Manitoban composer and performer Nic Bray is a multifaceted musician whose practice spans composition, songwriting, and jazz saxophone performance. His music bridges the gap between contemporary classical, jazz, and pop idioms, showcasing a versatile and inventive approach to composition. He first received recognition as the winner of the 2025 Canadian Music Centre Emerging Composer Competition, working with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Most recently he is a recipient of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2026 Future Award, being commissioned to compose a work for the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Nic’s founding of the Towers Archival Association showcases his desire to create spaces that make music accessible to all, with this organization aiming to bring public domain musical artifacts out of private collections and into public access. Through fundraising events and collaborative performances, Nic demonstrates the potential to make a significant impact beyond the stage, using music to build stronger, more vibrant communities. 

With music described as "beautiful" and "radiant" by Fanfare Magazine, Aaron Price infuses lyricism and whimsical, jazz-influenced sensibilities in both his compositions and performances. Aaron currently teaches at the University of Manitoba, and previously taught at the University of Winnipeg and Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut). He tours internationally as a composer, clarinetist, educator, and ludomusicologist, and was the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Connecticut Summerfest. Aaron has collaborated with a wide breadth of ensembles to premiere new compositions and arrangements, including Apple Orange Pair, Aubarra Clarinet Duo, Doclé Reed Quintet, Duo Alterity, Haven Trio, Horizon, Hub New Music, Khorikos, Sugar Hill Salon, and Xelana Duo. Aaron's compositions have been featured at various summer music festivals, including (Art)SongLab, Valencia International Performance Academy (VIPA) Festival, Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, Zodiac Festival, Talis Festival, soundSCAPE Festival, and Atlantic Music Festival.

Music and stories have always gone hand-in-hand for Marko Marinic. Whether he’s making concert music or concept albums, Marko aims to weave characterful melodies, fantastical harmonies, and grooving rhythms to build worlds of sound. Marko enjoys composing across a wide range of genres and styles. His ambient guitar album “Night Owl” was released on Redshift Records in October 2025. His current projects include a ghost-story folk-opera for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival as well as his dissertation piece “Anka.” Marko is a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia where he studied composition with Jocelyn Morlock, Dorothy Chang, and T. Patrick Carrabré. Like his mentors, Marko is a passionate and dedicated educator and currently teaches composition and theory students at the VSO School of Music. When he isn’t composing, he can be found reading, playing board games with friends, and enjoying a nice cup of hot, black coffee.

Guy Michaud is a Canadian composer, educator and classical guitarist. He was born in Winnipeg Manitoba and completed his graduate studies in musical performance and composition at Concordia University in Montreal. Several of his pieces have been published and they have received favorable reviews from both Soundboard Magazine and Classical Guitar Magazine in the U.K. His music has been performed in the U.S., Canada, the Philippines, Europe and South America. Recently, a solo piece for guitar and Fatal Cold Swim a trio have been published by Productions d'Oz in Quebec. As a performer, Guy has performed in several major cities in Canada including Montreal and Toronto. In 2023, he was selected to play in New York at the 50th anniversary gala of the Guitar Foundation of America. He has also performed in masterclasses for David Russell, Vladimir Mikulka and others. Recently his C.D. Premiere was showcased twice and aired on the program The Intimate Guitar hosted by Jim McCutcheon in Ohio. Guy has had a long teaching career having taught music for over 25 years in the Manitoba public school system. He has also taught guitar privately in sereral Colleges and Universities in Manitoba. Mr. Michaud sat on several Provincial curriculum committees and has presented music workshops both in English and French. He continues to teach music and is in demand both as an educator, performer and composer.

Willyn Whiting (1993) is a Canadian composer of acoustic, electronic and mixed music. His interests include Spectralism, microtonality and algorithmic design. Over the years he has written for ensembles including the Bozzini Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and RE: duo. Important recent collaborators include Elsie Bae Han (viola), Robin Meiksins (flute), Alessandra Hollowell (clarinet) and Émilie Versailles (soprano). His music has been presented at the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Winnipeg New Music Festival (WNMF), the annual conference of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) and others. He holds degrees in composition from the University of North Texas, The University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario.

Elisheva Schwartz is a recent BMus graduate of the University of Ottawa, having studied Cello Performance with Paul Marleyn and Composition with John Armstrong and Robert Rival. This January, Elisheva’s Elegiac Rhapsody for Piano Trio was selected for professional performance through the University of Ottawa’s joint workshop with Chamberfest Ottawa. The work placed runner-up in the workshop, and will be performed again at Chamberfest this summer. Elisheva took part in last year’s inaugural Contemporary Music Interactive series as both performer and composer, premiering her Two Pieces for Cello and Piano with pianist and composer Ari Hooker. This past February, Two Pieces was performed by Ari and Yuri Hooker in the Rady JCC’s Music ‘n’ Mavens concert series. Elisheva has also had a choral work, Caritas Patiens Est, selected for reading by the Vancouver Chamber Choir in a joint uOttawa workshop in March 2025.

Tamir Moore-Freedman is a Winnipeg based composer, drummer, and educator. Tamir graduated with a bachelors of music, specializing in composition, from the University of Manitoba last year and is currently pursuing media scoring for film and video games alongside concert works. Tamir is an accomplished educator, having taught drums at Groove Academy and St. John's Ravenscourt, as well as music production at the University of Manitoba. Tamir composed the score for the 2025 short film Storm of the Millennium!, which won best short film at the East Village New York Film Festival, and was the 2025 recipient of the Dr. Micheal Matthews prize in composition at the U of M. Tamir is currently scoring the video game Super Goblin Putt-Putt, which is on track to release later this year.

Dianna Neufeld (B.Mus., B.Ed., M.Mus.) is a pianist, composer, educator, and administrator, who cultivates community-centered practices that are ever evolving. Recent musical endeavors include Brandon Chamber Players’ 2023: a presentation of contemporary 4-piano works which featured Dianna as a pianist and composer, the Brandon Pro Series (2024) which unveiled the Steinway at Brandon University, and collaborative pianist at the Casalmaggiore Music Festival in Italy (2024/25). Vivid imagery inspires Dianna’s piano and chamber works; her catalog includes compositions from pre-reading to professional. Dianna serves as an instructor, collaborative pianist, Director of the Eckhardt-Gramatté Conservatory of Music, and intern director of the New Music Ensemble at Brandon University, while maintaining a private studio. As the President of the MRMTA, Brandon and Westman Branch, Dianna works with local teachers to encourage the future of the musical community, supporting events which feature Canadian musicians and accessible learning spaces for all.