Gryphon Trio

Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin
Roman Borys, cello
Jamie Parker, piano

Celebrating its 30th season, the Gryphon Trio is one of the world’s preeminent piano trios, garnering acclaim and impressing international audiences with its highly refined, dynamic and memorable performances.

With a repertoire that ranges from traditional to contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century.

Creative innovators with an appetite for discovery and new directions, the Gryphon Trio has commissioned over 100 new works, and frequently collaborates on projects that push the boundaries of chamber music. The trio tours regularly throughout North America and Europe, and their 22 recordings are an encyclopedia of works for the genre. Honours include three Juno Awards for Classical Album of the Year – most recently, that of 2019 – and the prestigious 2013 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts from the Canada Council.

Deeply committed to music education and audience development, the Gryphons conduct master classes and workshops at universities and conservatories, and are artists-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and Trinity College. Dr. Jamie Parker is the Rupert E. Edwards Chair in Piano Performance and Annalee Patipatanakoon is Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music.

Since 2010, the trio’s multi-faceted arts creation program Listen Up! has engaged elementary school students, teachers and parents in 17 Canadian communities and provided them with the experience and knowledge required to participate actively in the arts.

The Trio serve as Directors of the Classical Music Summer Programs at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

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. www.marionnewman.com.

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.

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