Sponsors
Sonja Gustafson, soprano
Pursuing a life of creativity and artistry
"Sonja is an uncommonly versatile performer..."
Music has been an integral part of Sonja’s life since childhood. Growing up with a music historian and a classically trained soprano as parents exposed her to a great deal of classical repertoire. Sonja spent much of her youth singing in choirs and playing the violin. In her late teens, she was presented with the opportunity to audition for the world reknowned Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. She decided to audition for the voice department, where room was available for one more student.
Sonja graduated from Interlochen with flying colours and returned home to Canada to continue studying voice at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at The University of Western Ontario. As part of her studies at UWO, Sonja performed in several operas to gain more experience on the stage. She also took up the position of soprano soloist at First St. Andrew’s United Church, which is widely recognized for its fine music program.
Simultaneously, a close friend encouraged her to try Jazz. Her initiation into the Jazz world was a New Year’s Eve gig at a local restaurant. That night proved to be a trial by fire as Sonja spent the evening entertaining the crowd with Jazz standards she’d only just learned (and more than a few which she had to sight-read!). Finding it to be an exhilirating experience, Sonja continued to work on expanding her jazz repertoire and finding a vocal technique that lent itself better to jazz than opera.
Following graduation, Sonja found herself performing more and more Jazz at local restaurants, clubs and private functions. She also worked full-time as a waitress, performing for enthusiastic crowds on nights and weekends. She collaborated with many of London’s very talented Jazz musicians, learning the skills of jazz musicianship as she went. Their mentoring of her singing paid off and in 2005, Sonja was recognized with a London Music Award for Most Popular Jazz Performer.
It was at this time that a life-changing opportunity arose. At the prompting of her mother, she sent an audition CD to the producers of a new television reality/documentary series entitled Bathroom Divas. Chosen from hundreds of CDs to come and audition live, she earned a spot on the show as one of six finalists that would attend a three week Opera ‘Boot Camp’ in Toronto. Having gone six years without any voice lessons, this was the ultimate opportunity for Sonja to receive not only training, but invaluable feedback from some of Canada’s top operatic performers and trainers. The experience was incredibly valuable and renewed her interest in the classical and operatic repertoire, as well as her confidence in her operatic capabilities.
After three weeks of boot camp and a second-place finish, Sonja decided to continue the process of musical growth by returning to her classical music studies at UWO, where she obtained the degree of Master of Music under the tutelage of Mary Lou Fallis, one of the instructors and producers of Bathroom Divas. During her studies Sonja kept a busy performing schedule, which included roles in several operatic productions with UWOpera and Orchestra London. She also released her self-produced debut jazz CD, which has been met with great enthusiasm from her fans and the arts community in London and the surrounding area and led to an invitation to perform at London's highly successful summer music festival, Sunfest in 2008. Sonja was the only local performer to take the stage in the festival's jazz village, performing two shows for enthusiastic crowds.
On the classical side of things, Sonja was pleased to be a featured soloist with Orchestra London, the Victoria Symphony and the Vancouver Island Symphony in a Christmas Pops show written and arranged for her and conducted by fellow Jazz musician and UWO grad, Jeff Christmas. Hence, she has become a regular guest performer in the Orchestra London Pops series.
Desiring to create more opportunities for herself and other UWO music grads in the London area, she formed her own production company, Diva Lounge Productions, which is busy developing several original works in collaboration with local London composers. In addition to these many accomplishments, Sonja was also honoured to win several awards, scholarships and competitions for both her jazz and classical performing.
Whether crooning jazz standards with her band, singing with the symphony or performing on the operatic stage, Sonja's passion for music is evident in her presence and attitude. It is this passion coupled with her consummate musicianship, sparkling voice and versatility that make her a performer to remember and enjoy!
Allison Warmsley, soprano
Bobbi Thompson, saxophone
Saxophonist Bobbi Thompson has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in North America and Israel, and currently serves as Assistant Professor of saxophone at Western University in London, Ontario. She is a passionate proponent of contemporary music who performs frequently with guitarist Ariel Kasler. Together, the Thompson-Kasler Duo is working to expand the repertoire for saxophone and electric guitar through commissioning and performance projects. She has also performed with a wide range of organizations including London Symphonia (Canada), Magisterra Soloists, International Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra, Plano Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Wind Orchestra, Grand Theatre (Canada), Drayton Entertainment, and the world-famous University of North Texas Lab Bands.
Outside of her role as a performer and educator, Dr. Thompson serves on the Editorial Board of the North American Saxophone Alliance’s journal The Saxophone Symposium. She previously taught saxophone and chamber music at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, graduate Music Certificate from Bowling Green State University, Master of Music Education from the University of North Texas, and Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Performance from the University of Idaho. Her research focuses on the saxophone music of American composer Marilyn Shrude.
Bobbi Thompson is a Conn-Selmer Artist and performs on Selmer Paris saxophones.
Chad Louwerse, baritone
Canadian Bass-Baritone Chad Louwerse debuted in Europe with l’Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg as Bernadino in Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini. In Canada he has been heard from Quebec to British Columbia. With Montreal Opera, he starred as Buonafede in Haydn’s Il Mondo Della Luna, sang Talpa in Il Tabarro, and covered Leporello in Don Giovanni. As a member of Montreal Opera’s Atelier Lyrique, he was singled out in Chabrier’s l’Étoile by Claude Gingras of La Presse, who wrote “for pure comedy, first distinction goes to Chad Louwerse”. In past seasons Dr. Louwerse has sung Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Palémon in Thaïs for Pacific Opera Victoria, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette with Montreal Opera, and Hortensius in Edmonton Opera’s La Fille De Régiment. He has appeared with Vancouver Opera as The Nazarene in Salome, The Bailiff in Werther, Zaretsky and Captain Petrovich in Eugene Onegin, and as Monterone in Rigoletto. He was also featured in the Lanaudière Festival’s Der Vampyr conducted by Jean Marie Zeitouni. He is a winner of both the CBC Westcoast Performance Pacific Spotlight competition and the Début competition and has given recitals broadcast on CBC Radio Two. On CD, he can be heard in excerpts of Robert Turner’s opera Vile Shadows and Sylvia Rickard’s song-cycle Three Chinese Songs Of Autumn for the Canadian Music Centre. He was named to the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques in 2005 and received the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold award. An active oratorio singer and recitalist, Mr. Louwerse’s concert repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the Bach Mass in B-minor, the Brahms, Verdi, and Mozart Requiem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Dr. Louwerse teaches voice at Western University.
Sharon Kahan, flute
Sharon Kahan is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, where she became a faculty member at the Regina Conservatory of Music and principal flutist of the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra. Subsequently, she attended the University of Western Ontario where she earned a Master of Music in Literature and Performance. Concurrently, she studied with a number of distinguished artists, such as Jeanne Baxtresser, formerly of the New York Philharmonic, and Timothy Hutchins of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Currently, she is a Lecturer at Western University's Don Wright Faculty of Music. Active as a teacher, clinician, and adjudicator, she is also principal flute and piccolo for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where she has been performing since 1994 both in the orchestra and onstage for productions such as The Hypochondriac (2016) and The Music Man (2018).
Ms. Kahan performs regularly with ensembles throughout Ontario including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including the International Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London, as well as the Ontario Festival Symphony Orchestra where she was both soloist and principal flute for the 2012 tour of China. In addition, she has been heard in recital and in chamber performances throughout Canada and in Western Europe.