In 2010 and 2013 she took part in a highly praised world tour of the St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe and in 2011 she made her debut in Carnegie Hall with Masaaki Suzuki´s Bach Collegium Japan. In 2017 she appeared in major venues all over Europe and North America in the trilogy of Monteverdi operas mounted by John Eliot Gardiner for the composer’s 450th birthday. In the three operas she sang six roles including the title role in Poppea.
 
Hana appears on more than thirty CDs, including the well-known series of Bach cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan. She also plays gothic and romanesque harp and presents concerts in which she accompanies herself on this instrument. In addition she is a member of the Tiburtina Ensemble, which specializes in Gregorian chant and early medieval polyphony.

Ms. Panthaki is no stranger to classical and modern concert repertoire; she is in high demand for her interpretations of Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Poulenc, and Orff, as well as numerous new music premieres. Born and raised in India, Ms. Panthaki holds graduate degrees with top honors from the Yale School of Music and the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor’s from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is a founding member and artistic advisor of the newly-debuted Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble – a vocal octet celebrating racial and ethnic diversity in performances and educational programs of early and new music and she currently heads the Vocal Program at Mount Holyoke College.

Emma has appeared with Burnaby Lyric Opera in the title role of Carmen, and, as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. As an alumnus of the Atelier lyrique of Opéra de Montréal, she performed Orlofsky in Opéra de Montréal’s production of Die Fledermaus. In Europe, Emma debuted with Seefestspiele Berlin as Mercédès in Carmen, and performed a concert with Les Chorégies d’Orange in France. Her concert highlights include soloist appearances with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Vancouver Bach Choir, Kingston Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre Métropolitain, under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Seguin.  Emma was honoured to perform as a special guest soloist for Ballet BC’s 35th Anniversary Gala.

He created the dual role of Ulisse and John Gregory Dunne to critical acclaim in last  year’s Bayerische Staatsoper production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse/Jahr des magisches Denken  His concert appearances span the intimate and the grand, from BBC Radio 3 recitals  with lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, domestic music of Bach for Nederlandse Bach Vereniging  and Handel Chandos Anthems in their original setting of the Canons Estate church, to  performances of Britten’s War Requiem (Canterbury, Lille) and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius (Cardiff, Wroclaw). Recent concerts include Dowland in Japan with Les Voix Humaines,  Viadana in Verona and Switzerland with Bruce Dickey, a Weckmann programme in  Vienna’s Konzerthaus and the 50th birthday celebration in Oxford of Andrew Parrott’s  Taverner Consort. 

Charles’ reconstructions of Gesualdo’s Sacrae Cantiones à6 have been premiered by  the Gesualdo Consort of Amsterdam and his completion of Purcell’s court Ode Arise my  Muse was broadcast on Radio-Canada during the Montréal Baroque Festival.  He is delighted to return to EMV for this summer’s Festival.

Haitham’s JUNO® nominated debut solo album Zaytoun is now available on all streaming platforms, praised as BBC Music’s Vocal Choice 2025 and as “exquisitely beautiful and inherently melancholic” by Gramophone.  Zaytoun explores the beautiful intersectionality of Baroque and Arabic music, interlaced with poetry and musical improvisations. Haitham also appears on multiple Grammy® nominated albums, namely as a soloist on Conspirare’s House of Belonging.

Haitham has been seen as a soloist at the Morgenland Music Festival in Osnabrück, as the Evangelist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Seattle Bach Festival, as Matthew in Considering Matthew Shepard at ACDA Northwestern, and with groups like Conspirare and Seraphic Fire. He has also been seen as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Newfoundland Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Arion Baroque Orchestra, and Spire Vocal Ensemble. Recently, he has performed as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Choir of A&P in Montreal and with the Cantata Collective in San Francisco under the baton of Nicholas McGegan. Recent engagements include being the artist in residence at Reed College in Portland, a collaboration with Chanticleer, and showcases of Zaytoun in Montreal. Coming up, Haitham will be performing the role of Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Seattle Bach Festival, hold a residency at Cornell University,  and continue to present Zaytoun across North America.

Haitham is a proud of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, a group that unites music excellence and diversity while offering highly educational and practical experiences to students from middle school to graduate school. KVE launched the first inaugural Kaleidoscope Vocal Academy in 2025 and the group looks forward to this growing educational program.

Haitham’s approach to performance has always been humanity first. Being an Arab immigrant in North America comes with its unique set of oppressive challenges and it is because of that and what he sees around him in the field, that he aims to touch people’s hearts with music and compassion and make change in the world the best way he knows how.

The 23/24 season began with a debut appearance with the Orchestra of the 18th Century singing Guglielmo in their tour of Mozart’s Così fan tutte with conductor Manoj Kamps and stage director Lisenka Heijboer Castañón. Other highlights of the season included performances of John Blow’s Venus & Adonis with Ensemble Masques in France and Spain, a tour of Handel’s Messiah with Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht led by Johannes Leertouwer, a program with the Luthers Bach Ensemble and guest conductor Ton Koopman, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with the Dutch Bach Society led by Johanna Soller and Bach’s Mass in B minor in Hungary with Capella Savaria and guest conductor Bart Van Reyn. 

Drew has recorded albums with Gli Angeli Genève, La Bande Montréal Baroque, BachPlus, and Oerknal! New Music Collective. He appears in over 25 works on ‘All of Bach’, a project by the Dutch Bach Society to record the complete oeuvre.


Drew originally hails from Stratford, Ontario. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (MM) and Manhattan School of Music (BM). He currently lives in The Hague, Netherlands. drewsantini.com

Jonathon was featured in Against the Grain Theatre’s 2020 film MESSIAH/COMPLEX, in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s MEA CULPA with Ballet Vlaanderen, and on Jessica McMann’s most recent album ‘Prairie Dusk’. They attended the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, studying with Nancy Argenta, Emma Kirkby and Rosemary Joshua.

Aside from spearheading Raagaverse, Shruti has earned a reputation as a multifaceted and versatile vocalist that can sing anything. Her agile and precise vocal style has allowed her to lend her musical voice to projects spanning a wide-range of genres, including Hindustani, Jazz, improvised music, pop, Carnatic, and European classical. Shruti describes her singing style as maximalist and heavily ornamented. She subverts traditional expectations within the realm of Jazz because of her formative training in Hindustani music. As a vocalist, she has been part of renowned ensembles, such as Grammy-award winning music director A. R. Rahman’s highly-selective vocal ensemble NAFS, and the Juno-nominated all-women Jazz ensemble Ostara Project, spearheaded by Jodi Proznick and Amanda Tosoff. She has also worked with the NOW Society in collaboration with Douglas Ewart and Lisa Cay Miller. Shruti does not restrict herself in her musical endeavours because she is very keen to collaborate with artists with varied influences and experiences. She loves to learn new music and learn from new people. Overall, Shruti’s diverse musical skillset and highly technical vocal style set Shruti apart as a unique vocalist in the Canadian vocal landscape.

As a composer, many of Shruti’s compositions include rich Hindustani melodies situated within dense and dynamic Jazz harmonies. Shruti’s music often uses centuries-old texts and melodies that tell stories of love, grief, longing, and evoking the feeling of being at home. She enjoys exploring composing for both small and large ensembles. Shruti writes for diverse instrumentation settings, including Jazz quartet, string quartet, orchestra, big band, Carnatic ensembles, and choir. Some of her commissioned compositional highlights include a voice and orchestral composition for Sister Jazz Orchestra, a string quartet and voice arrangement for the Mixtophonics Festival, a composition commissioned by ethnomusicologist and musician Dr. Curtis Andrews for a Carnatic ensemble, and a big band composition commissioned by the Hard Rubber Orchestra.

Shruti also has extensive experience teaching music to people with a wide range of ages, musical abilities, and genres. She is currently a faculty member at the renowned VSO School of Music teaching both Jazz vocals and Hindustani music. As a teacher, Shruti prioritizes developing a strong mentorship relationship with students, and her teaching style is supportive while building strong foundations of musical understanding in her students. Shruti also teaches workshops, including giving a workshop on Hindustani and Jazz fusion for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and workshops on vocal technique and practice for Pardalis Studio, Tiny Lights Ignites, and Jazz Yukon. Shruti has also spoken on panels, particularly related to 2SLGBTQ+ and gender representation in Jazz. For example, she has spoken on a panel about queer musicians for Muze West, and a panel on women in Jazz for Jazz YYC. As part of her focus on uplifting women and gender-diverse people in music, Shruti is a reoccurring instructor at the VSO School of Music’s Sisters in Jazz Day.

That is why Alon, as soloist and conductor, frequently brings contemporary compositions both to the stage and into the studio. He conducted the Munich Chamber Orchester in Markus Stockhausen’s “Symbiosis”, premiered as soloist with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin Gilad Hochman’s “Nedudim”, and commissioned two new works for mandolin from Uri Caine for the Beethoven anniversary year in 2020. His album and PENTATONE debut “Plucked Bach” is a journey through Bach’s Cello Suites on six of his different plucked instruments, with a follow-up “Plucked Bach II” released in 2023.

Looking beyond the scope of a professional musician, Alon is an active member of Rhapsody in School, introducing classical music to schoolchildren of all ages. Furthermore, he supported the Live Music Now Foundation and has played in Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Animal protection is also an important issue for Alon; he has been an ambassador for the Pro Animale charity since 2021.

Alex has appeared on more than 100 recordings, including the Juno-award-winning album “Prima Donna” with Karina Gauvin and Arion Baroque orchestra. His latest album series “The Art of Improvisation” (Volume 1: A Prayer for Peace; Volume 2: Ad libitum; and Volume 3: Canavian Variations, released on Redshift, 2024) unites his passions for both baroque music and improvisation on organ, harpsichord, and piano.