Academy Concert Series ... Enjoy life more with Music!
Rona Goldensher -- Originally from New York City, Rona Goldensher completed her studies at the Mannes College of Music with Dora Schwarzberg and Shirley Givens and subsequently studied baroque violin with Nancy Wilson and Stanley Ritchie. She has performed extensively with leading period instrument ensembles throughout North America including Aston Magna, Waverly Consort, and Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra (New York), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), City Musick (Chicago), and Seattle Baroque and she was a longtime core member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Rona is a frequent chamber music collaborator in Toronto and elsewhere, and in addition to the Windermere String Quartet, performs with the Talisker Chamber Players and the Klezmer trio Hu-Tsa-Tsa, which recently released its first CD, The Well Tempered Klezmorim. Rona resides in Toronto with her husband, Ray, and their magnificent golden retrievers, Penny and Lincoln.
Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith -- began her musical studies at the age of five under Heilwig von Koenigsloew at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music in British Columbia. After completing studies with violinists Lorand Fenyves and Ian Swensen, Elyssa moved to Toronto in 2007 and is quickly becoming in demand as a baroque violinist, chamber musician, teacher and coach. Elyssa is a core member of Aradia Baroque Ensemble on both the orchestral and chamber music series and has made six recordings with Aradia under the Naxos Label. She has appeared as a soloist with the Corktown Chamber Orchestra, Georgetown Bach Chorale and the Alicier Arts Concert series. Elyssa frequently performs with the Nota Bene Period Orchestra, Talisker Players, Opera in Concert, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Opera Atelier. Elyssa maintains a large studio of private students and chamber music coaching. She spends her spare time being an elite 1/2 marathon running athlete and collecting active wear from Lululemon.
Sharon Burlacoff -- studied piano performance in New York City and historical keyboard performance at Cornell University with Malcolm Bilson before returning to the community where she was born and raised, to establish The Kingsway Conservatory of Music. As a performer, she focuses on 18th and early 19th-century repertoire, usually performed on her replica of a Viennese piano by Anton Walter from circa 1802. She has played for The Mozart Society, the ROM "Musically Speaking" Series and the Academy Concert Series, among others. As an active adjudicator, piano, history and certified Kodály and Orff instructor, she puts her academic credentials and love of teaching to varied use with students ranging from babies to diploma level pianists. Sharon holds an MA degree in musicology from the University of Toronto, an MFA degree in Piano Performance from the State University of New York, and an Honours Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of Western Ontario.
Alexander Kats -- Russian-trained concert pianist and teacher Alexander Kats is a graduate of Moscow's prestigious Gnessin Institute. He studied under Professor Lina Bulatova, who wrote of him: "Alexander Kats is a talented virtuoso artist who combines stylistic diversity with depth of interpretation." As a soloist, he has appeared in major concert halls across Russia, performing with a number of symphony orchestras. For several years, he taught piano at Ufa University of the Arts, where he was head of the piano faculty and was also a consulting teacher for the Republic of Bashkiria. He won a Chopin Society Prize in Israel, and made solo broadcasts on Israeli National Radio. Since emigrating to Canada in 1991, he has become well known to classical music audiences as a soloist, recitalist, accompanist and ensemble artist. He has appeared at Walter Hall, Glenn Gould Studio, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, and has organized and performed in a series of concerts at St. George the Martyr Anglican Church, as well as at venues in other Ontario cities. Currently, he serves as music director for St. Margaret’s in the Pines Anglican Church in Scarborough, and has been the accompanist for Hart House Singers at UofT and for the Ryerson Oakham House Choir. In addition, Alexander Kats maintains a busy private teaching schedule, and is often sought after to consult young aspiring performers.
Kerri McGonigle
-- A recipient of the Margarita Heron Pine String Prize and the Beryl Barns Graduate Scholarship. She graduated with a Masters of Music degree in cello performance from the University of Alberta. While studying in Paris, she won Premier Prix with unanimous distinction in violoncello and chamber music from the Gennevilliers Conservatory. Having completed an Advanced Certificate in Baroque Performance with Tafelmusik through the University of Toronto, Kerri is based in Toronto and performs regularly as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral cellist on both Baroque and modern cello, recently playing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Talisker Ensemble, Aradia Orchestra, Nota Bene Orchestra and the Bach Consort.Elizabeth McLellan -- is a regular performer for Toronto’s Soundstreams series, member and co-principal of Sinfonia Toronto, and works with numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout Ontario including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Thunder Bay Symphony and Orchestra London. Liza has performed as a featured soloist and chamber musician onstage at the prestigious Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), The Heleconian Club (Toronto), and The Arts Project (London). Recent chamber work has taken her to perform in other venues in such cities as New York, Montreal, Vancouver, and Granada in the Caribbean and all over Germany. She has also performed live for Toronto’s Much Music Video Awards, and on-stage at the Air Canada Center, Toronto, Club Soda, Montreal, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, and at the Molson Amphitheatre, London. She has been recorded both by CBC radio and CBC television, Canada. Liza studied at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Ontario and completed a Performance Diploma there in 2003 as a student of David Hetherington. In 2002, Liza toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada on a full scholarship taking her to Japan, Hong Kong, and numerous cities in Ontario and British Columbia. She played Principal Cello with the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra, and was a member of the Regina Symphony Orchestra.
