If you have a high speed connection please click  here to listen to  a musical selection from one of Karen's performances. 

Karen J Minish  is a versatile artist who has performed with major Canadian theatre and opera companies; in major centres in the United States (Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco Kansas City and New York) and as far north as the Yukon. Selected career highlights include: Josephine Strong in Urinetown; Maria Picariello in Filumena; the title role in Carmen and Suor Angelica; Mrs. Maurrant in Street Scene; the Witch in Hansel and Gretel; the Witch in Into the Woods; Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music; the Devil in A Soldier's Tale; Lillian in The Y2K Black Death Oratorio; Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras conducted by Aldo Parisot for the Banff Centre's Cello Fest; the Opera Singer in the major motion picture The Claim and her American concert debut at Merkin Concert Hall in New York city. Selected oratorio credits include soprano soloist for: Mozart's Requiem and Great Mass in C Minor, Rutter's Requiem and Magnificat, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Handel's Messiah and Faure's Requiem. She performs in concert with classical guitarist John Goulart and their collaborative CD Malaguena won an Alberta Recording Industry Award (ARIA) for Best Specialty Artist. She has also begun to add directing credits to her resume having assistant directed La Traviata and Carmen for Edmonton Opera; produced and directed Suor Angelica as opera in concert and Bow Valley Chorus’ Variety Nigh! Concerts which to date have featured the “Minish mini-musical” of Grease, The Music Man, The Pajama Game and Guys and Dolls

 Sylvain Demers born and raised in Quebec has been living in western Canada for the past twenty-one  years.  For the past fourteen summers, Sylvain has performed in a popular dinner theatre show in the Yukon entitled The Beaver Creek Rendezvous and has also been that show’s producer for the last six years.  Sylvain’s performing background is varied and includes appearances in children’s and regional theatre (both in French and English). Television and film credits include roles on McGyver ; in We’re No Angels with Robert De Niro and Sean Penn; in The Accused with Jodie Foster and in The Hitmen with Chuck Norris.  Sylvain has performed in major centres in the United States and his versatility has led to many engagements as an emcee for national conventions.  Locally, Sylvain has performed in many “theme” evenings for conferences at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and he continues to be a regular feature at the hotel during their Christmas festival appearing with The Castle Carolers.   He has been a member of the Bow Valley Chorus since its inception and has been tenor soloist for their performances of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor. 

Jacqui Lynn Fidlar – Mezzo-soprano, pursues her opera career in such places as Banff, Toronto, Philadelphia, Santa Fe, France, the Czech Republic, Germany and French Polynesia. Her many roles include Azucena in Il Trovatore, Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin, the Mother and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust. In July 2004 she appeared with both the Edmonton and Vancouver Symphonies as Alto Soloist for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She performed in Pal Joey as Vera, as Alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Bow Valley Chorus, and in R. Murray Schafer’s Beauty and the Beast. In 2005 she appeared as La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, in a concert of music by Calgary composer William Jordan, and in a series of Master Classes and concerts with the Mountain View Festival. Recent performances include a Mountain View Connection Concert of Brahms lieder, Handel’s Messiah with the Bow Valley Chorus, and a promotional concert with musicians from the North Conservatory in Calgary.

Chris MacRae Originally from Calgary, tenor Christopher MacRae has been praised as having an “extraordinarily beautiful tenor voice” (Carlo Bergonzi, 2005 Montreal International Music Competition).  During a busy spring, Chris performed the Mozart Requiem with the Bow Valley Chorus and the University of Calgary Chamber Choir and Orchestra, the Mozart Mass in C Minor in a joint presentation with Festival Chorus and the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, and Stainer's Crucifixion with Grace Presbyterian.  Having appeared across North America, highlights of Chris' stage repertoire include Don José in Carmen, McAlpine in Filumena, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, the Governor and Vanderdendur in Candide, Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, Monostatos in Die Zauberflote, Scaramuccio in  Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Tenore Buffo in Six  Characters  in Search of an Author. Equally at home on the concert stage additional oratorio credits include tenor soloist in Janacek’s Otcenas, Britten’s St. Nicolas Cantata, Handel’s Messiah and Mendelsshohn’s Elijah.   Upcoming appearances include concerts with the Calgary Civic Symphony, St. Patrick's Day celebrations with the Calgary Symphony Orchestra, as well as Schumann's Dichterliebe with pianist Jeffery Neufeld.

George Evelyn is an internationally recognized bass‑baritone and highly sought after choral conductor. He is the founder of the University of Lethbridge Singers and has been very active in promoting choral music in Alberta and across Canada. George Evelyn was recently awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for service to Community and Country in honor of the Queen’s 50^th anniversary. The University of Lethbridge presented him with the Distinguished Teaching Medal in 1999. As a researcher, Dr. Evelyn has been active in the choral music field and was recognized for his 5‑part video series "Gestures", produced in conjunction with ACCESS TV/Radio Network. The "Gestures" series was awarded the National Choral Award by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors as the most outstanding choral publication in 1999. Dr. Evelyn continues to perform with numerous Canadian and American symphony orchestras. He has been heard in recital and oratorio performances in Canada, United Kingdom, Austria, and the United States, as well as broadcasts on CBC Radio, Television and NPR radio in the US. He was also a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, performing in Carnegie Hall, New York City.