Rafael Payare’s prodigious musicianship, technical brilliance and charismatic presence on the podium have made him one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema music education program in Venezuela, Mr. Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Maestro Payare’s career has advanced rapidly. Since 2015, he has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel. He was Chief Conductor of the Uster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019 and in 2019, took up the position of Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Rafael Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, in Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris, among others. Beginning in the 2022-2023 season, he becomes the ninth Music Director in the history of the OSM.

Andrew Gray is the Musical and Artistic Director of Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, the Artistic Director of the Montreal Choral Institute, conductor of chamber choir Voces Boreales, and founder of the choral education project Sing Montréal Chante. A native of Great Britain, Andrew was a chorister at Durham Cathedral from age 7. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in music and drama from the University of Birmingham. In 1997, he joined the internationally renowned The Swingle Singers and toured with them for five years. Since then, he has prepared choirs for various conductors and composers. In addition, he has directed vocal groups for popular music artists. Since his arrival at Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal in 2016, he has been involved in collaborations with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Montreal Bach Festival, Les Grands Ballets, Opera Montreal, the Schulich School of Music of McGill University and Orchestre Métropolitain, to mention only those.

The chorusmaster chair is generously sponsored by Mrs. Ann Birks, in loving memory of Barry Drummond Birks. Andrew Megill is recognized as one of the leading choral conductors of his generation, known for his unusually wide-ranging repertoire, extending from early music to newly composed works. He has prepared choruses for the American Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the National Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic, and he has worked with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Alan Gilbert, Kurt Masur, and Kent Nagano. He is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Illinois and serves as Associate Conductor and Director of Choral Activities of the Carmel Bach Festival, as well as Artistic Director of the ensemble Fuma Sacra. He taught at Westminster Choir College and has been a Guest Conductor for the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Broadcast by Public Radio International and the BBC, his work can be heard on numerous recordings, including those of Magnussen’s Psalm (Albany Records), Haydn’s Masses (Naxos), and works by Caleb Burhans (Cantaloupe).

Hailed by The New York Times for his “robust singing” and Opera News for his “exquisite vocal beauty,” Grammy Award-winning Canadian baritone Elliot Madore has established himself as an international artist in demand by leading international opera houses and orchestras.   The 2022–2023 season sees Mr. Madore’s return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to sing Ramón in a semi-staged production of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, as well as his much-anticipated debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to sing Messiah under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno. Mr. Madore also sings the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana in a special co-presentation by the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Ballet.   On the recital stage, Mr. Madore has appeared at Carnegie Hall, as well as with the Cleveland Art Song Festival and Music Toronto.   This season, Mr. Madore also continues his position as a performing Associate Professor of Voice with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music faculty.    

Canadian soprano Sarah Dufresne is known for her clarity of tone, rapid coloratura, and diverse repertoire. This season, Sarah joins the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Artists Programme, debuting on the stage of Covent Garden. Upcoming appearances with the ROH include Die Zauberflöte (Papagena), Tannhäuser (Hirt), Don Carlo (Voce dal Cielo), Le nozze di Figaro (Barbarina), The Rape of Lucretia (Lucia), and Arminio (Tusnelda). In June of 2022, Sarah placed second in the Aria Division of the prestigious Concours musical international de Montréal, garnering praise for her “tremendous dramatic presence,” and “astonishing clarity and vocal dexterity” (Opera Canada). Sarah has performed with various companies and orchestras across Canada, and her repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary. Her desire to express herself through various genres has propelled her development as a multidisciplinary artist. In 2019, Sarah was awarded the top prize, Stingray Music Rising Star at the Opéra de Montréal’s talent gala and earned the prestigious Jacqueline Desmarais Grant for Young Canadian Opera Singers.