Gryphon Trio
ANNALEE PATIPATANAKOON, violin
ROMAN BORYS, cello
JAMIE PARKER, piano
Gryphon Trio is firmly established as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios. For more than 25 years, it has earned acclaim for and impressed international audiences with its highly refined, dynamic, and memorable performances. The Trio’s repertoire ranges from traditional to contemporary, and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia. It is committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century.
Violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys, and pianist Jamie Parker are creative innovators with an appetite for discovery and new ideas. They have commissioned over 85 new works, and they frequently collaborate with other artists on projects that push the boundaries of Classical music.
The Trio tours regularly throughout North America and Europe. It enjoys longstanding relationships with prominent festivals and arts incubators like Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Orford Music Academy, Music Toronto, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Festival del Lago International Academy of Music in Ajijic, Mexico. Gryphon Trio often performs triple concerti with the world’s major symphony orchestras and smaller chamber orchestras.
Gryphon Trio’s prolific recording catalogue includes 22 releases on Analekta, Naxos, and other labels; it is an encyclopaedia of works for the genre. Honours include 11 nominations and three Juno Awards for Classical Album of the Year in 2004, 2011, and most recently in 2019. In 2013, Canada Council for the Arts presented Gryphon Trio with the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
The Gryphons are deeply committed to community engagement, education, and the development of next-generation audiences and performers. They conduct masterclasses and workshops at universities and conservatories. They are ensemble-in-residence at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario, and artists-in-residence at Trinity College, University of Toronto. Since 2010, the Trio’s ground-breaking outreach program, Listen Up!, has inspired 16 Canadian communities to collaborate on large-scale multifaceted arts creation projects. The Trio leads Orford Music Academy’s Piano Trio Workshop and directs the Classical Music Summer Programs at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
From 2007 to 2020, Roman Borys was Artistic Director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society; Annalee Patipatanakoon and Jamie Parker served as OCMS’ Artistic Advisors. Mr. Parker is the Rupert E. Edwards Chair in Piano Performance at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. Ms. Patipatanakoon is Associate Professor of Violin and Performance Area Chair of Strings.
Marion Newman – Nege’ga, mezzo soprano
Marion Newman is Kwagiulth and Stó:lō First Nations with English, Irish and Scottish heritage. Born in Bella Coola, Marion grew up in Sooke, BC, immersed in and embraced by her community and culture. She is one of Canada’s most accomplished singers in repertoire ranging from Charpentier to Cusson and operatic roles including Carmen and Rosina in The Barber of Seville. Nominated for a Dora Award for her leading role in the world premiere of Shanawdithit (Nolan/Burry) with Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, Ian Ritchie wrote “she invests her character with towering dignity and courage”.
Marion created the role of Dawn with the Welsh National Opera world premiere of Migrations (Todd), with stories by six writers based on their personal experiences of migrations and working with refugees.
Marion has performed several works written specifically for her, including a Canada-wide tour of Ancestral Voices (Tovey) with the Vancouver Symphony and Nuyamł-ił Kulhulmx – Singing the Earth (Höstman/Robinson) with the Victoria and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras . Upcoming new works include the role of Mimi in Indians on Vacation, an operatic adaptation of the novel by Thomas King (Cusson/Vavrek) with Against the Grain Theatre.
A driving force for truth and reconciliation within the context of classical music, she is helping lead colleagues and audiences through long overdue discussions about the very nature of what it means to call something “Canadian music”.
In her role as host of CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera Marion is bringing her talented and inspiring colleagues to the attention of listeners across Canada.
čačumḥi – aaron wells, actor
ʔuukłaas čačumḥi aaron wells ʔuukłaas ƛaḥ – my name is chah-chum-hi, aaron wells is what I am also called. I come from the nuučan̓uł and ts’ymsyen nations of the what is known as the northwest coast of BC as well as English settler heritage. Many thanks to our director Reneltta and the Team of both the English and Indigenous Theatre for bringing all of us together to do this fantastic work. Language has always been something that is really important to me and to have the honour and privilege to work within another culture that is not my own is beyond English words. čumqƛsiš luu’am guudl s’ygoy’n ƛeekoo ƛeekoo.
Previous works include Children Of God (The Cultch/NAC); They Call Me Princess (The Globe Theatre); Pawâkan Macbeth (akpik theatre); The Coyotes, The Nutcracker (Caravan Farm Theatre) and other community language projects.
