Ally Fiola, composer

Ally Fiola is a Nova Scotian saxophonist, film composer, and bandleader of The Next Quest, a groove-based jazz ensemble. Known for blending quirky melodies with infectious grooves inspired by funk, soul, and New Orleans brass bands, Ally’s emotionally charged jazz compositions have earned recognition, including a nomination at the 2022 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards and multiple Music Nova Scotia award nominations.

As a resourceful composer with a background in jazz and classical studies, Ally often experiments with sonic and harmonic elements, blending traditional and contemporary styles with influences of her experiences as a professional saxophonist. The majority of her writing contains an element of storytelling, which is a creative framework that she values immensely, having worked on films across North America and Europe. She is an active board member for the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, and received her Masters in Film Composition from Kingston University in London, UK. 

Ally’s artistic development includes a music residency at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity where she worked with the Quasar Saxophone Quartet, and was part of the Canadian Academy’s ‘Women in Post’ 2024-2025 cohort for composition and post-production sound. In 2023, she was selected for the La Napoule Canadian Artist Residency in France, where she composed a Canada Council-funded orchestral piece on climate change’s impact on coastal communities, and was a co-artist in residence alongside award-winning accordionist Mary Beth Carty at the 2025 Deep Roots Residency at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts. 

film composer – saxophonist

www.allyfiola.com 
@fiolamusic 

Danielle MacMillan, mezzo-soprano

Canadian-Italian Mezzo Soprano, Danielle MacMillan was a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio and Palm Beach Opera’s Benenson Young Artist Program where she performed and covered the roles in: Britten’s Peter Grimes; Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, (COC); Carmen, Bizet; Ariadne auf Naxos, Strauss; Madama Butterfly, Puccini; Rigoletto,
Verdi; Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan; Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart; Don Giovanni, Mozart (PBO).

Ms. MacMillan holds a BFA, with honours, from York University, and ADV from The Glenn Gould School. Other credits include: La Calisto, Cavalli; The Magic Flute, Mozart; Le docteur Miracle, Bizet (GGS); La clemenza di Tito, Mozart (COSI); Le nozze di
Figaro, Mozart; Faust, Gounod (HOS); Vivier’s Kopernikus (Against the Grain Theatre’s Dora Award winning production). Awards include: IRCPA Maureen Forrester Scholarship, St. Andrews Arts Council Aria Competition, Regional Finalist prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Clifford Poole Vocal Competition (CBSO), and the Rumbold Vocal Prize (2023).

Concert work includes: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the NYCO; NAC’s chamber festival; eleven seasons with the Toronto Classical Singers; Handel’s Messiah (NSO 2022). Ms. MacMillan made her Opera Atelier debut in October 2020, in their filmed production of “Something Rich & Strange” and returned in 2022 with a live audience in their production of “All is Love.” Her most recent debut was with Opera Nashville as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold; roles in Dido and Aeneas, Purcell, (Opera Atelier); and Dorabella, Così fan tutte, Opera Manitoba (2023). Ms. MacMillan will be returning to Opera Atelier in their production of “All is Love” and will launch her very first album, titled “Songs of Hope,” with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (April 2024). The remainder of the 2024/2025 season will include Beethoven’s 9th with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra, a main stage debut with Edmonton Opera, a return to Opera Atelier in “David and Jonathan” and Verdi’s Requiem with
the Kindred Spirits Orchestra (2025).

Vanessa Yu, pianist

Named one of CBC Music’s top 30 emerging musicians under 30, Toronto-based pianist Vanessa Yu is establishing herself as a sensitive and vibrant musician. As the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Pacific Rim International Music Festival, she was invited to perform at Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York City.

Vanessa has presented solo and chamber programs for the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s NewGen series, Confluence Concerts, Chautauqua Institution, and the University of Toronto’s Thursdays at Noon series. Most recently, Vanessa gave solo recitals for the International Holland Music Sessions in the Netherlands and the Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation in Canada. Other performances have taken her to Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, the United States, and across Canada. Vanessa has had recordings nationally broadcasted on CBC Music, in addition to being featured on OMNI Television and 680 News. As a finalist at the Classicalia competition, her performance at the Vienna Konzerthaus was televised by PBS SoCal and Stingray Classica.

A seasoned concerto soloist, Vanessa has performed Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Rimsky-Korsakov concerti with the Central Texas Philharmonic, Vienna Opera Ball, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber, Mississauga Symphony, Oakville Chamber, York Symphony, Burlington Symphony, North York Concert, and Etobicoke Philharmonic orchestras. Upcoming engagements include performances of Saint-Saëns’s Fifth Concerto with the Toronto Concert, Scarborough Philharmonic, and Kindred Spirits orchestras.
Garnering awards in Canada and beyond, Vanessa has received top prizes at the Chicago and Città di San Donà di Piave international competitions, among others. Recently, she was the youngest contestant and prizewinner at both the 2023 Eisemann International Young Artists Competition and the 2022 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, as well as the Grand Prize winner of the 2023 International Music Festival and Competition held in Ontario.

Vanessa recently graduated from the BMusPerf program at the University of Toronto where she was a full merit scholarship student under the tutelage of Steven Philcox and formerly Enrico Elisi. She will be starting graduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University this fall as a student of Boris Slutsky.

Inspired by her mentors, Vanessa enjoys teaching; her students have won awards at competitions including the OMFA provincials. She has recently taught masterclasses at the Orrett Music Academy and Berkovsky-Solomon Academy of Music, and adjudicated for the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ORMTA)’s Central Toronto auditions.

As an avid designer, Vanessa is also a calligrapher and bullet journalist, and has taught workshops for partners including Google.

Meet our new Board Chair, Dr. Paul Tichauer

Paul Tichauer, Board Chair

SPO is pleased to announce the election of a new Board Chair, Paul Tichauer. Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and skills that will be invaluable as SPO continues to thrive and respond to the challenges of the times. Paul A. Tichauer MA (Oxon), PhD (MIT), MBA, is a Rhodes Scholar and a highly experienced, successful CEO and COO with early roots in materials technology and marketing. He has held senior leadership positions with a broad array of companies – large, small, public, private – in Canada, the United States and Europe. Most recently, he was President of the Langen Packaging Group, a global manufacturer of highly automated packaging machinery systems based in Toronto and the Netherlands.

Since 2012, he has guided numerous CEOs and other senior business leaders to greater success through work as a professional mentor and business coach. The annual revenues of his clients’ businesses range from $3 million to over $1.2 billion and span a broad array of sectors and industries.

Formerly serving as Treasurer on the SPO Board, Paul has stepped up to the challenge of piloting the Board of Directors as they begin their first Strategic Planning Process, renew community connections, and work for sustainable growth responsive to the community who support, enjoy, and collaborate with, our work.

Paul is also a valued member of our cello section!

Socially Distanced: Music for a Solo Instrument, from J.S. Bach to the Present

J.S. Bach’s compositions for solo cello and violin are milestones in the repertoire for a solo unaccompanied instrument. This episode will look at J.S. Bach’s life, his solo suites for the cello and his partitas for the violin, and his influence on other composers who have written solo works. Featuring interviews with Eric Siblin, author of J.S. Bach’s The Cello Suites (Anansi with support from the OAC and CCA), SPO concertmaster Corey Gemmell, and Canadian composer Frank Horvat, discussing his recent Music for Self-Isolation series of solo instrument works.

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Sharing a Passion for Music; Introduction to the SPO Great Music Podcast Series

Episode one is an introduction to the series, featuring interviews with artists from organizations involved with the podcast, including Ronald Royer (music director of the SPO), William Rowson (music director of the Stratford Symphony), Derek Spooner (executive director of Scarborough Arts), and Tamar Ilana (executive director of FabCollab).

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