THE ARTISTS
	Rita Attrot • Piano Rita Attrot is a graduate of the University of Victoria (B. Mus.) and the University of Western Ontario (M. Mus.). She also holds diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and the Victoria Conservatory, in performance and pedagogy. Her career spans from coast to coast with twenty-five years of experience as a performer, teacher, coach, and adjudicator. Ms. Attrot has held positions as Staff Accompanist at Acadia University in Nova Scotia (1987-96), Coach and Repetiteur at the Opera Division of the University of Toronto, has recorded for the CBC, and released a CD with violinist Mishan Han. Currently, she is Head of the Piano Department at the B.C. Conservatory of Music in Burnaby where she teaches piano and piano pedagogy. Ms. Attrot is also a member of Trio Appassionata, and she is the Organist and Choir Director at St. Thomas' Anglican Church in Vancouver.
	Melissa Bandura • Vocals, Violin, Guitar Melissa Bandura is a local violinist/fiddler, singer and guitarist. You can catch her singing and playing in local bands The Colorifics, Lily Come Down, Kent McAlister and the Iron Choir, El Mariatchi Romantico, among others. Melissa also enjoys passing the time as a yoga and music instructor, and welcomes any invitations for music or multidisciplinary collaborations. She is thrilled to be joining the Erato Ensemble this Season.
	Kresha Faber • Soprano American-born soprano Kresha Faber, a native of Spokane, Washington, has most often been praised for her musical expressiveness and dramatic versatility. Most notably in recent years she has been seen as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda in Rigoletto, Musetta in La Bohème, Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi.     Ms. Faber has appeared as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Britten’s The Company of Heaven, Schubert’s Mass in G, Saint-Saen’s Christmas Oratorio, Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with companies in both the US and Canada, including the Symphony of the Redwoods, the Vancouver Oratorio Society, the Handel Society of Music, and First Presbyterian Church in Spokane.     She has also appeared with “the other company” of New York City as Brigitta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, with Spokane Opera as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Miss Sweetsong in The Impressario, and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera Fresca in Mendocino, California. She has been prominently featured in numerous galas and recitals around British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and northern California, including Coeur d’Alene, Idaho’s Opera Plus!. She is a regular performer with Vancouver’s Erato Ensemble and Opera Pro Cantanti. She made her operatic debut at age 13 as Amahl in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. Ms. Faber currently studies with her father, bass John Frankhauser. Other teachers include Dr. Michael Warren, Nancy Hermiston and Marjory Halvorson.
	William George • Tenor William George has performed with musical organizations around the world, including Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Savonlinna (Finland) Festival, the Aldeburgh (England) Festival, the Stockholm Tonsättarfestival, Philippines Symphony and at Carnegie Hall. He has toured the country as Count Almaviva with New York City Opera, and as Don Ottavio with Western Opera Theater. Recent performances include an appearance at the Elysium festival in Germany and New York singing Kurt Weill, concerts with contemporary music ensemble New Music New York, Carmina Burana with City Opera Vancouver, Messiah with Abbotsford Symphony, works by Vancouver electronic composer Barry Truax,  and concerts with Erato Ensemble in Vancouver, British Columbia.     As a recitalist, Mr. George has appeared in the U.S., England, and Sweden, and has taped a recital for Japan’s NHK network television. His recordings include Geometrics by L.Warde,  a collection of Irish songs and Celtic Journey with Laudate Singers. Upcoming performances include Messiah with Victoria Symphony, The Emperor of Atlantis with City Opera Vancouver, Bach's Christmas Oratorio with AURA chamber choir, and appearances with Erato Ensemble and New Music New York.     A specialist in contemporary music, Mr. George has sung several prestigious North American premieres, including the role of Hermes in Sir Michael Tippett's King Priam, Edgar Allen Poe in Augusta Read Thomas’ Ligeia, and Kenneth Leighton’s Symphony #3. He also received acclaim for his performances of Tippett’s song cycles at Tippett festivals in Stockholm and Sacramento, and Benjamin Lees’ Echoes of Normandy, also in Sacramento. He recently sang the world premiere of Brent Michael David's Viola Jokes, with acclaimed violist Melia Watras, which was recently released on CD.
	Elizabeth Hamel • Recorder Liz Hamel loves to sing and play recorder, and is a passionate performer of early and contemporary music. As a singer, Liz has appeared with Vancouver New Music, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Burney Ensemble, Standing Wave, Kawasha's Krew (Elizabeth Liddle) , Battery Opera, the Stadler Trio (Amsterdam), La Cetra, Elektra Women's Choir, and Early Music Vancouver. Liz has been a member of Accentus Chamber Choir (Paris), the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and musica intima. Liz has performed as a recorder player with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Burney ensemble, the CBC Radio Orchestra, and Festival Vancouver. Liz is active as a voice clinician, as a recorder coach, and as a producer. She has produced four CDs for musica intima (ATMA) – the first of which was nominated for a Juno Award – and the inaugural CD for Vancouver's Burney Ensemble. Her radio documentary on the National Choral Conductors symposium was recently broadcasted on CBC's Choral Concert. She teaches recorder at the WCAMS summer camp, where she is director, and has been a faculty member and performer at the Vancouver Early Music Programme and Festival. Liz holds a BMus (UBC), a BN (Dalhousie), and a diploma from Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology.
	Stefan Hintersteininger • Cello Originally from Vancouver, Stefan completed his Masters degree in Cello Performance at DePaul University in June 2006, graduating with honours, where he studied with Katinka Kleijn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Prior to that, he studied with Eric Wilson at UBC and John Friesen at Western Washington University. Since his return to Vancouver, Stefan has been extremely active as a freelance musician, collaborating with some of Vancouver's leading artists in various contemporary music projects, as well as in orchestral and chamber music concerts. He is a member of the Erato Ensemble, Vancouver Miniaturist Ensemble, Colin MacDonald's Pocket Orchestra, Orchestra Armonia and the Arcato String Trio. An experienced teacher, Stefan maintains a large private studio. Stefan has been on faculty at the UBC summer Music Institute since 2002, and has also worked as director of the string program there. He is an extra musician for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
	Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa • Piano Dr. Iwaasa has performed as soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the United States and Germany. Hailed in the press as a "keyboard virtuoso," Iwaasa is known for her bold and innovative work. She has performed for Vancouver New Music, the Victoria Symphony, the Aventa Ensemble, Groundswell New Music, New Works Calgary, redshift, the Western Front, the Little Chamber Music Series That Could, Vancouver Pro Musica and has been broadcast on CBC Radio. In 2002 she performed as concerto soloist for the Vancouver New Music Ensemble's premier of James Maxwell's intueri, and in 2003 she collaborated with Judith Forst for the Victoria Symphony's performance of R. Murray Schafer's Adieu, Robert Schumann. Her duo Tiresias, with flutist Mark McGregor, recently had the honour of performing for Her Excellency Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada, at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Their debut CD, Delicate Fires, was produced on a grant from the Barbara Pentland fund to record the composer's music, toget her with newly commissioned works by Rodney Sharman, Jennifer Butler, and Jocelyn Morlock.     Iwaasa's major teachers include Jane Coop, Menahem Pressler and Robin Wood. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Music from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria, where she earned the Victoria Medal as the top graduating student in Fine Arts. She was also a two-time recipient of the prestigious Annual Grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) for graduate studies at the the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin. Other awards include grants from the Canada Council, the BC Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation. Iwaasa is currently Piano Chamber Music Coordinator at UBC and Instructor.
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