Founded in 1934 by Antonia Nantel, Wilfrid Pelletier and Athanase David, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) is a distinguished leader of musical life in Québec and Canada. Recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the world, whose core activity is to perform the vast orchestral repertoire with conductors and soloists of the highest caliber, the OSM is an essential cultural ambassador. Under the direction of conductor Rafael Payare, the OSM perpetuates several rich traditions rooted in its long history of social involvement and embodied in far-reaching projects, world-class tours and a superb discography. Firmly anchored in today’s world, the OSM’s innovative artistic programming in both concerts and recordings brings modern-day relevance to the symphonic repertoire while strengthening the orchestra’s place at the heart of its home base in Québec’s metropolis. Over the years, the OSM has crisscrossed Canada and toured abroad, travelling to Québec’s Far North as well as to the United States, Latin America, and several countries in Europe and Asia. The OSM’s discography totals more than a hundred recordings on the Decca, Analekta, CBC Records, ECM, EMI, Philips, Sony and PENTATONE labels, earning more than 110 national and international awards. 

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Chorus was established in the 1980s at the request of Charles Dutoit. Composed of 50 professional singers and 80 to 100 volunteer singers, the Chorus has joined forces with the OSM for hundreds of performances of masterworks from the repertoire. The OSM Chorus has been heard in Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Philadelphia and Saratoga Springs in works as diverse as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Shostakovich’s Babi Yar Symphony and Dallapiccola’s Il Prigionero. In addition to singing under the direction of Rafael Payare, Kent Nagano and Charles Dutoit, the OSM Chorus has collaborated with such guest conductors as Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, Krzysztof Penderecki, Robert Shaw, Iwan Edwards (its director for some 20 years) and Andrew Megill, chorus master since 2011. Among the many OSM recordings on which the OSM Chorus can be heard, noteworthy are Berlioz’s Les Troyens, which was honored with a GRAMMY Award in 1996, and Holst’s The Planets, which received the Grand Prix du disque – Canada in 1988. 

Asher Fisch is the Principal Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director of the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl. Internationally recognized as a leading conductor, he boasts a vast repertoire across both opera and concert stages. Fisch has been based in Australia since 2014 and began his tenure in Erl in the 2025 season. 

He began his career as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim and as a conductor at the State Opera in Berlin. Since then, he has conducted at major European opera houses, including those in Vienna, Milan, Munich, Paris and Madrid. Renowned as a Wagner specialist, Fisch has recorded two complete ‘Ring’ cycles and a critically acclaimed rendition of Tristan und Isolde. Additionally, he has performed widely in the Italian repertoire and recently conducted a Puccini album featuring tenor Jonas Kaufmann and six leading sopranos. From 1998–2008 he was music director of the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, where he has led more than thirty new productions. 

As a symphonic conductor, Fisch has led prominent U.S. orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra, along with European ensembles like the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France and London Symphony Orchestra. 

As a pianist, he performed piano concertos, mostly conducting from the keyboard.  He has also recorded a solo piano CD of Liszt’s arrangements of excerpts from Wagner’s operas. 

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, Jane Glover, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, and Kent Nagano. He is Director of Choral Organizations Activities at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and serves as Artistic Advisor and Director of Choral Activities for the Carmel Bach Festival and Choral Director for Music of the Baroque (Chicago). He previously taught at the University of Illinois and 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 Magnussen’s Psalm (Albany Records), Haydn’s Masses (Naxos), and works by Caleb Burhans (Cantaloupe). 

Soprano Hila Baggio is acclaimed for her versatility, musical intelligence and emotionally grounded artistry across opera and concert repertoire. A frequent guest at leading international houses and festivals, she has appeared with Semperoper Dresden, Vienna Volksoper, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Israeli Opera, Rossini Opera Festival, Wexford Festival, Bergen National Opera and Opéra de Rennes. 

Her performances also have been heard in major venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wiener Konzerthaus, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Dresden Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Wigmore Hall. Baggio’s repertoire spans major bel canto and Mozart roles such as Violetta, Lucia, Susanna, Gilda, Adina, Pamina, Rosina and Olympia, alongside contemporary roles including Gepopo and Venus in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. 

Renowned for her affinity with 20th- and 21st-century music, she has given acclaimed performances in works by Ligeti, Schönberg, Betty Olivero and Ayal Adler. In concert, she has sung major works by Mahler, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, Bernstein, Berg, Haydn, Pergolesi and Mendelssohn with leading orchestras under conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Lahav Shani, Manfred Honeck and Speranza Scappucci. She also toured with the Jerusalem Quartet on The Yiddish Cabaret, which was recorded and released by Harmonia Mundi. 

A dedicated educator, Baggio gives master classes and teaches at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg. Her artistry has been recognized with awards from the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, the Israeli Minister of Culture and the Rosenblum Prize for the Performing Arts. 

With a “wondrous voice, which gleams in all registers” (Gramophone), Hila Plitmann is renowned for her expressive, fearless performances across opera, concert and film. A leading interpreter of contemporary music, she is celebrated as “a composer’s dream” (Star Tribune) and is widely recognized for premiering and championing new works. 

Soon after graduating from Juilliard, Plitmann made her New York Philharmonic debut in the world premiere of David Del Tredici’s The Spider and the Fly. She has since appeared as a soloist with major orchestras worldwide including the New York, Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonics, as well as the Chicago, Boston, BBC, Atlanta, Detroit, Hamburg, Stockholm and Melbourne Symphonies, Minnesota Orchestra and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kurt Masur, Marin Alsop, Thomas Adès, Giancarlo Guerrero and Robert Spano. 

Plitmann is also featured on major film soundtracks including The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hail,Caesar! and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Her discography includes GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated recordings, notably in collaboration with leading contemporary composers such as John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Andrea Clearfield, Eric Whitacre and George Benjamin. 

An active educator, Plitmann regularly presents residencies and masterclasses that integrate vocal technique with mindfulness and performance practice. Her work reflects a deep engagement with text, nature and artistic exploration, aiming to expand the expressive possibilities of the voice. 

Baritone Noam Heinz is an Israeli-British-American artist based in Berlin. He began his musical path as a bassoonist before discovering his passion for singing at the age of sixteen. A graduate of the Komische Oper Berlin’s studio program and the Meitar Opera Studio of the Israeli Opera, he performs regularly on leading stages across Europe and Israel. 

In 2024, Heinz was featured on the recording of Josef Tal’s Exodus with The Orchestra Now and performed the work at Carnegie Hall. In 2025, he appeared at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Mr. Redburn in Britten’s Billy Budd while also participating in the festival’s Académie. 

The 2025-26 season brought several important engagements, including returns to the Israeli Opera as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, his U.S. debut in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro with Opera in Williamsburg and an appearance at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in Der rote Wal. He was also a finalist in the Paris Opera Competition. 

At the Komische Oper Berlin, he has appeared in leading roles spanning both classical repertoire and contemporary works. At Israeli Opera, he created the title role in the world premiere of Theodor, composed by Yonatan Cnaan and appeared in major Mozart and Puccini productions. 

A laureate of the Ronen Foundation, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Leon Nacht Foundation, Heinz studied at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. His growing international career reflects a combination of versatility, strong stage presence and commitment to both established repertoire and contemporary works. 

Canadian cellist Ariel Barnes is recognized internationally for his depth of expression, commanding technique and versatility. Praised for his “mesmerizing” performances and “luscious tone,” he has established himself as one of Canada’s leading cellists. 

Barnes has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and recitalist across Europe, North America and Asia, performing in major venues including Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Prague’s Smetana Hall and Munich’s Hercules Saal. His concerto engagements include collaborations with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, among others. 

A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Barnes has inspired a significant body of new work, including 10 concerti and 12 chamber compositions written specifically for him. This includes an upcoming triptych of cello concerti to be released as an album in the coming year, featuring works by Jocelyn Morlock, Marcus Goddard and Dorothy Chang, recorded with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jonathan Darlington. 

His recordings are available on multiple international labels, and he has been featured on major broadcast networks including CBC Radio and BBC Radio 3. Among his honours are First Prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition, two Western Canadian Music Awards and a JUNO Award nomination.  

Currently based in Germany, Ariel Barnes serves as Principal Cellist of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra while maintaining an active international career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. 

Susie Napper, Margaret Little, Felix Deak and Thomas Baété, bass viol

Taking a refreshing look at the spectacular repertoire for viols, Les Voix humaines Consort presents unique and controversial ideas that offer a new profile of consort playing in which rhythmic freedom and ornamentation play an integral role. 

Beyond the grand consort repertoire, such as John Dowland’s Lachrimae, Bach’s Art of Fugue and the Purcell Fantasias, the Consort performs lesser-known gems by Cima, Trabaci, Lupo, Moulinier and Charpentier to which they bring years of experience and experimentation as viol, recorder, fiddle and bass violinists! 

For the past thirty years, the prize-winning consort has toured in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, France, Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltic States and recorded Bach’s Art of Fugue, Purcell’s Fantasias, Dowland’s Lachrimae as well as their own, unusual arrangement of Vivaldi’s La Quattro Stagioni for equal viols: 4 Seasons, 4 Viols.