pay information.

5. There will be a one-hour paid mandatory online training session for musicians involved in the program, to help you understand what the senior homes are looking for. 

6. Musicians can apply as an individual or an ensemble. 

New Horizons for Seniors Musician Opportunity
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Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra Appoints Michael Jones as New Executive Director

 The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Michael Jones as its new Executive Director, effective August 1 2025. This decision follows a comprehensive succession-planning and search process, part of SPO’s two-year capacity-building initiative supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and led by interim Executive Director, Linda Rogers. “After an extensive search process, we are confident Michael is the right person to build on SPO’s track record of success and take the orchestra to the next level. “said Paul Tichauer, SPO’s Board Chair

Michael Jones brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in arts management to the SPO. Most recently, he served as the CEO of SK Arts, the provincial arts funder for Saskatchewan, where he successfully managed an annual budget of nearly $10 million in support of artists. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in rebuilding relationships between the agency, the government, and the arts community.

Prior to his leadership at SK Arts, Michael directed the performing arts program for the Metcalf Foundation, one of Canada’s largest private family foundations dedicated to strategic support in the arts. His extensive experience also includes senior administrative roles at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Arraymusic, the Muki Baum Association, and Choirs Ontario.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in Music from Western University, along with certification in public sector governance from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. Since retiring from SK Arts, he has established a sole proprietorship arts management firm in Toronto, providing cluster management services to small arts organizations. In addition to his role at SPO, he serves as the Editorial Director for Opera Canada magazine and has completed various short-term contracts for Arts Consultants Canada and SK Arts.

In recognition of his contributions to the arts sector, Michael was honored in 2022 as one of the first 70 recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in Saskatchewan. As an artist, he has directed and served as music director on numerous productions for esteemed organizations, including Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, and Theatre Scarborough, with notable credits such as *Amadeus*, *Falsettos*, and *Next to Normal*.

“We are excited to welcome Michael Jones to the SPO family,” said Ronald Royer, SPO’s Artistic Director.  “His extensive experience and passion for the arts will be invaluable as we prepare for our upcoming Season 2025-2026 and continue to enrich the cultural landscape of Scarborough.”

Olivia Korosak, composer

Olivia Korosak is an award winning Canadian composer. Her portfolio spans music for feature films, short films, orchestras, various ensembles, as well as sound design for theatrical shows. Olivia first began her musical journey at age four studying piano and voice under the Royal Conservatory of Music and later graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Music, a Performance Diploma in Classical Voice from the studio of Lita Classen and a Minor in Theatre and Film Studies. Olivia is a member of The Screen Composer’s Guild of Canada and The Association of Canadian Women Composers.

More Info at: https://oliviakorosak.com/

All Things Serve the Earth

If you missed the May 3 premiere of All Things Serve the Earth, the full 6 minute video is available for viewing now on YouTube. Just click the title or image above.

ABOUT THE VIDEO

* Performers: **
Danielle MacMillan, mezzo-soprano Ronald Royer, Conductor **
SPO Chamber Players: ** Kaye Royer, Clarinet Kristin Day, Bassoon Gilles Thibodeau, Horn Lisa Tahara, Piano Odin Quartet: Tanya Charles, Violin Alex Toskov, Violin Matthew Antal, Viola Samuel Bisson, Cello

Ronald Royer, Producer Matt Antal, Recording Engineer; Bruno Degazio – video edit and sub-titles.

Akashic Classics – Distributed by The SRG ILS Group • Universal Music Group Notes about the video:

This music video is a rich visual collage inspired by Bruno Degazio’s “All Things Serve the Earth,” the fourth of Thomas Aquinas’s Seven Parables of the Coming of Dawn.

At this pivotal point in the series, Sophia—an embodiment of Wisdom—has survived near-drowning, isolation, and imprisonment. Through these trials, she begins to transmute suffering into meaning. This parable marks the return of warmth and connection after a long night of the soul, as hope quietly reenters the story. Visual artist

Jeff Lyons brings this transformation to life through a stunning montage of famous paintings brought to life with AI, and layered with special effects and imagery. Drawing from the artists and mystics of Aquinas’s era and later—Breughel, Bosch, Carpaccio, and others—Lyons creates a dreamlike landscape that mirrors both Sophia’s inner journey and the broader spiritual awakening of the narrative.

All Things Serve the Earth is featured on the SPO album Songs of Hope, conducted and produced by Ron Royer, performed by mezzo-soprano Danielle MacMillan and the SPO Chamber Ensemble. The album is available on all major streaming platforms.

Eric Abramovitz, Clarinetist and Composer

Eric Abramovitz
Eric Abramovitz
Eric Abramovitz, clarinetist

Eric Abramovitz, a Montreal native, is a highly acclaimed clarinetist known for his colourful playing and versatility. Appointed as Principal Clarinet at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2021, Eric began his journey with the orchestra in 2018 as Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet. His impressive career includes positions with the Nashville
Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Eric frequently appears as guest principal clarinetist with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. Notably, he has toured throughout Japan and South Korea with the New York Symphonic Ensemble and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and performed as principal clarinet with the New York Philharmonic at the Bravo Vail festival in the summer of 2021.

Recognized for his outstanding achievements, Eric was featured on CBC’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30″ and named the Vandoren Emerging Artist of the Year in 2017. As a first-prize winner at the OSM Standard Life Competition in 2011, Eric has been featured as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the McGill and USC Symphonies, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he has appeared as a soloist not only on clarinet but on alto saxophone as well. In 2025, Eric and the TSO performed the premiere of his composition titled ‘Mozart in the Shtetl’ for clarinet and strings. Recipient of the Sylva Gelber Career Grant in 2016, Eric is a graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and the University of Southern California, where he has studied under renowned teachers, including Zaven Zakarian, Alain Desgagné, Robert Crowley, Simon Aldrich, Jean-François Normand, Kimball Sykes, and Yehuda Gilad.

Equally at home performing and composing Klezmer music, Eric is a founding member of Schmaltz & Pepper, a Klezmer and Yiddish music ensemble based in Toronto which formed in 2024.

Michael Tan, composer

Michael (Qin Tai) Tan is an award-winning emerging composer based in Canada, who started composing seriously at the end of 2023. His string quartet Çal, oyna received an international prize (2024) at the NMGCS IV International Composition Competition, and was published in the USA. Another string quartet Fragments Over a Pale Sea was professionally performed by members of the Ironwood Quartet, as part of Chamberfest, in Canada (2024).

He has also worked with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) as a New Generation Composer, and his clarinet quintet The White Woods was workshopped at the
Canadian Music Center in Toronto (2025). This work was additionally chosen by the SPO for a concert premiere in early 2026.

He is mostly self-taught, and he is currently completing his master’s degree in health sciences at the University of Ottawa (2025). His research focuses on using zebrafish as a model for striated muscle laminopathies.

For more information visit: https://michaeltancomposer.com/

 

Mari Alice Conrad, composer

Mari Alice Conrad is an award-winning composer and arranger based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is in high demand as a composer featuring performances with various ensembles across Canada, USA, and Europe most notably at Ottawa Chamberfest, Vancouver’s Allegra Chamber Orchestra FestivELLE, Été musical de Barachois in New Brunswick, in the Žofín Palace for the World Wind Music Festival and WASBE Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, the Banff Centre for the Arts, New Music Edmonton, Manitoba GroundSwell New Music Series, Vancouver Modulus Festival, the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival in Newfoundland, the Toronto New Music Concert Series, and the Sweetwater and NUMUS Festivals (Ontario).

Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in 2022, Mari Alice travelled to the Canadian High Arctic and Greenland in the creation of a large-scale composition project for musical youth exploring the effects of climate change. Her current research creation projects examine the perception and expression of place, personal history, and geography by exploring the sonic potential of objects and materials alongside acoustic instruments to create new timbres and sonic colours. She currently teaches as a sessional instructor at MacEwan University in the Department of Music and is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Alberta while she completes her Doctorate degree in music composition.

Mari Alice’s most recent and current projects include an artist residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and has had her works performed by the Canadian Chamber Choir, the BBC Singers (UK), the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble ArtChoral (formerly Ensemble Vocal Arts-Québec), Pro Coro Canada (Edmonton), Luminous Voices (Calgary), Babɛl Choir (Toronto), Exultate Chamber Singers (Toronto), The University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, Allegra Chamber Orchestra (Vancouver), SHHH!! Ensemble (Ottawa), Edmonton Winds, the Edmonton Saxophone Quartet, The University of Lethbridge Wind Ensemble, and Standing Wave Ensemble (Vancouver). Her choral music is published by Hinshaw Music (USA), musica printima (Canada), and Cypress Choral Music (Canada) with upcoming recording projects with the MacEwan University Generations Big Band, Edmonton Winds Ensemble, Exultate Chamber Singers and Ensemble ArtChoral (formerly Ensemble Vocal Arts-Québec).