Conductor and composer Samuel Ivory (MMus’25) has been appointed as Intermediate Orchestra Conductor with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra for their 2025/26 season. While at UBC, Ivory studied with Director, Orchestral Activities and Associate Professor Jonathan Girard.
Violinist and composer Jack Campbell (BMus ’24) went on tour to showcase his long-term project Sounding Bombe: Enigmatic Music, a musical/compositional work based on the mathematics used to crack the Enigma code during the Second World War. Campbell’s recent performance at Chester Cathedral in England was recently reviewed in The Strad. Campbell also released his album Inventions with pianist Hank Bull.
Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (MMus’23) Photo: Tam Photography
Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (MMus’23) won First Prize at the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition in September, performing Johannes Brahms’ Concerto No. 2. Izik-Dzurko is the second Canadian to win this prize—Jon Kimura Parker, OC (DLitt’24) won the same prize in 1984. Izik-Dzurko has also signed with the Askonas Holt agency who also manages Joyce DiDonato, Marin Alsop, Evgeny Kissin, and Yo Yo Ma. While at UBC, Izik-Dzurko studied with Dr. Corey Hamm.
Soprano Emma Petersen Melland (MMus’23) won first place in the Seattle Opera Guild Development Awards Competition in May 2025. Melland will also début this season in Pacific Northwest Opera’s production of Rusalka and Portland Opera’s production of Falstaff. While at UBC, Melland studied with Associate Professor J. Patrick Raftery.
Dr. Julia Úlehla (PhD ’21)
Dr. Julia Úlehla (PhD ’21) and Aram Bajakian (PhD Candidate), as the ensemble Dálava, released their album Understories, “a deeply evocative new album that explores uncharted territories of sound and seamlessly weaving Moravian folk traditions with an experimental, improvisational approach.”
Baritone Luka Kawabata (BMus’18, MMus’20) traded voices with mezzo-soprano and fellow UBC Alum Taryn Plater (BMus’20, MM’21) in Vancouver Opera and City Opera Vancouver’s Opera Miscast which Kawabata is also curator of. Kawabata is also mentor for the BC chapter of Opera InReach’s community engagement program.
Conductor Jaelem Bhate (BMus’17, MMus’19) was appointed as the music director of the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra in May 2024. Bhate is also the music director of the Vancouver Brass Collective. Read our interview with them to learn more about the Collective’s vision and their newly released album Acoustic Alloy.
Pianist Carter Johnson (BMus’18) was awarded First Prize in the Dublin International Piano Competition in May 2025. For the Gala Performance, Johnson performed Prokofiev’s 2nd Piano Concerto with Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonas Alber.
Johnson was also one of the six finalists in the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition last week. While at UBC, Johnson studied with Professor Mark Anderson.
Spencer Britten (BMus’15, MMus’17) Photo: Diamond's Edge Photography
Tenor Spencer Britten (BMus’15, MMus’17) appeared in the critically acclaimed Messiah/Complex (Against the Grain Theatre) representing Queer and Asian communities in this all-Canadian take on Handel’s Messiah in Arabic, Dene, English, French, Inuktitut, and Southern Tutchone, and accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This digital production was nominated for a Juno and won the Noteworthy Category of Opera America’s Awards for Digital Excellence.
Britten also debuted Memoirs of a Gaysian with the Canadian Opera Company in May 2025 for Asian Heritage Month, and will continue his role on June 14 in Philadelphia and June 15 in New York. The production explores Britten’s experiences growing up at the intersection of Asian and Queer identity, with music by Hong Kong-born Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho and Benjamin Britten, English composer and ancestor of Spencer Britten. Follow Spencer Britten on Instagram @spencerbritten and on his website spencerbritten.com.
Composer Katerina Gimon (MMus’17) has released six new choral works including Earth, from Elements premiered in February 2025 by the Toronto Children’s Chorus, Chamber Choir (below).
Gimon was one of the composers featured in the book Choral Repertoire by Women Composers published by GIA Publications. Gimon also spoke to the podcast ChoirFam about facilitating moments of connection between choristers and providing autonomy to choristers to feel like they are co-composers of her music.
In November 2024, Dr. Stefan Sunandan Honisch (MMus’07, PhD’16) gave a keynote talk for the international symposium: Reframing the Gaze: Maria Theresia Paradis, Blind Musicians, and Musical Culture Before and After Braille at Mount Holyoke College.
Matthew Emery (BMus’14) has been appointment as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Wilfrid Laurier University. Emery’s work The Garden of Dreams was released in February 2025 on Santa Barbara Publishing, Inc. Check out his Spotify playlist to listen to more of his compositions or visit composermatthewemery.com.
In April 2025, tenor Haitham Haidar (BMus‘13) and Soprano Jane Long (BMus) performed together in Miami for Baroque: Angels Behind the Walls with Seraphic Fire. This concert included chorus and period orchestra conducted by Patrick Dupre Quigley in this program that explored the secret lives of 18th-century nuns. Haidar will be also releasing his new album, Zaytoun in August. Zaytoun explores baroque and Arabic musical intersections including music by Bach, Sayed Darwish, Monteverdi.
The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Principal Guest conductor, Marin Alsop performed Roydon Tse’s (BMus’13) composition, Yellow Crane Tower with singers from the iSing! International Young Artists Festival at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China in November 2024. On June 1, the Kingston Sinfonia premiered Tse’s Wok Hei a Concertante for Dizi and Cello. Commissioned and performed with the Gai Lan Ensemble, Wok Hei was inspired by the dish Ma Po Tofu, musically capturing the steps of creating this recipe.
Artistic Director of Allegra Chamber Orchestra and Director of the Canadian Music Centre (Prairie Region) Janna Sailor (MMus ’08, DMPS ’12) launched the podcast Musing: Music, Conversation, Inspiration featuring Canadian content, album releases, and interviews with innovative artists including composer and fellow UBC Music alum, Roydon Tse (BMus’13).
Before the World Sleeps
Composer Alfredo Santa Ana (MMus’05, DMA’10) released the album Before the World Sleeps on Redshift Records in November 2024. Santa Ana’s album includes his complete piano works performed by UBC Sessional Lecturer and pianist Miranda Wong.
The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra performed cellist and composer Cris Derksen’s (BMus’07) work Controlled Burn in March 2025. Originally commission by Yannick Nezet-Sequin, (music director of Orchestre Metropolitain), Controlled Burn combines Derksen’s Indigenous heritage (Cree/Mennonite) with classical music. Derksen debuted the piece in Montréal with Orchestre Metropolitain, and it has since been performed in Saskatoon, Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall. Derksen also spoke to the CBC about performing at this iconic venue.
Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (BMus’07)
Opera singer Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (BMus’07) recently brought their opera The Queen in Me to Kelowna. Featuring dramatic arias from some of the world’s most beloved operas including The Magic Flute, The Queen in Me explores the constraints of gender, race, and beauty standards often imposed by the operatic world. Kasahara, who wrote and stars in the opera, spoke with CBC about how their experience in theatre informed their interpretation of featured character, The Queen of the Night.
Composer Jeff Toyne (MMus’99) was awarded an Emmy for his work for the Apple TV+ series, “Palm Royale” for “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music” at the 76th Emmy Awards, announced in September 2024. Toyne was also nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score).
UBC Music faculty and alumni collaborated with local artists in Floating Island presented by Opera Unbound. Floating Island explored themes of gender, beauty, and feminist history through music, electroacoustic soundscape, and movement and was composed by Kara Gibbs (BMus’04). The program also included music from UBC Professor Dorothy Chang and alumna Katerina Gimon (MMus’17).
Composer and pianist Rea Beaumont (MMus’95, DMA’03) was honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal awarded by the Governor General of Canada. Beaumont was also the John Grace Memorial Composer in Residence in April 2025. Her newest album Enjoy the Journey was CBC Music’s ‘Record of the Week.’ Beaumont is an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music.
Dr. Morna Edmundson (BMus’81, LittD’23) was appointed to the Order of Canada in December. Edmundson also completed her farewell season with the Elektra Choir after 38 years as Artistic Director. Edmundson currently serves as president of Choral Canada and as artistic director of EnChor Choir.
Dr. Morna Edmundson (BMus’81, LittD’23) with Elektra Choir
