Oxana Ossiptchouk was educated in North Ossetiya, Russia, where she received a Master’s degree at the Sergey Rachmaninov State Conservatory in Rostov-on-Don in Violin Solo Performance, Orchestral Performance and Chamber Music. She was the winner of several competitions in Russia, performing the Mendelssohn Concerto with the North Ossetiya Republic Symphony Orchestra, and the Brahms violin concerto with the Rostov-on-Don Philharmonic Orchestra. In Canada, Oxana won the Saskatchewan Concerto Competition and performed the Szymanowsky Concerto with the Saskatoon and Regina Symphonies. She has also been an orchestral member of the Timmins and Regina Symphonies, and is presently Principal Second Violinist of the Saskatoon Symphony and performs with the Saskatoon Symphony Chamber Players and Elixir. She is the founder and Director of the Saskatoon Conservatory of Music.

“Her performance of Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto no. 1 was dazzling” Regina Leader-Post

Cellist Peter Hedlin grew up in Saskatoon and began cello lessons with Bernadette Wilson followed by Mark Rudoff and Terence Sturge. He later studied with the Lafayette String Quartet at the University of Victoria while playing with the Evovae String Quartet. Upon returning to Saskatoon in 1998, he joined the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and has recorded several times with CBC as a member of various chamber ensembles. From 2004 until 2010 he was the cellist in the University of Saskatchewan Amati String Quartet.

Dr. Hedlin also has a demanding career as Assistant Professor and Clinical Scientist in Anesthesiology in the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan.

Kathleen Solose is an accomplished solo pianist and chamber musician. She received numerous Canada Council grants for study abroad. Her teachers include Adele Marcus, (The Juilliard School, New York), Stanislav Neuhaus (Moscow Conservatory), Guido Agosti (Accademia Chigiana, Siena, Italy) and Carlo Zecchi (Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome). Unanimous first-prize winner of the Casagrande International Competition in Italy and winner of CBC Canada’s National Auditions for both solo and chamber music, Kathleen has appeared in recital and with orchestras in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, the United States, and Canada. She has recorded for RAI-TV, Radio Svizzera Italiana, American Public Radio and CBC.

She has recorded a solo CD of Chopin’s first two Piano Sonatas and the Polonaise-Fantaisie, John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano, and Sonatas No. 2 and 3 by Erich Wolgang Korngold. In the 2005-6 season she performed all five Beethoven piano concerti and the Triple Concerto on fortepiano with the Saskatoon Symphony. Research has taken her to St. Petersburg, Russia, Durham, England and Novi Sad, Serbia where she performed recitals and contributed to conferences. The Solose Piano Duo (with Jane Solose) has performed and toured widely, including at the American Liszt Society Festival in Washington and at the St. Petersburg Conservatory International Festival. Kathleen Solose is a Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and Artistic and Executive Director of Elixir.

“Her virtuosity, her mastery of the fiendish difficulties was impressive…this was high-calibre pianism!” Badische Zeitung, Germany

Teaching artist and soprano, Dr. Betty Allison is a professor of voice at the University of Saskatchewan. A graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, Betty has performed a varied repertoire, demonstrating her natural ability from the Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), to Vixen (Cunning Little Vixen) and Elizabeth I (Gloriana). She is equally comfortable on the concert and recital stage. Recently, Betty completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto. Her research focused on the connection between a singer’s voice and their overall wellness and resilience. Specifically, she examined the non-musical stressors and coping strategies that elite singers use to maintain their voices and careers.