Artistic Director Candidates

Alexander Prior (b. 1992), Music Director-designate of the Eugene Symphony, is a conductor and composer with nearly 20 years of international experience and a reputation for bold artistic vision, deep musical insight, and transformative leadership. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017–2022, where his tenure was marked by acclaimed performances, successful recordings, and a dynamic expansion of the orchestra’s reach and repertoire.

A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Prior has conducted major orchestras including the San Francisco, Detroit, Houston, and Queensland Symphonies, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. His operatic credits span leading houses across Europe and North America.

Known for his passionate advocacy of new music and his deep connection to American, German, Russian, and Nordic repertoire, Prior brings both charisma and substance to every engagement. He is committed to artist-centered collaboration, audience engagement, and music’s capacity to foster community and meaning.

Trevor Wilson is a conductor and composer who from 2022-2025 held the position of RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and served as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra during the 2024/2025 season. Trevor has also appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras across Canada, including the NAC Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia.

Under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Trevor was among the inaugural cohort of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Orchestral Conducting Academy. Also active in the musical community of his native Ottawa, Trevor has directed the University of Ottawa Orchestra and in 2017 co-founded the Ottawa Pops Orchestra, having served as Music Director until 2019 and continuing to collaborate with the ensemble to the present day.

Having attended numerous masterclasses and festivals, Trevor has had the opportunity to study under internationally renowned conductors and pedagogues such as Alexander Shelley, David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz, Neil Varon, and served as assistant conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada under the late Boris Brott in summer 2019. Trevor completed his graduate studies in orchestral conducting under Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory.

Conductor William Rowson is hailed as one of Canada’s most compelling and versatile young artists. He has worked with orchestras across Canada and currently serves as the Artistic and Executive Director of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, as well as being the Music Director of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra. Recent guest conducting highlights include appearances with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the London Classical Soloists (UK), the Regina Symphony, and the Victoria Symphony, as well as return engagements with both the Saskatoon and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras.

From 2016-2018 Bill was the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, becoming the orchestra’s Associate Conductor in 2019. He has led the Grammy and Juno award-winning ensemble in over 160 performances. To great acclaim, he conducted and hosted the VSO’s inaugural Sunset Beach outdoor concert to a crowd of over 14,000 as well as working with such artists as Chris Botti, Pink Martini, Troupe Vertigo, Cirque de la Symphonie, Arrival from Sweden (Abba), The Hot Sardines, Enchantment Theatre Company, Fred Penner, Magic Circle Mime Company, Platypus Theatre, Chris Hadfield, Classical Kids, as well as films with live orchestra.

Bill is also an active composer, whose original works and orchestral arrangements have been performed by orchestras and ensembles throughout Canada, the US and Europe, and have been broadcast in over 20 countries. His recent work Short Variations on Waves was featured on the 2021 Juno Award winning album Mosaïque by the Ensemble Made in Canada, and his Fanfare for Canada’s 150th was premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. This performance has been viewed 142,000 times on YouTube. 2021 saw the world premiere of a new work for the Vancouver Symphony called The Carnival of OUR Animals, written in collaboration with the VSO Indigenous Council, it showcases the music and stories of the Coast Salish peoples. Upcoming projects include the 2023 premiere of a new children’s opera Frog Song, produced by Here for Now Theatre and the Stratford Symphony, as well as a new work for the Victoria Symphony.

A strong advocate for orchestral music, Bill is dedicated to exploring new ways of bridging the classical music experience into the 21st century through creative programming, community-oriented collaborations, socially engaged concert experiences, and utilizing social media and digital platforms to connect with new audiences. Bill is also committed to music education of the highest calibre, having produced, and written several symphonic educational programs and by working with youth ensembles throughout BC’s lower mainland as well as working at the Glenn Gould Professional School, and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. Bill is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Toronto. He lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife Yvanna, and their two daughters.

Evan Mitchell is one of Canada’s most innovative and imaginative conductors, an artist equally at home conducting symphonic masterworks, opera, contemporary music, and films live in concert. He has been consistently acclaimed for curating thoughtful, incisive, and affecting musical performances.

This season, Evan conducted 33 separate programs across Canada. The music director of the Kingston Symphony, Evan has brought the magic of orchestral music to nearly a million students and children, many of whom had never experienced a live performance first hand. During the pandemic, Evan wrote and produced am educational web series titled “Harmon in Space” (www.harmoninspace.com) which has been viewed all across the globe, and hailed as an educational breakthrough by teachers and educational institutions.

Evan believes in the importance of Canadian composers, having premiered dozens of brand new, substantial works including the world premieres of several new Canadian operas by Ryan Trew, Cecilia Livingston and Darren Russo.

Jaelem Bhate is a conductor and composer whose diversity defines his career. He was appointed music director of the Prince Edward Island Symphony in 2024 and is the founder and artistic director of Vancouver’s Symphony 21.

An alumni of CBC’s 30 under 30 classical musicians, Jaelem has guested with the symphonies of Vancouver, Winnipeg, Guelph and Kamloops, Ensemble Obiora, and NAO Canada, and has served as cover conductor with the National Arts Centre Orchestra multiple times. He is a passionate advocate for widening the engagement and scope of orchestras and instrumental ensembles in communities and released Acoustic Alloy in 2025 as the music director of the Vancouver Brass Collective. He currently serves as a board director with Orchestras Canada.

When not on the podium, Jaelem composes for a wide variety of ensembles in varied genres. In the jazz world, he has released two albums with the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra; on the edge, and Carmen, a reimagining of Bizet’s opera for jazz ensemble. on the edge won the Julian Award for emerging Canadian jazz excellence and spent two weeks at the top of the EarShot national jazz charts. Recent commissions include the Canadian National Jazz Orchestra and the Tutta Musica Orchestra for the Leaf label, nominated for a 2024 East Coast Music Award. Notable performances include the Vancouver and Victoria symphonies, as well as a growing list of performances of his wind ensemble music by student ensembles. Jaelem has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and FACTOR for his work.

Jaelem studied with Dr. Jonathan Girard at the UBC School of Music, where he later served as interim director of orchestras and bands. He’s furthered his studies with Alexander Shelley, and the late Bramwell Tovey and Boris Brott. As a composer, Jaelem was a student of Vancouver’s Fred Stride and the late Jocelyn Morlock, and has received further instruction and mentorship from Darcy James Argue, Ron Miles, and John Clayton.

https://jaelembhate.ca/

Martin MacDonald is one of Canada’s most dynamic and outstanding conductors and has been awarded both the Heinz Unger Award and the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award for orchestral conducting. In January 2022, Martin was named Music Director of the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Most recently, Martin was named Artistic Partner of the Brott Music Festival based in Hamilton, Ontario where he conducted several programs throughout the 2024 summer and fall season, as well as the 2025 season. Martin has guest conducted extensively across Canada having worked with the orchestras of Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Niagara, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. He has served as a Cover and Guest Conductor for the National Ballet of Canada for several productions, and has worked with the Minnesota Ballet, Atlantic Ballet, and Halifax Dance. Martin has recorded extensively for the CBC and for several commercial recordings. Most notably, Martin has served as Resident Conductor, Associate Conductor, and a regular guest conductor of Symphony Nova Scotia since 2008 with over 200 performances in a diverse range of programs and artists. Previously, Martin served as Associate Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and has participated in several international conducting workshops and competitions. Recently, Martin has led several live orchestra to film productions and has produced orchestral and opera livestreams and recordings for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Against the Grain Theatre.

Martin has a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from McGill University. At McGill, he studied conducting with Alexis Hauser, served as assistant conductor to the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and worked with both Opera McGill and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble as well as several other orchestral and chamber music activities. Martin has a Bachelor’s degree in Cello from Memorial University. Martin further studied conducting with Bernhard Gueller, Boris Brott, and Michael Jinbo; and in workshops with Kenneth Kiesler, Gustav Meier, Jorma Panula, and Johannes Schlaefli. Martin’s conducting activities have been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. As a cellist, Martin has performed extensively with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles throughout Canada.

Cape Breton born, Martin is the youngest of twelve children and has a diverse musical background with a strong Celtic music tradition including extensive touring and performing with members of his family throughout Europe and North America. Martin resides in Toronto, Ontario with his wife, Kristen and their daughter, Frances.

Recognized for his intensity and the depth of his interpretations, conductor Benoit Gauthier is the founder and artistic director of the Orchestre Symphonique de la CôteNord (OSCN). He recently completed a Conducting Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ford Mylius Lallerstedt, and James Ross. He was recently awarded the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting by the Canadian Council of the Arts.

To pursue his vision of fostering exchange between the public and artists, at age 16, Benoit founded his orchestra in the only region of Quebec that did not yet have a symphony orchestra, Côte-Nord. This project is based on his desire to make art and music accessible to all. In just a few years, the OSCN has become a well-established professional orchestra, offering solid interpretations of major symphonic works (Stravinsky’sThe Rite of Spring and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in 2022, a Beethoven Symphony Cycle from 2023 to 2025, etc.), and organizing tailor-made tours that take into account the geographical reality of the region (Un vent de Renouveau in 2023 and Affluence with the Orchestre du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean in 2022.

Young audiences are also at the heart of Benoit Gauthier’s musical priorities. He regularly engages with them, creating and promoting cultural mediation initiatives, as well as efforts to encourage access to the rich and vast repertoire of classical music. Since 2019, he and his colleagues has been regularly visiting Basse-Côte-Nord, which is only accessible by plane or boat, to foster opportunities for dialogue about music in remote regions.

In 2023, with the participation of regional artists and cultural organizations, Benoit created two colorful youth productions: The Story of a Nutcracker, based on Tchaikovsky’s famous work, and Babar and a Few Other Notes, which represents the different families of instruments to bring to life a musical illustrated tale exploring the works of composer Francis Poulenc. This show is currently touring with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Laval Symphony Orchestra, and the OSCN. His work with both emerging and established composers has led to the creation of landmark works such as the symphonic poem Nordicité (2022) by North Shore composer Martin Caron, as well as the Symphonic Suite based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac (2023) by Simon Desbiens.

After obtaining an undergraduate degree from the Quebec Conservatory of Music in flute performance under Jacinthe Forand and in orchestral conducting under Gilles Auger, Benoit honed his skills in masterclasses with Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Bramwell Tovey, and Mei-Ann Chen. From 2021 to 2024, he was one of six young Canadian conductors in the first cohort of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Conducting Academy, led by its artistic director and principal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

In recent seasons, Benoit Gauthier has conducted the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Opera Academy Orchestra, and has assisted conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, JoAnn Falletta, Victorien Vanoosten, Carlos Spierer, and Andreas Ottensamer.

Benoit Gauthier is also a versatile pianist. His passion for collaborating with singers led him to train with renowned vocal coaches such as Wolfgang Holzmair, Christine Brewer, François Le Roux, Olivier Godin, and Jennifer Larmore. He has therefore brought a deeper knowledge of singing and vocal repertoire to recent assistant conductor engagements in the world of opera, including George Lewis’Comet/Poppea and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with the Curtis Opera Theatre (2024) as well as Puccini’s Suor Angelica andGianni Schicchi with the Berlin Opera Academy (2022).

In the 2024-2025 season, Benoit made his debut in New York at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, as well as returning to the Laval Symphony Orchestra and touring the Côte-Nord region with various projects and concerts with the OSCN. With the OSCN, he also presented the premiere of Healing Requiem by the young composer and pianist Alexis Volant, originally from Pessamit. This work for soprano, baritone, traditional drummers ensemble, choir, and orchestra, was written in memory of the Indigenous youth whose graves have been found in recent years at various sites across Canada.

Benoit Gauthier received the 2023 Emerging Artist Award on the Côte-Nord, presented by Culture Côte-Nord. He is also the recipient of numerous scholarships, including from the AIDA Fund of the Jeunesses Musicales Canada Foundation, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Art Council as a composer, flutist, and conductor.

Acclaimed by the press as an “expressive, charismatic, and deeply musical” conductor, Mexican conductor and pianist Francisco Hernández Bolaños is Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Arte en Movimiento which specializes in pops concerts in Aguascalientes, as well as founder and current Artistic Director of the Orquesta Clásica de Cancún. He recently completed a two-year tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of both the Windsor Community Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra (Canada). He has also served as Assistant Conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras, Arizona State University Orchestras, and the School of Music of the University of Veracruz’ Symphony Orchestra.

With a rapidly rising career, Francisco is a frequent guest conductor with some of the most important orchestras in Mexico. Most recently, he made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico at the iconic Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, conducting a sold-out family concert featuring author Dan Brown as narrator. His work is marked by a strong commitment to inclusive, community-centered programming. He often champions the music of living and underrepresented composers, using orchestral performance to strengthen cultural connection and spark meaningful dialogue. He is also known for designing and conducting educational and family concerts that introduce audiences of all ages to orchestral music—frequently featuring his own arrangements and compositions.

A multilingual artist, Francisco regularly offers music appreciation conferences. He also leads masterclasses for pianists and conductors, sharing his experience with the next generation of musicians.

He graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s degree in Piano and a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from Universidad Veracruzana, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Orchestral and Opera Conducting from Arizona State University (ASU).

Geneviève Leclair is an active guest conductor with organizations across Canada, the United States and the U.K., as well as Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music where she has been teaching conducting since 2016. Highlights of the 2023-24 season include her debut with Calgary Philharmonic and return performances with The National Ballet of Canada.

Equally at home in the symphony, ballet and opera worlds, she was Principal Guest Conductor with Orchestre Classique de Montréal in 2022-2023, Assistant Conductor and Guest Conductor for Boston Ballet from 2010 to 2017, Music Director of Parkway Concert Orchestra from 2013 to 2019, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Conductors Guild from 2017 to 2020.

In recent years, she has also had the opportunity to work with orchestras such as Orchestre Métropolitain, The National Ballet of Canada, Spartanburgh Philharmonic, Northern Ballet, Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke, Winnipeg Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, Jeunesses musicales Canada, Symphony New Hampshire, Symphony New Brunswick, Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Chamber and Youth Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2020, she conducted the Québec premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s opera As One with Orchestre Classique de Montréal in a live stream that has since been broadcasted on OuTV to rave reviews.

Geneviève was awarded the 2017 American Prize in Conducting, college/university division and took 2nd place in the professional orchestra division. In 2010, she was honored to receive the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Award in Orchestral Conducting. Her performances have been hailed as “impeccable” (Boston Phoenix), “ravishing” and of “exemplary pacing and reading” (Hugh Fraser) while her conducting style is praised for its “verve and precision”, “confident dynamics and tempos, crisp rhythms, and crystalline phrasing creat[ing] powerful forward momentum” (Carla DeFord).

Geneviève holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University under the tutelage of Maestro David Hoose. She had previously obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in flute performance at Université de Montréal, the latter under the supervision of Mr. Denis Bluteau, former associate principal flutist of Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. She also studied choral conducting with Dr. Ann Howard Jones and perfected her art in master classes led by Boris Brott, Kenneth Kiesler, Carl Topilow, Susan Hoeppner, Camille Churchfield, Lise Daoust and Jeanne Baxtresser. In November 2010, she was invited by the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) to attend the first edition of their Canadian Conductors Workshop.

genevieveleclair.com