Organizing Committee
Lyric Canada 2010 is a collaboration between the Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) of Brock University (St. Catharines, ON), Opera.ca (Toronto, ON), and the Shaw Festival Theatre (Niagara on the Lake, ON). Other key collaborators include Tapestry New Opera Works (Toronto) and Script Lab (Toronto).If you are interested in joining the Organizing Committee or discussing sponsorship opportunities, please contact the lead conference organizer, Professor Virginia Reh.
Committee Member profiles:
Scott Burke, Artistic Producer, Eastern Front Theatre (Dartmouth, NS)
Scott is an award-winning director, playwright and producer. He is a founding member of In Good Company. In Good Company's production of God's Middle Name (Merritt Awards for Outstanding Production and Outstanding New Play), was a finalist for the Lieutenant Governor's Masterworks Award. From 2003 to 2005, he served as the Artistic Director of Theatre New Brunswick. From 1998 to 2003, Scott was the Artistic Producer of the Ship's Company Theatre, where he wrote and directed The Parrsboro Boxing Club (Robert E. Merritt Award for Best New Play) and Chairmaker the Musical (five Merritt Award nominations including Best New Play, Best Director). Other directing credits include Mary's Wedding (Merritt Awards for Best Production, Best Director, Best Lighting Design); The Last Tasmanian; Miles From Home; Sole Survivors and Apple Tree Road. At Neptune Theatre, Scott directed Kilt. Other directing credits encompass a wide variety of genres from Shakespeare to vaudeville revue, comedy troupes to new play development. Administratively, Scott is responsible for the revitalization of Ship's Company Theatre and played a leading role in the conception and development of the New Theatre Facility. Scott has a BA from the Dalhousie University Professional Actor Training Program and an MFA in Theatre Direction from Penn State University. He was recently awarded the 2009 College of Arts and Architecture Alumni Award in Theatre from Penn State University.
Christina Loewen, Executive Director, Opera.ca (Toronto, ON)
Christina became Executive Director of Opera.ca in July 2009 after
holding the position of Director of Operations from July 2008. For over 14
years, Christina has worked in the performing arts sector in opera, music
and dance in roles ranging from marketing and touring to general management. Christina spent five years with Opera Ontario, the partnership of Opera Hamilton into Kitchener-Waterloo Opera, served as Director of Touring for Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet, General Manager for Arraymusic and most recently as Managing Director for Danny Grossman Dance Company. She holds a degree in Theatre and Dramatic Literature from Brock University, in St.Catharines, Ontario and an Arts Administration diploma from Confederation College, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Victoria Mountain, Arts, Culture, and Theatre, City of Brampton, ON
Victoria Mountain is a recent graduate of the Erasmus Mundus Masters of International Performance Research Programme at the University of Warwick, UK and the Universities of Helsinki and Tampere, Findland, sponsored by the European Commission. She has studied performance across the UK and continental Europe, interned as a critical analyst for Circomedia in Bristol, UK and trained in curation under the Artistic Director of the Theatre Museum (Teaterrimuseo) in Helsinki, Finland. She also holds her Master of Arts from the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto and her Honours Bachelor of Dramatic Arts from Brock University, School of Fine and Performing Arts. Her research work has been presented at the Psi and the IFTR congresses in 2010.
Victoria has studied classical European acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London Summer Institute and her performance work has been exhibited in the UK, Finland, at the University of Toronto, Brock University, and at Canstage’s Young and Emerging Artists’ Cabaret.
Victoria is currently the Executive Assistant to the Manager of Arts, Culture and Theatre for the City of Brampton. She is co-editing the proceedings of the conference for The Brock Review.
Virginia Reh, Assistant Professor, Department of Dramatic Arts (MIWSFPA, Brock University NIAGARA)
Virginia Reh grew up in New York City and studied Dramatic Arts in Berkeley, California. She joined the faculty from a lengthy and varied professional career as actor, director, dramaturg and coach, working in theatre, opera and film and television. She taught part-time in the department for 13 years before becoming fulltime
in 2006. Gini teaches acting, directing and voice. A highlight of her vocal work was directing all the voices for the last 76 episodes of Sailor Moon that were dubbed into English (and performing a few strange characters herself). Virginia's directing focuses on lyric theatre. She has directed Ring Round the Moon, Marat/Sade, and A Little Night Music for mainstage DART production. She continues to work professionally, particularly
with Opera In Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre and Tapestry New Opera. Virginia was founding Co-Director of Script Lab, developing many plays, musicals and film scripts. She was Artistic Director of the Gryphon Theatre. For many years Virginia was acting coach and production manager to the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus. In 1994, Virginia received the Theatre Ontario's Maggie Bassett award for outstanding contribution to
Theatre in Ontario. She is particularly concerned with initiating programs focusing on the study of contemporary Canadian opera and other forms of lyric theatre.
Kelly Robinson, Director of Theatre Arts, Banff Centre (Banff, AB)
Kelly's career spans theatre, opera, and film. His award-winning work as a director and choreographer has been seen at, among others, The Royal Alexandra (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), CanStage (Toronto), the Stratford and the Shaw Festivals (Canada), The Palace Theatre (New York), The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre (Connecticut) and the West End (London), and the opera companies of Vancouver, Portland, Dallas, Edmonton, Calgary, Arizona, and Minnesota. Mr. Robinson's recent directorial credits include the world premieres of the Dance Musical VIDA! (Luminato Festival and Havana), Filumena and Frobisher (Calgary Opera), The Magic Flute (L'Opera de Montreal), Peggy Sue Got Married (Shaftesbury Theatre, West End, London), and Guys and Dolls and West Side Story (Stratford Festival). Film and television credits include choreography for Columbia Pictures, CBC, NBC, and ABC Television. Mr. Robinson holds a law degree from York University and is the Director of Creative Development for Toronto's Mirvish Productions. Kelly is currently the Director of Theatre Arts at the Banff Centre, and is in development with several new musical and opera commissions and projects.
Barb Tomasic, Artistic Director, Musical Theatreworks (Vancouver, BC)
Barbara Tomasic is currently the Artistic Director of Musical TheatreWorks as well as a director and actor. Directing Credits: Back To You, the Life and Music of Lucille Starr ,A Year with Frog and Toad (Gemini Theatre) Rice Rockets and Yacht People, Godspell, A Year with Frog and Toad (Gateway Theatre), Speaking of Love (TheatreWorks), The Secret Garden, and Lend Me a Tenor (Assistant Director). Performing credits: Sound of Music (Maria), The Last Five Years (Cathy - Jessie Award Nominee), Hamlet (Rosencrantz), West Side Story, and Godspell. Barbara is currently a voice instructor for the Musical Theatre Program at Capilano University.
David Vivian, Associate Professor, Department of Dramatic Arts; Director, Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (MIWSFPA, Brock University NIAGARA)
David is the Resident Scenographer in the Department of Dramatic Arts. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada. Formerly with Concordia University in Montreal, his designs for theatre, film, television, and industry have been seen across Canada. His work at Brock has included the set and costume designs for the mainstage productions since 2004. Recent designs for lyric theatre include A Little Night Music (2009) and Marat/Sade (2008). Through 2012 David is the Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture at Brock. He is the Chair of the Culture Committee of St. Catharines City Council and is involved with municipal cultural and facility planning. As a Director and the Secretary of Scenography Canada Research Society (formerly OISTAT SRC/CRS) he is a coordinator of the participation of Canadian Schools of Theatre in the Prague Quadrennials of Scenography of 2007 and 2011. David is the convener of the Scenography Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research.
Elizabeth Wells, Chair of Department of Music, Mount Allison University
(Sackville, NB)
Prior to joining Mount Allison University Elizabeth was a Public broadcaster/music programmer/producer of classical music programs for CJRT-FM (Toronto) and Production Stage Manager/Assistant Director for Eastman Opera Theatre. Conference presentations include for the American Musicological Society, the Congress of the International Musicological Society, the Association of Atlantic Universities Teaching Showcase, the National Conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Elizabeth has developed some of Mount Allison's most innovative and provocative Arts courses that explore the cultural impact of modern musicians, women and music, and music and difference. In 2010 she was awarded a prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the award is widely regarded as Canada's top teaching honour and recognizes teaching excellence and educational leadership.
Helen Zdriluk , Lecturer, Department of Dramatic Arts (MIWSFPA, Brock University NIAGARA)
Helen's career as an arts educator encompasses a range of experiences. In addition to lecturing in the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University, she has taught Voice and Music and Collaborative Projects in Sheridan College’s Performing Arts Preparation Program. She taught music theatre and drama at Burlington Central High School for over 20 years, where she wrote and developed the music theatre courses currently used in the Halton District School Board. Various lyric theatre productions she directed at the school were selected to represent the Northwestern Region at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival Provincial Showcase, and Canada at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln Nebraska. She is artistic director for Centre Stage Productions, music theatre and drama director for Stars Academy Burlington, an adjudicator, and a workshop leader. She has served on Theatre Ontario’s board of directors as chair of their education committee, on the management board of the Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Teachers (CODE), and as a member of the Ontario Arts Educators delegation to Cuba.
Helen is currently co-chair of the International Network of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE).
Jacqueline Costa and Nicholas Carney , senior undergraduate students of the Department of Dramatic Arts (MIWSFPA, Brock University NIAGARA) are the student members of the Organizing Committee and are our organizational, communications, and events management team.