FAWN

About Michael Bridge, playing accordion in Cells of Wind:⁠

Michael Bridge is a musical maverick. He’s a virtuoso performer on both the acoustic accordion and its 21st Century cousin, the digital accordion. His concerts capture the energy and panache of stadium rock with the elegance and discipline of chamber music. He’s won numerous competitions in Canada and abroad and was awarded the Canada Council's 2024 Virginia Parker Prize. He received his doctorate in accordion performance from the University of Toronto and was a Rebinds Fellow at the Glenn Gould School. He gives over 100 concerts a year as a soloist and as a member of Bridge & Wolak and Ladom Ensemble.

Dr. Bridge embraces a musical aesthetic that is alternatively irreverent, deadly serious, meticulously prepared and completely in-the-moment. He’s at home with classical, contemporary, jazz and folk music and has premiered 53 new works. Ultimately, he aims to make your world more bearable, beautiful and human—even if only for the length of a concert. www.MichaelBridge.ca
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Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
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At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
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The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
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⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique

About Justine Owen-Garber, playing an incarcerated women in Cells of Wind :⁠
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Justine Owen-Garber () is a Soprano who hails from Toronto, Ontario with Guyanese heritage. She has shared the stage with Opera legends such as Meesha Brugergosman and Jessye Norman. Justine filmed and recorded with the Bicycle Opera Project in their adaption of the opera ”Sweat”, which premiered at the Kingston Film Festival in March 2023 and in Toronto this past summer. It was also the winner of the LA independent women film awards 2024 and the winner of Artistic Creation for Digital Excellence. Justine shares her passion for music as a musical educator working with the Toronto District School Board.
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****⁠
⁠
Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
⁠
At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
⁠
****⁠
⁠
The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
⁠
****⁠

⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique

About Tamara Vuckovic, stage manager for Cells of Wind:⁠
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Tamara is a Toronto based Stage Manager, Producer and Director in primarily Theatre and Opera. She has worked in most Toronto theatres, as well as across Canada, into the US, and overseas. Tamara is the Artistic Producer of theatre company ARC, and the Administrative Manager and Resident Stage Manager of Off Centre Music Salon.
Select Stage Management credits include: The Secret Chord, The Big Easy (Soulpepper Theatre); The Turn of the Screw (Opera 5); All Is Love, Handel’s The Resurrection (Opera Atelier); Rockabye, Martyr, Gloria, Oil (ARC); The Shape of Home (Crow's Theatre, County Stage); Electric Messiah, Hell's Fury (Soundstreams); (as Assistant Stage Manager) Nabucco, Fidelio (Canadian Opera Company); Treemonisha (Volcano); HMS Pinafore, Dead Man Walking (Vancouver Opera)
⁠
****⁠
⁠
Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
⁠
At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
⁠
****⁠
⁠
The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
⁠
****⁠

⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique

About Xander Bechard, playing the Guard in Cells of Wind:⁠
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Xander Bechard is a performer and private voice instructor from Kitchener-Waterloo. An alumnus of Wilfrid Laurier University (BMus ’23), they studied privately with Kimberly Barber. Stage credits include Emcee in Cabaret (KWMP), Narrator in Into the Woods and Laurie in Little Women (Opera Laurier). He has also premiered various works, having played the role of Brayden in the new musical Why I Said Goodbye by Maia Coates as well as participating as a tenor soloist in three new choral works by Justin Lapierre, Messe de Ste. Anne, Stabat Mater and One Thousand Shields of Gold.
⁠
****⁠
⁠
Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
⁠
At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
⁠
****⁠
⁠
The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
⁠
****⁠

⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique