Maritsa Brookes Concerto Awards

Sandra Horst, voice

Sandra Horst is a conductor and educator based in Toronto. In addition to making her conducting debut with the Canadian Opera Company in Il viaggio a Reims, she is also the Price Family Chorus Master, with repertoire spanning more than 70 operas.

As Director of Musical Studies for Opera at the University of Toronto she has conducted repertoire on the main stage ranging from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, to Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing, Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and this past fall, with the first live audience in three years, a triple bill of Hin und Zurück (Hindemith), Monsieur Choufleuri (Offenbach) and Gallantry (Moore).

She is a guest faculty member of Open Space: Opera in the 21^st Century at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity and is a frequent Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition judge. Ms Horst served as Chorus Master and audition consultant for Opera Theatre of St Louis, Chorus Master for Edmonton Opera, and has been on the music staff of the Canadian Opera Company, Juilliard Opera Centre, Chautauqua Institute School of Singing, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Ontario. She also currently serves as an industry mentor for Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program.

In addition to being recognized as one of the 100 Alumni of Achievement, in 2019 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, holds a Master's degree in Accompaniment from New England Conservatory, Boston and pursued Professional Studies at The Juilliard School in New York. An active collaborator, she has been heard in recital with Brandon Cedel, Michael Schade and Marie Berard, Erin Wall, Myles Mykkanen and Elena Tsaligova, as well as in performance on WGBH Radio in New England and CBC Radio. Recent conducting performances include Orphée+ with Edmonton Opera and Florence, the Lady with the Lamp with Voicebox: Opera in Concert.

Leonardo Lacerda, strings

Leonardo Lacerda majored in violin, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Brazil and a Master of Arts degree in the United States.

As a student, Leonardo has participated in music camps in Brazil, Spain, USA and Japan, with scholarships from The Vitae Foundation, O.A.S. (Organization of American States) and A.E.C.I. (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation).

As concertmaster of the Ouro Preto Orchestra for almost 20 years, Leonardo has performed in over one hundred cities in Brazil, and in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, England, Portugal and Uruguay. The group has recorded almost 20 CDs and DVDs.

In 2013, he joined the team of the Musicians' Health Outpatient Clinic at the UFMG–Minas Gerais Federal University–Hospitals and Clinics.

In 2017, he completed a degree in Neuroscience at UFMG’s Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) and in 2019 he was admitted to the doctoral program of the Faculty of Medicine at UFMG.

Since 2012, Leonardo has been teaching as part time violin professor at UEMG (Minas Gerais State University) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Thomas Green, keyboards

Thomas Green maintains a flourishing studio of elementary-, intermediate- and advanced-level piano and theory students in Windsor, Ontario. He also teaches piano at the Académie Ste Cécile and music history at the University of Windsor. He has adjudicated at music festivals and has conducted examinations and presented workshops across North America. He served as The Royal Conservatory’s Chief Examiner from 2007 to 2020 and as the Conservatory’s Pedagogy Specialist from 2015 to 2021. As Lead Facilitator for The Royal Conservatory’s online Teacher Certification courses, he facilitated online courses on Elementary-, Intermediate- and Advanced-level Piano Pedagogy. More recently, he served on the selection committee for the 2022 edition of the Royal Conservatory Piano Syllabus.

Dr. Green taught Music History at McGill University and The University of Toronto before assuming the position of Editor-in-Chief at the Frederick Harris Music Company. He then taught music history and theory for many years at the University of Windsor. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University, a Master’s in Performance from the Université de Montréal and a Ph.D. in Music History from Brandeis University. His piano teachers included Clifford Poole at The Royal Conservatory and Yvonne Hubert at the École Vincent-d'Indy in Montréal.

Thomas Green is an Adler Certified Professional Coach who enjoys working with students toward achieving their full potential.

Ross Edwards, winds, brass & percussion

Ross Edwards is the principal clarinetist with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. He is a veteran of the Canadian orchestral scene, having held several principal clarinet positions since winning his first professional audition at age 19. Ross began his studies in his native Montreal and later continued in Chicago, Paris and Berlin. He has been a featured performer at several chamber music festivals throughout Canada, and has also taught clarinet at Wilfred Laurier University for the past 18 years. Ross is celebrating his 25^th season with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and has been a soloist with the orchestra on previous occasions in works by Mozart, Copland and Weber.