Dark by Five
Founded in 2012, Dark by Five is the ensemble-in-residence at Canada’s Gros Morne Summer Music Festival in Newfoundland and Labrador. Through their creative residencies, the members of Dark by Five converge to explore and expand the boundaries of musical presentation by creating compelling and thought-provoking original productions that weave together the worlds of classical, contemporary, and popular music; theatre, dance, literature, poetry, visual art, and visual media.
Among Dark by Five’s original creations are Trolley Car, a chamber opera by Canadian composer Jason Nett; Revolution, a musical presentation on David Ives’ Variations on the Death of Trotsky; and Beyond Words, a multi-disciplinary stage collaboration with Canadian poet, Don McKay.
As a musical ensemble, Dark by Five also re-imagines iconic symphonic works turning them into innovative arrangements for chamber ensemble. Among Dark by Five’s repertoire are Copland Appalachian Spring, Shostakovich Symphony No. 10, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, and Respighi Pines of Rome.
Christine Carter
Canadian clarinetist, Christine Carter, has performed at venues across the globe, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. Highlights have included performances at the Mozarthaus in Vienna, German Consulate in New York City, and Palffy Palace in Prague. She has completed artist residencies at the Mozart Festival Würzburg (Germany), Málaga Clásica Festival (Spain), Shenzhen International Woodwind Festival (China), and five seasons with the Dark by Five inter-arts ensemble at Gros Morne Summer Music in Newfoundland. Christine frequently collaborates with Duo Concertante andis the clarinetist of the critically acclaimed Iris Trio. Her performances have been praised for their “special passion and inspiration” (Augsburger Allgemeine) and “beauty of sound and striking expression” (Bremen Weser Kurier). Christinehas also performed extensively as an orchestral musician, including engagements with the New World Symphony (Miami), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, YouTube Symphony Orchestra, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York), as well as under the batons of some of the world’s finest conductors, such as Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, and Fabio Luisi. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Manhattan School of Music and is Assistant Professor of Music at Memorial University in St. John's. Christine is a Buffet Crampon Artist. www.christine-carter.com
Yvette Coleman
A Native of Newfoundland, now residing in Toronto; soprano Yvette Coleman is lauded for her virtuosity; captivating audiences with manifold styles of voice including opera, art song, jazz, folk, and musical theatre. A pupil of internationally renowned soprano – Ms. Elizabeth McDonald – Yvette is now a graduate of The University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance voice. She has trained at the Vancouver International Song Institute, Boston University Tanglewood Institute and The St. Andrews’ Vocal Technique Program. She recently returned from The Center for Opera Studies in Sulmona, Italy performing in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea under the direction of Timothy Nelson. Yvette ranked first in the Newfoundland Provincial voice competition and was a two time winner of Rotary festival junior and senior rosebowls for voice. She has recently performed with worldwide-recognized jazz pianist and composer Florian Hoefner at the DiMenna Centre for Classical music in New York City. After several concerts together and months of successful collaboration this duo plans to start recording their first album this December. yvettecoleman.net
Diederik van Dijk
Diederik van Dijk spent his early childhood in the Netherlands and his high school and university years in Canada. He studied cello with Ian Hampton, Eric Wilson, and Marc Destrubé, and baroque cello with Viola de Hoog. This last study brought him back to the Netherlands, where he lives now in the city of Utrecht.
Being at home on both modern and baroque incarnations of the cello makes Diederik a much sought-after instrumentalist. He is a member of the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht and appears regularly in the productions of Holland Opera. He is also the cellist of Trio da Fusignano and of The Signs Ensemble.
Alongside his love for the classical repertoire, Diederik has developed into an active performer in the popular realm. He bought his first guitar when he was eighteen and started writing songs immediately. Ever since he has been part of innumerable bands, ensembles, album recordings, and singer-songwriter projects.
Since 2007 Diederik van Dijk has spent his summers in Newfoundland, Canada as part of the ensemble in residence at the Gros Morne Summer Music festival. This ensemble has transformed into Dark by Five, a multi-genre and interdisciplinary group of artistic adventurers.
Paul Fadoul
Paul Fadoul has performed solo and chamber music performances across North America and Spain, with such artists as Evan Ziporyn, Martin Bresnick, Robert van Sice, and the National Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, his duo, Lawler and Fadoul, with flutist, Zara Lawler, released their debut album, Prelude Cocktail, called “collaborative artistry at its finest” by the music blog I Care If You Listen. Since 2003, Lawler + Fadoul have performed together in many of North America’s most prestigious concert series and venues, including the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, the Cerritos Center, the Kravis Center, Trinity Wall Street, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, the Edmonton Recital Society, and McMaster University’s Celebrity Concert Series. While touring with the educational ensemble Tales & Scales, he performed 200 shows annually, including solo performances with the Milwaukee, Buffalo, and Oregon symphonies. As an educator, Paul is the director of the two-time WGI medalist Chantilly Indoor Drumline. He graduated from the Yale School of Music and has taught at the Peabody Institute. Paul is currently on faculty at Gettysburg College’s Sunderman Conservatory. paulfadoul.com
Elizabeth Janzen
A native of Newfoundland, Canada, Elizabeth Janzen serves as Associate Professor of Flute at Texas A&M University – Kingsville and as Second Flute in the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. Her playing has been hailed in the New York Times as “…athletic, graceful…” and she has established herself as a prominent musician, teacher and clinician across North America.
Elizabeth pursued formal studies at the University of Toronto with Susan Hoeppner and at the Manhattan School of Music, where she completed her Master and Doctorate degrees with Linda Chesis. In 2007 she was appointed the first flute fellow in The Academy, a prestigious post-graduate program developed by Carnegie Hall, the Weill Music Institute, and The Juilliard School.
Elizabeth’s debut solo recital at Carnegie Hall was praised in the New York Concert Review for the “…velvety tone radiating from her flute…” and her “…impressive technical abilities…flair and wit with the musical phrase….” She has also been featured as the soloist in Pierre Boulez’s “...explosante-fixe...,” conducted by the composer himself and has given solo performances in Canada, the United States and Mexico. As an orchestral musician, Elizabeth has had the privilege of working on both contemporary and period music with some of the world’s most recognized conductors, including David Robertson, Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Christopher Hogwood.
A dedicated chamber musician, Elizabeth has toured throughout North America with The Fireworks Ensemble, the ACJW Alumni Ensemble, Dark X Five, and the Vista Trio and internationally including Japan, India, Germany and Mexico.
Lynn Kuo
Violinist Lynn Kuo has appeared as recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician across North America, Europe, and Asia. In demand as an interpreter of contemporary music, Lynn has given numerous world premieres of acoustic and electroacoustic solo and chamber works written for her and various ensembles by composers from Canada, United States, Serbia, Croatia, and Ireland. As guest soloist, Lynn has performed with the Tainan Symphony, Lviv Philharmonic, Lviv Virtuosi (Ukraine), Cantus Ensemble (Croatia), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Bulgaria), and the gypsy orchestra Rajkó Band (Hungary), Quebec Symphony Orchestra.
Lynn is also a regular performing artist of Les AMIS Concerts, a Cobourg-based concert series. Lynn has recorded music of Nino Rota on the NAXOS label with pianist Mary Kenedi and also released a debut CD with pianist Marianna Humetska entitled LOVE: Innocence, Passion, Obsession.
Lynn currently performs as Assistant Concertmaster of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and has also served as guest concertmaster of orchestras including the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Lynn also serves as adjudicator, guest artist, teacher, and lecturer at Canadian festivals and universities. Having completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, Lynn dedicated her research to holistic health and injury prevention in orchestral string musicians. www.lynnkuo.com
Shannon Litzenberger
Shannon Litzenberger is an award-winning contemporary dance artist, choreographer, director, programmer and producer based in Toronto. Known for creating imaginative performance experiences, her innovative collaborations come to life at the intersection of dance, theatre, literary, and visual art. Her perspective is decidedly feminist, philosophical, socially conscious and emphatically Canadian. Her work has been presented across Canada and the US, in collaboration with some of Canada’s most celebrated artists and she has been an invited resident artist at many leading arts institutions including Banff Centre, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Toronto Dance Theatre, Atlantic Ballet Theatre and Harbourfront Centre. Shannon is the recipient of the Jack McAllister Award for accomplishment in dance, the recipient of a 2019 Chalmers Arts Fellowship and a twice-shortlisted finalist for the prestigious KM Hunter Award.
Her most recent work World After Dark was nominated for a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award. www.worldafterdark.com
David Maggs
David Maggs grew up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and spent much of his developmental years cultivating his talent as a classical pianist. His primary teachers include Gary Graham, Jane Coop, Rena Sharon, Andre Laplante, and Marc Durand. As a pianist, he has performed in many places across Canada, the U.S. and in Europe, appeared frequently on CBC Radio, and been fortunate to collaborate with some of the most exciting players of his generation. In 2002, David founded Gros Morne Summer Music, a music festival that has grown into a year-round interdisciplinary arts festival dedicated to cultivating the value of artistic activities in community life.
David Maggs carries on an active career in both the arts and academia. As an artist, he has also written several works for the stage, founded Old Crow Magazine, which covers the culture of Gros Morne National Park; and created The Graham Academy, a performing arts training academy for youth, pre-K to 12. As an academic, Maggs addresses culture and sustainability. His doctoral thesis developed four different commissioned works featuring architecture, original composition, theatre and poetry and later became the foundation for Sustainability in the Imaginary World, a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Rachel Peake
Rachel Peake is a freelance director and dramaturge and is Associate Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre. She has directed for the Gateway, Persephone, the Globe, Théâtre la Seizième, WCT, Caravan Farm, the Belfry, the elbow, the Firehall, Classic Chic, Alley Theatre, Studio 58, Single Line Theatre, and Pacific Opera Victoria. She directed and dramaturged the world première opera Stickboy by Shane Koyzcan for the Vancouver Opera Association, and created and directed its adaptation for teen audiences. Also for VOA she directed The Marriage of Figaro and La Cenerentola. Rachel spent five years as co-Artistic Director of Solo Collective Theatre. She has been nominated for the Jessie Richardson Award for Directing four times and won three. Rachel has spent four seasons as resident stage director of Dark by Five at Gros Morne Summer Music where her work has focused on the intersection between music, theatre, literature, and visual art. She has worked extensively in devised theatre, most recently at UBC on a project entitled Sustainability in an Imaginary World, and a community project with Realwheels Theatre entitled SexyVoices.
Rachel is a graduate of the UofA, Studio 58, and intern programs at the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, and Komische Oper Berlin. www.rachelpeake.com
Kate Read
St. John's based violist, Kate Read, joined Dark by Five in 2015. Kate is Principal Viola in the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and violist of the Atlantic String Quartet. Kate has been involved with multimedia productions for many years, in the various roles of performer, producer, commissioner and visual designer. Founder and co-producer of multimedia Ensemble Meduse (2004-2008), Kate has also collaborated in productions with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Sound Symposium (NL), Memorial University (NL), Arkora (Canada) and Opera North (UK). In 2004 Kate won a position with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London, England where she was a member for 6 years. Kate also regularly played with the renowned Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2011 Kate moved to the north of Norway to play with versatile chamber group MiNensemblet, with performances both in Norway and internationally. Kate is regularly invited to play festivals, concerts and recording sessions. Most recently she played for Duane Andrews’ award winning soundtrack for NL produced movie ‘Audience of Chairs’. In demand as a teacher and adjudicator, Kate is sessional Viola professor at Memorial University and runs her own studio.
