Michael Tan, composer

Michael (Qin Tai) Tan, is an emerging Canadian composer. He is mostly self-taught, but has studied with some exceptional teachers such as Dr. Kelly-Marie Murphy, Dr. Kevin Lau, Dr. Robert Rival, and more recently with  Elizabeth Raum as part of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Generation Composers’ Program 2024-2025. He studied piano performance to grade 10 at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and had several masterclasses in piano with the late Mary Mackey who was a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. His string quartet Fragments Over a Pale Sea was professionally performed by members of the National Arts Center (NAC) orchestra, as part of Chamberfest held at the University of Ottawa. Another string quartet Çal, oyna also received an international prize at the NMGCS IV International Composition Competition, and was published in the USA. Currently, he is completing his master’s degree in Health Science at the University of Ottawa, and his research focuses on using zebrafish as a model for straited muscle laminopathies (2025).

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).

Anthony Gunadi, composer

Anthony Gunadi, composer

Anthony Gunadi is a Canadian classical composer from Mississauga inspired by film and jazz music, with a background in electronic dance music production. His achievements include winning Orchestra Toronto’s 2023-24 Prize in Composition and the University of Toronto’s 2023-24 Piano Trio Composition Competition with the Bedford Trio. Upcoming in 2025, Orkest de Ereprijs will premiere “Burger Smash” during the UofT New Music Festival, Standing Wave will premiere “Magenta Pastures” at the Annex in Vancouver, and he is the game audio lead of “Cooking with a Gun” by Simon Chen and “Cat Island” by Elienna Wang.


He is currently studying in Professor Norbert Palej’s studio as an undergraduate third-year composition major at the University of Toronto. Additionally, he has presented work in masterclasses with Ana Sokolović and Marjan Mozetich, and received private lessons with Jeffrey Ryan, Linda Catlin Smith, and Alfredo Santa Ana. He enjoys collaborating with other musicians for UofT Student Composer Concerts, composing specifically tailored pieces for his performers. His journey has been enriched by diverse musical experiences including the Etobicoke Jazz Band (trombone), the UTSO (violin), the UofT Steel Band, the UofT African Drumming and Dancing Ensemble, and the UofT Japanese Drumming Ensemble. Anthony Gunadi strives to combine his influences to create a musical voice that resonates with a broader audience.

Visit www.anthonygunadi.com to get in contact or for more information.

Renata Van Vliet

Renata is an emerging composer, living in Kingston, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Queen’s University (2021), where she studied organ with Michael Capon and composition with Dean Burry and John Burge, and a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Ottawa (2023) where she studied under the guidance of John Armstrong. Her awards include the George N. Maybee Memorial Scholarship, the Maurice Dubin Prize in Composition, the Graham George Memorial Scholarship in Composition, and the Beaudry Somcynsky Prize in Classical Music Composition.

Renata’s music is often inspired by the mystery and vastness of nature. She likes to explore texture and timbre in her compositions and is especially drawn to harmony and layers of melody and counterpoint. Her compositions include choral music, organ and piano music, music for string quartet, percussion, orchestra and various chamber ensembles. She also enjoys electroacoustic composition and has recently started composing for visual media.

Renata’s compositions have been performed at Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa, and her organ piece, Cantilène, has been performed in churches in both Kingston and Montreal. Renata was also a composer-participant at the 2021 Toronto Strings Composition Workshop where her composition, Air and Dance, was recorded by the Grenadier String Quartet. In 2023, she was a composer/performer with the sound installation, Rainforest IV, at the Baby Grand Theatre in Kingston. Her orchestral work, Cathedral of Trees, was recently chosen as an alternate for the 2024 Toronto Symphony Orchestra Explore the Score program.