Alison Melville, recorder

Alison Melville‘s career as a performer on historical flutes and recorders has taken her across Canada and to the USA, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and Europe, most recently to Spain, Switzerland and Finland. She appears regularly as orchestral player and soloist with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and has performed with a multitude of other chamber ensembles, orchestras, opera and theatre companies and festivals in venues ranging from Tokyo’s Bunkamura Hall and NYC’s Carnegie Hall to cinemas, convents, gardens, libraries, barns, ferries, school gymnasiums, and prisons. She is a former member of Toronto Consort and Ensemble Polaris, and was Artistic Director of the Bird Project.

Her extensive international television, film and radio credits include the soundtracks of The Tudors, The Borgias and Vikings, CBC-TV’s beloved ‘The Friendly Giant’; films by Atom Egoyan, Ang Lee, Amnon Buchbinder and Stephen Dirkes; and Malcolm Sutherland’s award-winning short animation Umbra. She has also played on over 60 CDs, including several critically acclaimed solo recordings. Her own music has been heard with Ensemble Polaris, Bird Project, Post-Medieval Syndrome, 999 Years of Music, and others. Her performance and recorded work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, American Recorder Society, and others.

On the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (OH) from 1999-2010, Alison continues to teach at various early music workshops across North America, is an instructor at the University of Toronto, and teaches/coaches at her home studio. She trained in Toronto, London (UK) and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel (CH) as the recipient of awards and scholarships from the Canada Council for the Arts, University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music, Women’s Art Association of Canada, CAMMAC, and others.

Felix Deak, gamba

Cellist and gambist Felix Deák showcases his career as a freelance musician with chamber ensembles and orchestras. He performs and tours regularly with long standing Montreal-based gamba consort Les Voix Humaines, and Juno award winning ensemble L’Harmonie des Saisons. When he’s not in the kitchen, he’s on adventures with his dog Scout.

Joel Tangjerd, cello

A native of London, Ontario, Joel Tangjerd began cello studies at the age of four, and piano studies at the age of five; achieving an ARCT in Cello Performance, Grade 10 in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of Music, and a Master of Music from Western University.

Joel has attended the Kincardine Summer Music Festival, the Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, the Domaine Forget Music and Dance Academy and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. He was also the winner of the Maritsa Brookes Concerto competition at the Don Wright Faculty of Music.

Joel has studied cello with Lisa Burroughs, Susan Millar, Julia MacGregor, Thomas Wiebe and Christina Mahler. He was the principal cellist in the London Youth Symphony and has served as principal cellist of the University of Western Ontario Symphony Orchestra. He is an active teacher and freelancer in South-Western Ontario and regular substitute player with London Symphonia and the Guelph Symphony.

Iris Leck, bass

Iris Leck is a double bassist from Midland, Ontario. They have worked with London Symphonia, Ottawa Pops Orchestra, the Trinity Bach Project and many other ensembles across Ontario and Quebec. Iris completed their Bachelor of Music at the University of Ottawa where they studied under Joel Quarrington and Travis Harrison; subsequently, they completed a Master in Music Performance at Western University under Joseph Philips. They now live in Ottawa where they continue to perform and teach.